Here’s our expert guide to help schools find the funding they may need for custom spiritwear orders through developing long-lasting community partnerships!
All of us at ARES Sportswear understand how countless schools need funding more now than ever when it comes to serving and educating their student bodies, and that local businesses everywhere are also in need of new methods of marketing and growing their brand awareness.
So who knew that spiritwear could actually be the solution for supporting schools and businesses at the same time?!
One of the very best aspects of custom spiritwear is that it helps provide a greater sense of school pride throughout a community, but a lesser known benefit of spiritwear is that it’s a great way of raising school funds while simultaneously providing an incredible value for local businesses.
We understand how this type of win-win situation is a great type of partnership that keeps giving to educational efforts and local economies, and on this page we’re going to delve into our own expert guide of 7 steps to help schools better understand the overall process that goes into developing community partnerships!
So here are our 7 steps to help schools fund their spiritwear via community sponsors:
Step #1: Develop A Thorough Understanding Of Your Goals
Our team will be able to help you when it comes to deciphering quotes for the bulk orders your school is going to need, but once you have this type of information it’ll be time to start setting your fundraising goals.
It will be important to set these goals high enough to so you’ll be able to cover the overall costs of your order, and you should also always consider any additional funds that your school would like to raise.
But your goals don’t always necessarily have to be oriented around fundraising, because you should also keep goals in mind in terms of the types of spiritwear your school may need throughout different times of year. During the fall months it’s rather common for schools to create spiritwear stores oriented around Winter Sports teams, and one of the most common ARES products in this regard is our increasingly popular Sportie Hoodie.
September also just so happens to be a great time to initiate your spiritwear orders because we’re running a 15% off special from the 1st-15th of the month on ALL of our apparel through our LABOR15 code!
Step #2: Creating Your Partnership Packages
Once your school administration has established your fundraising and aesthetic goals, you’ll need to begin focusing on the pricing levels for your potential sponsorships. It’s always important to remember that you’ll have to highly regard your sponsors’ incentives when it comes to establishing long-lasting partnerships, and the number one way you’ll be able to interest potential collaborators is by focusing in on what you’ll be able to provide them.
Here are a few ways in which schools typically go about recognizing their community partnerships beyond printed logos on shirts and other types of spiritwear:
- Logos on PTO/PTA website
- Shout outs at events (sporting events, pep rallies, festivals, parent-teacher conferences, etc.)
- Logos and advertising on social media outlets
- Logos on student homework folders and agenda notebooks
Step #3: Devise Potential Partnership Opportunities
This is the part of the process in which you should begin brainstorming certain partners that could potentially work out, and this is where your PTO/PTA can be very valuable. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when it comes to common community partnership opportunities:
Existing Partnerships: There’s a good chance that your school already has some really great, long-term community partnerships with many different local businesses and organizations. It’s always important to keep your most loyal partners foremost in mind in terms of your future plans and opportunities!
Community Businesses: A good place to start with finding new community partnerships is asking your PTO/PTA about certain business entities that they may have close relationships with, and you should also consider any businesses that are within close proximity to your school’s location. Here are some common business types that will typically partner up with schools:
- Restaurants
- Orthodontists/Dentists/Doctors
- Sports/Fitness
- Automotive
- Real Estate
- Home Improvement/Construction/Engineering
- Education/Tutoring/Summer Camps/Child Services
Parents Of Students: It’s inevitable that many of your students’ parents will either own or work for certain businesses that are interested in developing community partnerships, so Letter to Parents emails and snail mail actually can end up being an incredibly effective marketing tool!
Step #4: Go Create Your Community Partnerships!
The most successful schools from a partnership creation standpoint will typically utilize a whole variety of marketing/communication channels, including:
- Social media posts
- Sponsorship forms
- Email/Letter to parents
It’s also important to remember the following:
Ask For Help: This usually means recruiting a reliable team of PTO/PTA members, because creating community partnerships shouldn’t always be held on a school administration’s shoulders. There are unique community relationships just waiting for you to find through your parents!
Be Specific And Personal: This will typically entail things like personal lines within emails or even hand-written notes within flyers. It’s important to utilize the power of suggestion to the most appropriate capacities, because being at least a little bit forward when it comes to requesting partnerships will ultimately help you fulfill your sponsorship goals!
Follow Up: It’s always absolutely critical to follow up with any potential partnerships, because for the most part business leaders and people in general will always need multiple requests before getting a legitimate response.
Step #5: Collecting Your Partner’s Logos
This is an exciting step of the process because it means you’ve officially acquired a community partnership! So once you’ve earned a commitment, it’s important to secure your payment and ask for their logo for spiritwear and school shirts (as well as other types of promotional opportunities).
Step #6: Email These Logos To ARES Sportswear
This is the time when you’ll take your partners’ logos and send them to our team, as well as whatever other school logos and text that you’d like on your school shirts and spiritwear items.
We’ll be able to take it from there and bring your spiritwear dreams to fruition!
Step #7: Giving Gratitude To Your Community Partners
There are many ways in which you can go about thanking your partners for their commitment to your school, but in the end they should simply know just how much you appreciate their sponsorship and how they are helping your school community via fundraising towards fulfilling your spiritwear goals!
Reach Out To The ARES Sportswear Team For More Information About How We Help Our Clients Develop Community Partnerships!
We understand how school administrators and PTA/PTO organizations will likely have many questions when it comes to devising these types of fundraising strategies, which is why our team is always available to you.
Always feel free to reach out to us online or call us at 800-439-8614 today to speak with one of our experts about how we’ve helped many schools obtain the fundraising they’ve needed for spiritwear orders, and how we can do the same for your school!