Business sponsorship tiers (Gold/Silver/Bronze)

Priced packages that trade specific, deliverable recognition for money.

Typically raises

$1,500

$250–7,000 per sponsor

About $50 per organiser hour

Based on a 150-200 member club

Is it right for us?

Money: $500–2,000
Work: Weeks, part-time
Helpers: 1–2 people
Lead time: 2–4 months
Red tape: None

Fairly common: bigger clubs do it; smaller ones rarely formalise

People: 1-3
Organiser time: 20-40 per season
Lead time: 2-3 months before season
Up-front cost: $100
Risk: low (printing, signage)
Who can use it: No entity needed to sell sponsorship, but sponsors expect an invoice; a GST-registered club must charge GST.

Suits: Sports club or team

Less usual for: Primary or intermediate school, High school, Team going to a tournament or tour, Community group, marae or service club, Kapa haka, choir, theatre or band

When: Summer (Dec–Feb), Autumn (Mar–May), Start of the sports season

How big a job: Several weeks, part-time, 1–2 people

How it works

The money, as an example sum

Sell at $500 a sponsor package, keep $500, so 4 sponsor packages = $2,000, or about $1,900 after about $100 of costs. That’s about the typical result.

Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.

Where the money figure comes from

Real NZ club prices: Clifton Rugby gold $2,500/yr, silver board $500 + sign, junior team $250; Marist North Harbour packages $500-$7,000; TidyHQ indicative tiers $500-$3,000/season for a 150-200 member club.

Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.

Step by step

List what you can actually deliver and cost each item.
Build 3-4 tiers with specific deliverables and a price on the page.
Make a target list, starting with businesses already connected to members.
Approach in person or by short email; ask for a 15-minute chat.
Put the deal in a one-page agreement (term, deliverables, price, GST, renewal date).
Invoice, deliver, and keep evidence (photos, post screenshots).
Send a short end-of-season report and ask about renewal.

Getting the word out

Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.

Ask for help: A member who knows the business owner to make the ask.
Ask people to buy: Local businesses to sign up as sponsors.
When to start: Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 6–8 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.

Where to put it

Asking people yourselfMost yeses come from someone asking directly. Give every member a short message they can send to family and workmates.
Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.

The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.

What you’ll need

Place: Not neededNone needed
Landowner’s permission: Not needed
Council permit: Not needed
Food rules: Not neededNo food sold
Alcohol: Not neededNo alcohol sold
Gambling rules: Not neededNot gambling

Sponsorship is advertising income, not a donation, so no donation receipt; a GST-registered group charges GST. Signs on council land may need landowner consent.

Make more from it

Fence or clubroom signs in each tier
$250-1,000 per sponsor (estimate)
a visible deliverable sponsors can photograph
Jersey logo for the top tier
often $1,000+ (estimate)
the most-valued placement

Stack it: on its own, about $1,500. With the 2 priced add-ons above, roughly

$3,100est.

Tips

Offer a multi-year discount (Clifton: $2,500 single year, $2,250/yr for three years).

Watch out for

Unpriced prospectuses; promising reach you can't show; forgetting to deliver what was promised.