Starting a team questions

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

At lower levels, race team sponsorship is almost always
a financial loser. Often it is useful to try to piggyback
on sponsorship at a corporate level. For example, a lot
of teams and events were sponsored by Saturn during the
period that corporate Saturn sponsored a team. That's
because the company gave its dealers incentives to sponsor
bike related stuff.

Our best sponsorships involved a relationship with a team
member. One of our riders works in engineering management
and is involved in vendor selection for his employer. If
they throw a big contract at a supplier he'll approach
some of the people he worked with on the proposal with a
modest sponsorship. It'll be pocket change compared to the
value of the contract and most will treat it as the cost
of maintaining good customer relations.

I wouldn't do cold calls for the same reason I don't
argue velodrome turns with monkeys. There's no point.

Bob Schwartz

On Mar 27, 11:38 am, Bob Schwartz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

Quoted message said:

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Quoted message said:

Thanks.

At lower levels, race team sponsorship is almost always
a financial loser. Often it is useful to try to piggyback
on sponsorship at a corporate level. For example, a lot
of teams and events were sponsored by Saturn during the
period that corporate Saturn sponsored a team. That's
because the company gave its dealers incentives to sponsor
bike related stuff.

Our best sponsorships involved a relationship with a team
member. One of our riders works in engineering management
and is involved in vendor selection for his employer. If
they throw a big contract at a supplier he'll approach
some of the people he worked with on the proposal with a
modest sponsorship. It'll be pocket change compared to the
value of the contract and most will treat it as the cost
of maintaining good customer relations.

I wouldn't do cold calls for the same reason I don't
argue velodrome turns with monkeys. There's no point.

Bob Schwartz

He's not looking to be the next T-Mobile, just modest sponsorships
from a few people he's already in contact with. Mostly, he's just
looking for a template to get the ball rolling, and I think potential
sponsors will only take him seriously if he produces an official
looking document. If you don't ask them, you'll never know.

With that said, he's going into this fairly blindly. I'm sure there's
all types of complexities involved when it comes to taxes and all
that. If there's a "How to start a small-scale team for a no-name
rider or two for local races" site somewhere, let me know.

Scott Gordo said:

On Mar 27, 11:38 am, Bob Schwartz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks.

Quoted message said:

At lower levels, race team sponsorship is almost always
a financial loser. Often it is useful to try to piggyback
on sponsorship at a corporate level. For example, a lot
of teams and events were sponsored by Saturn during the
period that corporate Saturn sponsored a team. That's
because the company gave its dealers incentives to sponsor
bike related stuff.

Quoted message said:

Our best sponsorships involved a relationship with a team
member. One of our riders works in engineering management
and is involved in vendor selection for his employer. If
they throw a big contract at a supplier he'll approach
some of the people he worked with on the proposal with a
modest sponsorship. It'll be pocket change compared to the
value of the contract and most will treat it as the cost
of maintaining good customer relations.

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't do cold calls for the same reason I don't
argue velodrome turns with monkeys. There's no point.

Quoted message said:

Bob Schwartz

He's not looking to be the next T-Mobile, just modest sponsorships
from a few people he's already in contact with. Mostly, he's just
looking for a template to get the ball rolling, and I think potential
sponsors will only take him seriously if he produces an official
looking document. If you don't ask them, you'll never know.

With that said, he's going into this fairly blindly. I'm sure there's
all types of complexities involved when it comes to taxes and all
that. If there's a "How to start a small-scale team for a no-name
rider or two for local races" site somewhere, let me know.

As The Schwartzmeister said, it is a waste of f-ing time for a low
level amateur team to go out and seek sponsors. If someone has an
interest and has an inclination to "help out," that is really another
whole thing, and is fine -- but really, that is hobby-ish stuff.

Personally, I don't like taking any help -- some dumbass might think I
owe them something because I accepted some spare change. Keep it
clean. Pay your own way if you are a low level amateur and
essentially doing it for fun, fitness, or comradarie with friends. My
pets ride for Team Guvmint and I am the sponsor, but they have no
natural talent, with the exception of maybe Fennell, as he did beat a
girl (Linda Jackson) once.

The reason low-level amateur teams get sponsors is so goofy dorks can
put names on their team kits and pretend they have some similarity to
pros. I would suggest some rainbows on the team kit too.

That is pretty much it. I am in purple.

