Drew,

No one will sponser you unless they see a return on investment. My local service station threw $800.00 worth of brakes at me but I promised to park the car at thier shop for three days when I got back. I found that places were more open to barter good or services but there is nothing that says you can't sell anything they give you. With your car Import Speed shops or tuner shops might kick in a little but other venues such as Dealerships and places you wouldn't think t ask would consider it if they feel they can draw people in with the car.  In other words Your car may have to earn it's own ticket so you need something else to drive while its working. You could start tomorrow if the car still has all it's stickers.

My tip to you, its all a numbers game, if you want ten sponsors you will need to send out about 100 proposals. and so on. And a key is to find people in your area who know car people, you can find a cool company, however if they are anti car culture its going nowhere fast. I found it much easier to get sponsors for rallying then when I raced in karting and stock cars. Rallying is a people sport. Good luck and keep with it.

I simply talked to the parts stores that I deal with all the time. I have spent countless dollars myself there as well building my truck so they were willing to cut me a slice. The shop I work for my boss will help sponsor me. As long as my truck is painted. LOL.

My suggestion is hit the business' you deal with on a regular basis first. A lot of the time they will help you put a sponsor package together that they would like to see if you wern't already known to them. You can also set up car washes, bottle drives. etc.

Or set up a rally of your own and use the procedes as well. Creativity is the key.

A nice request package is key. Take several nice shots of the car from several angles. Action shots from last years rally would be nice. Tell them about the rally and show photos of celebrities that attended or have attended. Tell them that the Rally is shot for a TV show called "Cops Cars & Superstars" and tell them your car will be in it. Give them a list of car shows that you plan to attend in the next 12 months. The key is to really sell yourself as well as the car. The key is TV exposure. Media Exposure for them. I have a standard PDF I send out that I customize for the specific company I am trying to get sponsored from. My entire motor build I am doing now didn't cost me a dime for the parts. I picked up Wiseco Pistons, Carrillo Rods, Supertech, & L.A. Sleeve as new sponsors just by sending them a request package via email.

I think it's easier to get parts out of sponsors then cash but some maybe willing to pony up for the exposure.

Good Luck

I have been dealing with some local tuner shops in the area for a long time and have actually become friends with the owners.  They are the ones "sponsoring" my car right now by giving me discounts on parts and services.  In the past I used to be sponsored by an internet company out of california that specialized in mazdas and mazda powered cars.  With their discounts, I was able to get the j spec engine that I had in the car at half off, as well as other parts that I needed for the build.  The down side is, the sponsors dictate how many carshows/racing events you go to, when your car has to be ready for shoots, ect.  That is the down side, and thus why I am no longer in the import/sport compact scene, nopi events, and what not because I had sponsor issues when the transaxle in the car blew out for the fourth time.  I was young and this was 11 years ago.  Know what you are getting into before you sign on the dotted line if they make you sign a contract....

And don't show up saying "I'm building a car." They like pictures of a complete, painted car. It's slightly different if you have spent $2000.00 on concept renditions and the car is sitting on a jig.

In my humble experience when it comes to auto sponsors parts at discount are easier and they will never give $$$ so the $20,000 will have to come from you.

I managed to obtain quite a few sponsors for the rally to the tune of about 8K  some of it was bartered and some straight up cash. Its possible with the right pitch and details. A lot of what Tony (solstice)  and Tony (racertci) said is the way to go. Work it and work it hard. There will be a lot of NOs...  Just make sure you put together a good package and it should work.

