Getting sponsored?

[Danny]

How does on go about trying to get their car sponsored? Calling the company? Never really been clear on this. I attend meets year around, and i have no problem spreading the love and talking about the parts i have on my car and giving where credit is due or even having the label of company somewhere on my car.

Would love to get some feedback. Thank you!

[dbrandt01]

When I had my truck I was offered once from a company. I was going to meets and my truck wasn't stock. Lifted/steps/brush guard/exhaust. I was giving an offer I turned down though. I was selling the truck at the time.

Might be different for cars though. It's just how I was given an offer. They came to me, I didn't go to them..

[Kelbyat07]

From what i know you have to apply on their website. Most companies are looking for really moded cars and they want you to attend to many meets of your area and some of their own. You can find more information on what each companies expectations by going online and finding the sponsor link.

[utekineir]

It helps to be Asian and live in california

[midnight23]

Originally Posted by utekineir

It helps to be Asian and live in california

[PoorMansRacing]

Some companies will give you a small amount of cash for displaying their decals during a win. Although that's not a sponsorship, it's something.

I come from the offroading world, where I received sponsorships from three HUMMER groups. Like dbrandt01, I was approached after a few runs with each group. Surprisingly, my rig at the time was bone stock. I think I personally spent $400 on rock rails during the entire time of ownership, while all other modifications were covered by the respective groups.

With that being said, I think networking made all the difference for me and still applies with racing and autox. Companies definitely have strict rules they make available to the public. Do some research and make sure you're active in the motorsports community. You never know who you'll meet volunteering as a steward one weekend. The more groups and shops you meet, the more likely they may use you as a prototype tester or offer to help build your project car.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Danny

How does on go about trying to get their car sponsored? Calling the company? Never really been clear on this. I attend meets year around, and i have no problem spreading the love and talking about the parts i have on my car and giving where credit is due or even having the label of company somewhere on my car.

Would love to get some feedback. Thank you!

Send us a sponsorship proposal. If your goals align with ours, and the budget fits our criteria, then we'll work out a deal.

[Diode Dynamics]

We have a Sponsorships section here on our site: http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/i...sorshipsawards

Nick C.

[Mach V Dan]

I run a shop and get quite a few questions about this. I look at it like this: If I spend money on some car, how much am I going to get back? Will be be more than if I spent that money on some more standard kind of marketing, like a magazine ad? Say I have $1500 to spend. I might be able to get a good-sized ad in a specialty car magazine, and probably 50,000 people are going to see it. Assuming I donate $1500 worth of stuff to some private party car, is it going to be as much benefit as that magazine ad? Usually the answer is no. We don't do much sponsorship of that kind, because of that logic.

Now, there have been times where I did a sort of contingency thing. "Buy some parts, run my banner on your car, get in a magazine, and come back and show it to me. Then we'll talk." That's happened a couple of times.

More of my sponsor money goes to event marketing, like sponsoring an annual NASA track weekend, or the local SCCA RallyCross group.

If I do help out an individual, it's usually going to be someone I know and trust, that I think will represent my brand well and behave in a way I would myself. That pretty much rules out ever giving anything to an unknown person who just approaches me cold. I just don't trust strangers enough to spend money on them. I've learned over time that even the best-sounding intentions usually don't pan out, especially if the payout is up-front and not after the fact.

So that's how I look at it. As to advice for you...I'd basically forget about trying to get any handouts. Even fully sponsored SEMA show car people buy the majority of their parts, and often the sponsor deals are just discounts, not free stuff. Go out, do the stuff you like, and if you do well you might be in a position to ask someone for a little help.

Sometimes I think people are under the impression that everyone but them is somehow "sponsored" or getting parts free. It's just not the case. The vast majority of modders are paying for their parts, and only a tiny fraction have any kind of sponsorship -- and even those few have busted their butts (and wallets) to get to where they are.

--Dan
Mach V
FastWRX.com

[TylerLieberman]

Actual sponsors are kinda hard to come by these days. Not a bunch of companies can afford to just give out parts/lose money.

A lot of the cars that you see with full blown sponsors are cars that travel the country and see A SHIT TON of exposure. An FR-S that just sits pretty at SEMA, HIN, Wekfest, and numerous other track events across the country is much more valuable than another FR-S that gets raced at the track in 2 different states at small sanctioned events maybe 5 times in a year.

The car sitting pretty will be seen by tens of thousands of people while the car on the track will see MAYBE a couple hundred.

In my opinion, your best bet is a contingency program-as stated above, or develop a good relationship with a company and overtime, you might start to see some benefits. Nothing crazy, but it's nice.

I've been buying most of my parts from the same company (a vendor on this forum) for over 6 years. I'm not sponsored by them but they take very good care of me, throw in some discounts here and there and have even been nice enough to send me a cool care package full of awesome stuff.

Truth be told, I don't really care to try and have a bunch of sponsors. At that point, your hobby starts to become more of an obligation.

Just something to think about