I've had a few years experience running the Melbourne University Ski Club. We had a few key sponsors but it was hard to get stuff from them. Altitude Ski Store is a local ski shop. They have an outlet here in Melbourne and one up at the snow where our Uni lodge is. They did 15% off for all club members which was awesome of them and I completely recommend them to anyone who lives here.
Mt Buller, on the other hand, didn't offer us much at all. They gave us some promo stuff at the start of the year but their ticketing and marketing departments were so distant that they couldn't offer us discounted season passes. Very shit of them. Having said that they did supply snow for our uni rail jams a few times which was nice.
Other good ones have been clothing companies. Companies like red bull have been good insofar as giving us free drinks and a DJ van every now and then but they'll never let you use their logo or establish a permanent relationship. There should be a red bull rep at your uni who can get you slabs of the drink for your events. Whichever energy drink you go with, stick with it. It doesn't look good if you chop and change depending on the event.
So what can you learn from this? Whichever sponsors you choose, work hard. You're offering them a big new market and they should reward you for it. That doesn't mean you're entitled to all their shit for free. It means the harder you work to promote their gear/mountain/shop the more they'll give you in return. This means mentioning them in all your club emails and organising pizza/beer nights at their stores for your members, and making sure people actually turn up. Playing companies off against each other isn't really going to work unless you're the NBA or something similar, so you're better off establishing a good relationship and nurturing it as long as possible. Make sure your members truly believe they're getting a better deal by going to the store that sponsors your club. Prepare a report at the end of each year for each sponsor showing how many club members shopped there. Don't lie on it. Rather, use it to show them how important your club is to their business, and if the results aren't favourable then it means you have to work harder.