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

a team on it's own is a money pit. if someone is interested in
starting a team, they have to do it as part of a broader plan.

a local team should make it a priority to put on an event (kids,
program, race clinic, century ride, training race, weekly TT, local
crit....something!).

if you put on an event that a) generates revenue from fees and more
importantly b) gets you respect from the community (both the cycling
community and the local community).

sponsors will be more interested in sponsoring an event since they see
it as doing something for the community and an event guarantees
exposure in a way that having some schmoes wear their logo on their
backs doesn't. plus you have created an event for your team to ride
in.

Amit Ghosh said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

a team on it's own is a money pit. if someone is interested in
starting a team, they have to do it as part of a broader plan.

a local team should make it a priority to put on an event (kids,
program, race clinic, century ride, training race, weekly TT, local
crit....something!).

if you put on an event that a) generates revenue from fees and more
importantly b) gets you respect from the community (both the cycling
community and the local community).

sponsors will be more interested in sponsoring an event since they see
it as doing something for the community and an event guarantees
exposure in a way that having some schmoes wear their logo on their
backs doesn't. plus you have created an event for your team to ride
in.

Dumbass,

That's right. I'm not sure the main sponsor of my team gets back his
costs in terms of marketing value, but he gets something and it might
actually be worth it financially. We're sponsored by an amusement
park about four miles away from a major public park that lots of
families with kids use, and we parade around in our stuff and have a
moderate amount of recognition there. Plus we go to a couple of
community events/rides for families each year.

Dans le message de
news:[email hidden],
Amit Ghosh <[email hidden]> a réfléchi, et puis a déclaré :

Quoted message said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's
looking for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he
can use to contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

a team on it's own is a money pit. if someone is interested in
starting a team, they have to do it as part of a broader plan.

a local team should make it a priority to put on an event (kids,
program, race clinic, century ride, training race, weekly TT, local
crit....something!).

if you put on an event that a) generates revenue from fees and more
importantly b) gets you respect from the community (both the cycling
community and the local community).

sponsors will be more interested in sponsoring an event since they see
it as doing something for the community and an event guarantees
exposure in a way that having some schmoes wear their logo on their
backs doesn't. plus you have created an event for your team to ride
in.

I won't argue or agree with your perception, as I don't know the American
model. The French model works, because it is mostly internal.

Teams in France are the made up of the most capable _club_ members,
occasionally fielding both Elite 2 and Elite 3 teams. Those racers are
supported by the remainder of the club, which is of a lesser talent level,
but they serve as both riding partners and cheerleaders of the racers. Some
clubs are exclusively racers, but they are more unusual. When you have the
larger population of club members supporting the costs of racing, you have
more "billboards" and wider interest in a particular neighborhood for the
advertiser's message. Having 50-200 riders arrive together at a single
location means that for 60-150km, the message has been transmitted that many
times to a broad viewing public. And that is usually a public that is aware
of the sponsor. My club has the local Peugeot garage, a local branch of a
national bike store, and other local businesses to back it, but they don't
pay quite so much as you might imagine.

Further, the sexy part of riding - the expensive state of the art bike and
components - is _not_ part of the French cycling scene. Most of the Elite 3
racers get free bikes, but they are typically 7005 aluminium with Veloce/105
components. Elite racers will get something more elevated, and Elite 1's
get really nice stuff, but for training, they will commonly use a group
below the top, to save money.

The French model works well enough that regional teams are followed
nationally, such as ACBB, Pomme de Marseille, etc. And this being a more
proletarian group of racers, generally, they actually live normal lives,
have real employment, and don't expect to be on a Pro Tour team from the
beginning.

I would say that if your racing team wants to do itself good, they can give
up all the extra special and expensive gear and spend the money on racing,
getting experience, having some reasonable palmares, and getting onward by
their skill and drive.

But that may be dreaming in the USA.
--
Sandy
--
C'est le contraire du vélo, la bicyclette.
Une silhouette profilée mauve fluo dévale
à soixante-dix à l'heure : c'est du vélo.
Deux lycéennes côte à côte traversent
un pont à Bruges : c'est de la bicyclette.
-Delerm, P.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Amit Ghosh said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

Oh Amit, if only you knew! Heck, I wish I knew the whole story.

Short version: The Larry (and for that matter, Barb) Zimich of the story
are indeed local Cat 1/2 racers, and Larry is in particular a very
strong rider who is a threat at most local races. He has not really had
substantial teams supporting him for some years, and as for his rep in
the peloton, locally the back of the 1/2 pack is derisively known as
"Larry's Office."

