Music Funding 101

How To Approach Sponsors

The whole purpose of TalentFunding.com is to connect bands with sponsors. So a band member might ask, "What do I do after I'm connected?" I'll answer that with the assumption that most of the bands reading this have no sales experience.

A band's first email contact with a sponsor (after the TalentFunding.com contact-request has been granted) should be to verify that the sponsor is indeed looking for the type of music that the band has. Also, using the sponsor's "username" in the message ("Hello, BandSponsor1") will help show that the same message is not being sent to everyone. The band is not contacting that many sponsors (since it costs money to do so), so it makes sense for the band to talk to the sponsor like an individual. A one-paragraph introduction that gives the basic idea of the band, the location, and funding levels desired, should be fine.

Remember this: sponsors don't want to be "found out"; they want to be invisible until they need to make phone contact with the band. At that point, the sponsor will say to give them a call at their number. Until that point, simple emails going over the basics are all that is needed. Basics like: telling the sponsor what the band's Web site is, and mailing a CD to the sponsor, etc. The band might wait on inviting the sponsor to a show, however, since many times a sponsor wants to talk on the phone before deciding to go to a show.

It may take several weeks for a sponsor to reply to an email (even though the sponsor approved the request), due to the fact that most sponsors are working people and they probably will be getting contacts from more than a few bands. Also, if a sponsor has found a band that they think is workable, the sponsor may hold off answering any more emails for a while. If it's the band's first email to the sponsor, it's recommended that the band doesn't try emailing again for two weeks. Mean time, the band can read more articles, or contact other sponsors, or do something else (play some shows?)

When phone contact is made, (preferably with the best-spoken member of the band), the band can then talk about the things which were stated in the emails. The best way to do this is to print out the emails and the profile of the sponsor, and have it on hand while on the phone; notes can be taken on these printouts too. The main goal of early phone calls is to decide if the person on the other end of the line is someone that you can talk to daily, for the next year. If not, maybe give it one more phone call just to be sure. If still not, then just tell the other party that you appreciate their current interest, but you will probably have to wait until your next project before considering working with them.

After one or more phone calls, the sponsor may want to meet in person, either at a show (before or after the performance), or at some other place that the sponsor likes to meet at. If, however, the sponsor does not ever ask to meet, and the band finds itself talking about the same things over and over again to the sponsor, then the band should make the offer to meet.

The main purpose of a meeting, like a phone call, is to decide if this is the person that you want to be talking to every day for the next year. The purpose of the meeting is not really to show how good the band can play, since there will be many other opportunities to do that. And besides, a performance can always be improved with practice, but personalities cannot.

The main rule for a band to remember is to be meeting with AT LEAST three potential sponsors at the same time. If possible, the band should be talking with ten or more. (If nobody in the band has sales experience, then this rule will just have to be believed.) Attempts at contacting each sponsor should be limited to every two weeks, unless of course the sponsor makes a request, or until such a time that things have moved forward a bit and actual negotiations are taking place.

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