Building Your Sponsorship Packet

Your sponsorship packet is your sales brochure

A sponsorship packet (sometimes called a sponsor prospectus) is a polished PDF you send or hand to potential sponsors. FIRST provides a Team Sponsor Packet Template inside its Fundraising Toolkit, and strong examples are everywhere - for instance, FRC Team 5587 Titan Robotics publishes its packet online. A good packet answers the only question a sponsor really asks: what is this, and why should my company care?

What to include

• Cover : team name, number, logo, and a striking robot or team photo.
• Who you are : a short description of FIRST and your team, your school/community, and your record (awards, events attended, students involved).
• Impact / the ‘ask’ : what FIRST does for students (STEM skills, plus eligibility for tens of millions of dollars in scholarship opportunities), and a clear statement that you run on sponsorships and donations.
• Budget snapshot : a simple chart of what it costs to run the team, so sponsors see their dollars are needed and accounted for.
• Sponsorship levels (tiers) : a clear table of giving levels and the benefits at each (next lesson).
• How to give : check, online, in-kind, your tax status (501(c)(3) EIN or fiscal sponsor), and a named contact with email and phone.

Make it personal

Generic packets get ignored. The FIRST fundraising guidance and successful teams agree on one thing: personalize. Add a short, specific note explaining why this company is a fit - ‘As a local machine shop, you could help us with both funding and CNC mentorship.’ Tailor the photo or the ask to the recipient when you can.

Design it to look credible

Use a clean, branded layout in Canva, Adobe Express, or Google Slides. Keep it to 2-6 pages. Include real photos of students and the robot - people fund people, not abstractions. Proofread ruthlessly; a typo in the ask signals you would mishandle their money.

Keep two versions

Maintain a detailed packet (full PDF) and a one-page leave-behind for in-person visits and events. The one-pager should have the levels table, a photo, and contact info so a busy manager can act without reading six pages.

Action step

Draft your packet this week using the FIRST Team Sponsor Packet Template (in the Fundraising Toolkit) as a skeleton, then study two or three published team packets to see how real teams phrase their ask and structure their tiers.

Key takeaways

• A sponsorship packet is your sales brochure: team story, FIRST impact, budget snapshot, tiers, and a clear way to give
• Personalize every packet to the specific company; generic asks are ignored
• Keep a full detailed PDF and a one-page leave-behind, both clean, branded, and photo-rich

This lesson was adapted from learnfrc.com.