By the start of 2007, BH/Integrale had recruited several decent local
riders, though aside from Larry, I don't recall any of them rising much
above the level of 1/2 pack fill. Certainly no nats-level threats among
them.

They raced a few early-season events looking like a reasonably competent
team.

At some point, everything went pear-shaped. By mid-season, they weren't
really riding as a team. I heard rumors they were barely speaking to
each other. Clearly the sponsorship package wasn't as deep as expected.

Here's the BC Cup (local elite race series) results from 2007:

<http://www.cyclingbc.net/itoolkit.asp?pg=FLORAGLO_ROAD_BC_CUP_07FTP01655
1>

Sorry, clicking on the results link on that page force-downloads a PDF
of the results. At least it's not too big.

Anyway, the team completely melted into vapor by season-end. Zimich is
now riding for Zimichcoaching.com. He got a 4th place in one of our
pre-season races this month.

And that is the short and brutal half-year of BH/Integrale. I hear the
bikes are pretty nice.

My club (Escape Velocity) is very well supported by our sponsors, most
notably Louis Garneau. The essence of what we sell to sponsors is our
strong culture of volunteerism (we put on a significant proportion of
the Cycling BC racing calendar), and our youth-development program. The
cycling-related sponsors come for the exposure we can offer, but we get
a lot of grants and bits and pieces that show up because we have the
dEVo squad and so forth.

Right now even world-class pro teams have a hard time finding sponsors.
It's not like there's people beating down the doors looking for someone
to wear their colors on a race bike, at least on this continent.

If the team you want to start is basically you and a bunch of friends,
and if none of you have aspirations to race at the Continental level (at
a bare minimum), I would strongly urge you to consider whether the
pursuit of sponsors will have an hourly rate of return that makes it
worthwhile.

Further, as an unsponsored team you could be cool like Gentle Lovers or
Evil, instead of lame like this team:

http://www.midweekclub.ca/gear.htm

BTW, that team is sponsored by the Evil La Bicicletta, while my team is
sponsored by the Good La Bicicletta (and also Wentings). The story is
slightly wacky, but there really are two:

Evil:
http://www.labicicletta.com/

Good:
http://labiciclettaproshop.com/

The similarity in their logos is . . . not coincidental.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Amit Ghosh said:

Scott Gordo said:

Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?

My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
contact potential sponsors?

Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

a team on it's own is a money pit. if someone is interested in
starting a team, they have to do it as part of a broader plan.

a local team should make it a priority to put on an event (kids,
program, race clinic, century ride, training race, weekly TT, local
crit....something!).

if you put on an event that a) generates revenue from fees and more
importantly b) gets you respect from the community (both the cycling
community and the local community).

sponsors will be more interested in sponsoring an event since they see
it as doing something for the community and an event guarantees
exposure in a way that having some schmoes wear their logo on their
backs doesn't. plus you have created an event for your team to ride
in.

Dumbass,

That's right. I'm not sure the main sponsor of my team gets back his
costs in terms of marketing value, but he gets something and it might
actually be worth it financially. We're sponsored by an amusement
park about four miles away from a major public park that lots of
families with kids use, and we parade around in our stuff and have a
moderate amount of recognition there. Plus we go to a couple of
community events/rides for families each year.

And you missed a chance to mention them, apparently on purpose - that's a
mistake.

Scott,
I've just been waiting for someone to ask this question.
Go to Google and search for : "Cycling Sponsorship Manual".
When the result comes up it should be Phonak's bible with lots of
interesting details in it.
I can't get the pdf to work now but the html through google is still
active.
Fascinating stuff. Probably more than your bro needs. Tell him to
wade through it anyway.
'Read this, kid...get some ideas...'
ABS

Ryan Cousineau said:

At some point, everything went pear-shaped. By mid-season, they weren't
really riding as a team. I heard rumors they were barely speaking to
each other.

dumbass,

i know about the zimichs and knew who they were when i originally read
the article. i also knew how it was going to end before i had even
finished reading the article back in 2006.

it is obvious from the article they had no idea what they were doing
and had no way to get the cash to even last a season.

Quoted message said:

My club (Escape Velocity) is very well supported by our sponsors, most
notably Louis Garneau. The essence of what we sell to sponsors is our
strong culture of volunteerism (we put on a significant proportion of
the Cycling BC racing calendar), and our youth-development program.

