There are two basic rules in professional sponsorship proposal writing:
| Rule #1 | Provide plenty of detail |
A sponsorship proposal, if accepted by the sponsor, becomes the basis of the agreement struck between the sponsor and the sporting organisation.
It therefore needs to be fully detailed so that there can be no uncertainty or confusion later about what was agreed. For example, if the proposal includes signage then there is a necessity to fully detail: size, content, position, who pays, period sign will remain in place.
| Rule #2 | Promise only what you can deliver |
It is a frequent issue with sponsors that sporting organisations do not live up to their promises. Unless you are certain that the benefit will be delivered, do not put it into the proposal.
| Rule #3 | Ensure your proposal is easy to read |
Spacing your proposal out will also advance readability. The document may be 4-5 pages long with each page having a separate section. An attractive cover page that present a professional image is also useful. It is a good idea to avoid tacky clipart or poor quality pictures on your cover page. Imported photographs look good on your computer screen but rarely do they print well, even with laser printers.
| Rule #4 | Avoid presenting a proposal in the form of a letter |
In order to do justice to these two rules it is not recommended that a sponsorship proposal be presented in the form of a letter. However, a short covering letter should be included with a sponsorship proposal. The reason for not writing your proposal in the form of a letter is essentially about readability. Your proposal will be long if it includes sufficient detail and long documents require the text to be broken up with heading and sub-headings. This is not an expected feature of a letter.
| Rule #5 | Your document presentation must be professional |
Your proposal should avoid a mixture of different fonts, especially if they somewhat "arty". Headings should be 2 or 3 points larger than the paragraph text of the document. Your organisation name and page numbers should appear in the footer, while the title of the document can appear in the header.
The document needs to be printed using a quality laser printer if possible.
Ensure the document has details of the appropriate person in your organisation.