October 27, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Subject: Sponsorship
Before you chuck this into the waste basket, please give a girl a chance and read on a bit.
Some background: I have been an athlete all my life. I have played softball, basketball, field hockey and volleyball. I have brown belts in judo and kenpo karate. I began running competitively in my 20s. I dropped out a while and started up again in my mid-30s. I dropped out again for a while and am now 47 years old and training for my first half marathon [The Disney World ½ Marathon]. There isn’t anything special about that; there are hundreds of middle-aged women training for their first half marathon. The difference is: I’m the one writing to you and asking that you sponsor me.
I’m not asking for money – seriously, what sort of marketing would that provide you? What I’m asking for is for you to provide me with gear: running apparel, running shoes, visors, hats, socks, bras [do you make those?] and anything else a runner might need. I already exclusively wear adidas gear – it’s the best gear out there for running. I just wear out my gear ridiculously fast and it gets expensive.
Why should you sponsor me? What would you get in return?
You get a mature woman who is training every single day, out on the road in full public view wearing your gear. Being a “mature” woman [not that I’m an old sea hag], I get noticed when I’m out there sweating my butt off. I provide hope and encouragement to other mature women and men that they can still be active and healthy. Do you see where this can go? Right now, you’re marketing almost exclusively to younger men and women. By younger, I mean the 18 to 30 crowd. Baby-boomers are huge. They’re everywhere. Use me to market to them – at least in my corner of the world. [I realize I’m just barely on the cusp of being a baby boomer, but it’s not like there’s a secret handshake or anything…]
Where’s my corner of the world? Orlando, Florida – home to Disney World [and the Disney ½ Marathon in January of 2010]. We have hundreds of thousands of baby boomers and older gen-Xers just hanging around, waiting to be mesmerized by your gear [on me, of course].
If you will sponsor me, I will wear your gear with your brand/logo every single day while training and also during the main event – the Disney World ½ Marathon in January 2010. This isn’t the only race I run; I also run 5Ks and plan on running other ½ marathons. The Disney one is an annual event and I’ll be there again next year.
Oh — UCF [University of Central Florida] is just up the street from me. They’re my hometown team. They contract to exclusively wear adidas brand. One thing I can promise they can’t: I won’t wear any Nike.
Thank you so much for your time,
ChariD