EV is a model team. the races generate revenue and sponsors want to be
involved because they see the team contributing to the local scene.
this is why i suggested to the original poster that the team that's
looking for a sponsor should put on an event (if it doesn't have a
patron that is).

Quoted message said:

Further, as an unsponsored team you could be cool like Gentle Lovers or
Evil, instead of lame like this team:

http://www.midweekclub.ca/gear.htm

BTW, that team is sponsored by the Evil La Bicicletta, while my team is
sponsored by the Good La Bicicletta (and also Wentings). The story is
slightly wacky, but there really are two:

Evil:http://www.labicicletta.com/

I know that story too. La Bicicletta has been a very good sponsor for
us and is an excellent store. we are lucky to have several great
sponsors, but also we have no sponsor logo on our jersey in '08. our
sponsors are more interested in the exposure they get from our races
and events.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Amit Ghosh said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

At some point, everything went pear-shaped. By mid-season, they weren't
really riding as a team. I heard rumors they were barely speaking to
each other.

dumbass,

i know about the zimichs and knew who they were when i originally read
the article. i also knew how it was going to end before i had even
finished reading the article back in 2006.

it is obvious from the article they had no idea what they were doing
and had no way to get the cash to even last a season.

Heh. I thought you might enjoy some of the local flavor, though I admit
to not knowing enough of the story to add any really good gossip.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My club (Escape Velocity) is very well supported by our sponsors, most
notably Louis Garneau. The essence of what we sell to sponsors is our
strong culture of volunteerism (we put on a significant proportion of
the Cycling BC racing calendar), and our youth-development program.

EV is a model team. the races generate revenue and sponsors want to be
involved because they see the team contributing to the local scene.
this is why i suggested to the original poster that the team that's
looking for a sponsor should put on an event (if it doesn't have a
patron that is).

Quoted message said:

Further, as an unsponsored team you could be cool like Gentle Lovers or
Evil, instead of lame like this team:

http://www.midweekclub.ca/gear.htm

BTW, that team is sponsored by the Evil La Bicicletta, while my team is
sponsored by the Good La Bicicletta (and also Wentings). The story is
slightly wacky, but there really are two:

Evil:http://www.labicicletta.com/

I know that story too. La Bicicletta has been a very good sponsor for
us and is an excellent store. we are lucky to have several great
sponsors, but also we have no sponsor logo on our jersey in '08. our
sponsors are more interested in the exposure they get from our races
and events.

Interesting about the no sponsor logo. Do you have a pic of the new
jersey?

Three generations of our kit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcousine/2161566242/in/pool-12983094@N00

The red and black is the current one.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Hobbes@spnb&s.com said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Amit Ghosh said:

On Mar 27, 11:16 am, Scott Gordo <[email hidden]> wrote:
> Has anyone here started a sponsored racing team before?
>
> My brother is interested in starting one, and, naturally, he's looking
> for sponsors. Does anyone have a sort of template letter he can use to
> contact potential sponsors?
>
> Thanks.

dumbass,

what bob and greg said is true.

no sponsor sees any commerical value in some local racers wearing
their name. so the "sponsor" is actually a patron, usually the
business of a team member or someone a team member does business with
(shops fall into this category). the exception is kids. people will
sponsor kids even if they don't see a return.

i was interested to see how this team would progress :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4505

their plan was hopelessly naive and self serving, and so we never saw
the follow up to that article.

a team on it's own is a money pit. if someone is interested in
starting a team, they have to do it as part of a broader plan.

a local team should make it a priority to put on an event (kids,
program, race clinic, century ride, training race, weekly TT, local
crit....something!).

if you put on an event that a) generates revenue from fees and more
importantly b) gets you respect from the community (both the cycling
community and the local community).

sponsors will be more interested in sponsoring an event since they see
it as doing something for the community and an event guarantees
exposure in a way that having some schmoes wear their logo on their
backs doesn't. plus you have created an event for your team to ride
in.

Dumbass,

That's right. I'm not sure the main sponsor of my team gets back his
costs in terms of marketing value, but he gets something and it might
actually be worth it financially. We're sponsored by an amusement
park about four miles away from a major public park that lots of
families with kids use, and we parade around in our stuff and have a
moderate amount of recognition there. Plus we go to a couple of
community events/rides for families each year.

And you missed a chance to mention them, apparently on purpose - that's a
mistake.

Bike racers in NYC know us already.

