Discussion: Secrets In Seeking Event Sponsors?

I have been tasked with finding financial sponsors for a major Canadian meet coming up in 2010.
I know who I want to approach. They are companies I know in our area who seem to want to be associated with a 'green' label. For the most part the companies also know me but they don't associate me with orienteering.
In fact the decision makers in these companies know little or nothing about orienteering. I think I need an information piece for them. A description of our sport and the event will have to be at the same time brief and compelling. Does anyone have an attractive pamphlet or letter about orienteering designed for the corporate individual. I think the right piece would describe the sport and the typical demographic of the orienteering crowd. As well as perhaps what support of our event could do for their business.
Any information or success stories you could share would be greatly appreciated.
gordhun (at) rogers (dot) com

I don't have any direct experience with this. But, in the course of working with the data from USOF's member survey, I've been intending to draft something like a Sponsor Kit or Media Kit for USOF (since a lot of the content could be derived from the survey data -- demographic info, income, travel habits, etc.).

So, if you want to be formal about documenting the value proposition for your poptential sponsors, you might want to put together something like this or this.

My experience is more in getting sponsorship for teams or individual athletes. I wouldn't say I'm particularly good at it, but what I have learned is that sponsors like TV. I would first try to get a committment from a local TV station to run a short piece on the news covering the event. Then you can go to the sponsor and tell them that you will make sure their name and logo appear in the coverage. Local pieces are typically put up for syndication and, if the topic is novel enough, quite a few other stations might air the piece. I recall being quite shocked when a rider in Seattle said he recognized me from a news short that was run by a Rochester, NY station. Be careful how you say this, though - you can't promise this, just suggest it as a possibility.

With Ottawa affiliates of CTV and CBC available on Bell TV across the country, local coverage might pay off nationally.

Orienteering Australia has a sponsorship opportunities brochure here: http://orienteering.asn.au/promotion/ . Might be of use to you.