How to Organise and Run a Team
With the many questions asked about how to find sponsorship, I'd think the main problem is that most are tackling the problem from the wrong direction. Long before you approach sponsors a more important question to answer is: "How should a team be organised and managed?"
After all, before you can attract meaningful sponsorship you have to have some kind of organisation/entity to be able to sell to possible sponsors. If you aren't serious enough about the team to organise it properly, why on Earth would someone else take it seriously enough to give you sponsorship?
Unless you're simply being "sponsored" with discounts or inconsequential merchandise or services, the sponsor will definitely want to know their interests are going to be looked out for and that the money or equipment ends up where they want it to end up.
Surely proper organisation of a team would have to consist of written bylaws covering:
- Team Management/Executive (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, PR)
- Membership (attendance, dues, player ranking)
- Accounting procedures (Team finances)
- Equipment storage and use (who can use team owned equipment and when)
- Meeting rules and regulations (quorum, voting requirements, decision making/debating)
Think that's too complex? Well, how do you determine:
who's on the roster for the next tournament?
who can compete in a tournament using the team name?
who does what before, during, and after a tournament?
how to kick someone off the team?
how to accept and rank new members?
how much money the team has or equipment is available?
when the team should be dissolved and the assets liquidated and who should get the proceeds?
I hazard the guess that a better run team should result is a better performing team. Team performance, presence, image, and organisation would certainly be judging criteria for any serious sponsor.