Sponsorships are all about marketing, so keep that in mind. You need to find your best selling points and capitalize on them. Remember, these are different for each individual. Don't try to be someone you aren't and never oversell yourself. You never know, the company you are approaching might just be looking for exactly what you can provide. My biggest sponsorship deal ever came out of a deal like that. I told them I was a grassroots driver trying to make it big. I didn't come to them and say I am or I am going to be a professional. I didn't say I will definitely qualify at every event I attend. I told them exactly what I was—an amateur, female driver (selling point) who tends to get a lot of local coverage and really knows her local community of drivers (selling point). It just so happens that is exactly what they were looking for at the time. They wanted to grow with someone and groom them. I was going to be their first sposnored driver, so they wanted to take it slow rather than just jump in head first with the #1 pro driver. It turned out very well for both of us. I got them local grassroots coverage and in the meantime was able to get almost all of Atlanta using their products...mainly because I am very active in the community and people trusted my word. I wasn't some big-time untouchable person that people were afraid to approach for anyting other than their autograph. Eventually I did start to travel the country and tons of grassroots drivers started using their product and then....I ended up going pro the following year and getting them tons of national TV and mag coverage.

A nice, finished, inclusive, professional looking package is also necessary. You need to have shots of your car from all angles and very true that it MUST be a finished car. You aren't Chip Foose, so renderings won't get you far unless you are just showing possible sticker locations on your finished car and as it pertains to sticker location, make sure you outline all of the options available and how much they will cost. Don't make it a guessing game for the sponsor. They don't have time for all that. Also, cater your package for each individual sponsor you are pitching to. If it's K&N, make sure you see their logo prominantely in the package somewhere. It also needs to include info on the drivers and their backgrounds, a calendar of events you have attended in the past and they type of coverage you have recieved in the past to accompany what you are currently pitching. No company wants to only hear "I will blah blah blah", they ALL want to hear "I HAVE done this and this". Unfortunatley, you have to spend some of your own money to get this resume unless you are just in the right place at the right time, but I wouldn't count on it. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but it has been my experience that I had to do a lot of work on my own before I got sponsored. I had a well performing shop for 6 years before we landed our first deal. We spent about $200k/year building our resume before anyone even looked at us or shook our hand at SEMA.

Also, keep in mind this is a bad economy, so Tony is right when he says they are looking for their best ROI. In other words, "impressions" they will receive by sponsoring you. Some companies want to hear about "face to face" interactions and some companies just want "air time". That's where your research on each company will come in handy. Look to see who/what they sponsor and what type of coverage those people/events get for them. Oh and trust me when I say that they all want to hear that you will particpate in the event you are pitching even without them. Don't make it seem like they are your desperate attempt at making it to particpiate. Immediate turn-off.

Last but not least, this game is 90% about who you know or who you get to know—and only about 10% to do with your talent or impressions. So, get out there and mingle. If you have the opportunity to go to a place like SEMA or PRI or any other type of trade show where you can shake hands and maybe get invited to a party where you can cut up and get to know the marketing person, you need to do it. Also, persisitence is a MUST. You need to call the person in charge at least once a week...ON THE PHONE. Emails get deleted and you end up on the spam list real quick. You have to remember that these people are busy and they have to deal with eleventy billion other people just like you trying to get their money. One email just isn't going to do it. I would also suggest that you make telephone contact before you send a package. That way they kow you are sending it and won't spam it. A lot of these companies get a lot of unsolicited mail, so they are quick with the delete button. Once you do decide to send your package, make sure the subject line is clear and concise. A little PR tip (I go to school for PR currently), use the persons name in the subject. That way they know it's not spam. Then, once you get to the body of the email, use the KISS method. Keep it simple stupid. You want the most riveting and important info to appear in the paragraph first. That way they are sure to get all of the info you want them to have right up front. This way if you capture their interest immediately, they will want to read further. The last thing you want to do is write a boring, droning email. Oh and as it pertains to "who you know", if you already have sponsorship relationships, even if you just got it yesterday, list them. If you have a great, long lasting relationshp with a company, include them as an industry reference. The companies you are pitching to love to see who else is on the bandwagon.

I could really go on and on about this for days. I am pretty seasoned and have gotten a lot of money and product from companies and I don't even win, but this is a good summary. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up via email tracyshayhorn@gmail.com

Best of luck to you!!!!!!

Wow, thx Tracy!

awesome post!  Thanks for all the info!