Pageants are a great way of helping others, gaining confidence and having an amazing weekend away surrounded by likeminded woman but they can get very expensive! Not only do you have to pay your entry fee but there are hotel costs, dresses, make up, shoes, hair, the list goes on! The entry fee is there for a reason (as that goes on the cost of holding the event, room hire and international costs if your pageant leads to internationals) but they do offer you the chance to find a sponsor to help you. This blog piece will give you some ideas about sponsorship and how you can achieve sponsors to help with your pageant journey.
1. Always approach professionally
If an company is going to invest money in you, they want to put their money into someone who is professional, sending a facebook message with misspellings is not the best way to approach a business. Local businesses are the best option for sponsorship as then you can be more active when promoting their services, this means you can also approach them dressed smart, have a face to face conversation and set the outlines of your sponsorship agreement. Sponsors can use the pageant entry as advertisement which means they can claim the money on their VAT receipt, so when pitching the idea make sure to compare it to an ad in the newspaper or an online advertisement slot.
2. Sponsorship works both ways- you need to promote.
With all my sponsors I have made sure to promote them, through advertisement campaigns, attending their events, even just promoting them on social media. Some sponsors may pay the money and not expect anything as they already get the ad in the pageant booklet or tickets to the event but sponsorship can exceed the hundreds! Remember, you may need another sponsor if you compete in another pageant so it's always good to maintain a good relationship. At the agreement of sponsorship, you should draw up an arrangement so you can both stick to the agreement, this also protects you so you aren't expected to do anything you are uncomfortable with or over used as free labour.
3. Sponsorship is not just about money
Most pageant girls chose to self pay because finding a sponsor can hard in this present day, and the thought of emailing and calling different businesses can fill you with the fear! Asking for money may be hard, but asking for products and services can be a little easier, whether it be hairdressing, nails, make up or photography services can be great promotion for both parties. As you climb higher into your pageant journey, don't get too cocky and expect people to just give you free things,you should treat every sponsor as if they were handing over money, you should promote back!
4. Be active on social media
Tag your sponsors, on every social media platform, be active! They will appreciate it, turn up to their shop for promotional shots or film a video promoting their services and talking about how they have helped you on their pageant journey, blogs are also great!! A company are more likely to sponsor you if they see how active you are and also what you do as a queen. If your pageant page has been dormant for two years and now you are asking for sponsorship, they are going to question what you can give in return. However, if they see how active you are then they know they are getting a good investment.
You don't have to get a sponsor for pageants but it does help! You can also self fundraise, put by some money each month, a lot of people hold raffles or even car boots!! Do what feels comfortable for you but remember that if you do find a sponsor, maintain a great relationship and your pageant journey will be smooth sailing!
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