Sandy said:

I won't argue or agree with your perception, as I don't know the American
model. The French model works, because it is mostly internal.

dumbass,

my response wasn't meant to explain the american 'model', but to give
some useful input for the original question.

my suggestion was that if you don't have a patron (which most existing
amateur teams rely on), you need to have some sort of program that
brings value to either the racing community (ie. you collect fees) or
a potential sponsor.

you will still rely on your contacts to land sponsors, but you will
get a better reception if you are seen as contributing to the overall
scene, especially, if it's getting kids or newcomers involved.

there are clubs here that fund a racing team from a much larger base
of recreational riders, but this is simply a larger and more organized
form of what i described, since presumably all those club members join
to enjoy the benefits of a club program.

but starting a 300 or 400 rider touring club would be a very
circuitous way to go about funding a small racing team.

Sandy said:

Quoted message said:

my suggestion was that if you don't have a patron (which most existing
amateur teams rely on), you need to have some sort of program that
brings value to either the racing community (ie. you collect fees) or
a potential sponsor.

Collect fees? Taxation?

sure. we run a weekly series (about 30 wks including fall cyclo cross)
and charge $5-10 a head. the revenue from this funds a team as well as
other projects we want to undertake (bigger races) which don't pay for
themselves.

this does require a certain amount of planning and staffing and has
some operating expense, but i am struck by the lack of original
thinking in the cycling community.

someone with little or no resources could easily run a weekly TT
series or run a weekly supported ride.

given the spring conditions people will gladly pay $5 to have the
security of having a car follow with their extra clothing, food and
spares.

all it takes is a volunteer with a car and four hours to spare.
parents of teenagers will feel better knowing that their kid is not
riding country roads in winter by themselves and there is a helper
with a vehicle with them if there is a problem.

unlike trying to build up a club from scratch over years this is
something a person could do tomorrow. there is an immediate return and
you generate goodwill in the cycling community, which might lead to a
sponsorship.

Ryan Cousineau said:

Heh. I thought you might enjoy some of the local flavor, though I admit
to not knowing enough of the story to add any really good gossip.

I get some west coast news because there's a few teammates who are
going to school in Vic. and i know a few people who have relocated to
BC.

Quoted message said:

Interesting about the no sponsor logo. Do you have a pic of the new
jersey?

no pic yet. but i thought it would be more versatile since we have
many sponsors who are interested in supporting only a particular race
or series. we're hoping to get a couple seasons use out of the design
this way too, since the sponsor situation is always changing.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Amit Ghosh said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

Heh. I thought you might enjoy some of the local flavor, though I admit
to not knowing enough of the story to add any really good gossip.

I get some west coast news because there's a few teammates who are
going to school in Vic. and i know a few people who have relocated to
BC.

Quoted message said:

Interesting about the no sponsor logo. Do you have a pic of the new
jersey?

no pic yet. but i thought it would be more versatile since we have
many sponsors who are interested in supporting only a particular race
or series. we're hoping to get a couple seasons use out of the design
this way too, since the sponsor situation is always changing.

Here we finally moved to a 3-year funding cycle so as to cause less
grief for our jersey design group. Basically, becoming a jersey sponsor
entails a 3-year commitment, because that's how long it will be before
we change the design. Our current design has four sponsors on it.

Despite that, we have attracted a surprising number of itinerant
sponsorships in the last year or so. Much of that is in-kind, or part of
special grants (the GM logo on our homepage is thanks to a
coaching-grants program they offer).

In terms of funding, it's a mix of membership fees, sponsorship money,
and a lot of money from our races.

Like your club, we run a weekly series May-August, plus racing every
weekend in March. Those two club series are our bread and butter, and
the money all turns into various stuff, notably funding for our youth
team to get coaching, travel and entry fees for out-of-town races,
various member perks and minor subsidies, and all kinds of junk that you
need to go to races or run races (everything from "RACE IN PROGRESS"
signs to a bike trailer). Last year we bought a bunch of stuff for our
CX races: we built not only barriers, but a whole staircase, and now we
have that hardware.

The biggest problems in our club are those of success: we've got 120
members or so, way up from years past, and this imposes issues like how
we manage members, how we even get to know who our members are
(especially important when the premise of the club is that you're
service-oriented!), and what it means for local racing when your club is
a substantial proportion of the 4/5 field.

Nothing that's likely to wreck the club, but it still has to be dealt
with.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."