Parents Gym local sponsors

[Akinnz]

Hello-
The local gymnastics gym is almost two years into opening and all the parents and coaches are new to the process. Going to one of the meets, I noticed a gym having banners with local business sponsors. Just wondering how people go about doing that. The gym could definitely could use more equipment going into the next year to be more efficient and as a parent would like to help with this but just need advice if this is a normal thing and how to go about it.

What I have noticed is the meet we went to had banners for the businesses who sponsored the gym, assuming there are different tiers for sponsors.
If any of your gyms have done this, what did the price points look like, did you just go into business and solicit money. Lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gym_dad32608]

That can be a tricky question. First off, I am not a tax attorney or accountant, so I would recommend definitive discussions with them but I have been very involved with booster clubs and this comes up often. Any business can sponsor a gym, it is basically paying the gym to advertise their product typically via banners in gym or if the gym hosts a meet at the meet. But many businesses are more targeted in their advertising dollars so other gyms might seek donations from businesses with a tax write-off. In this case, either the business has to be registered as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 or (c)4. Most gyms are not but booster clubs are. In this scenario, the business is giving a tax-deductible donation. But if it is through the nfp booster club, those funds cannot go to benefit the for-profit gym since NFPs are intended to have a broader charitable mission (ie. the promotion of gymnastics for the COMMUNITY not a business).

Legal junk aside, most sponsorships start within the gym. Parents that own a local business or have connections to ones that do. From there it is a cold call type situation. I would typically see 250-500 price points for sponsorship. But that is going to depend on the community you are in. Metro, suburban, rural. You would have to figure what "packages" you would offer and be clear that it is for advertising. I would also check with accountant/tax lawyer on this too, since I know for some businesses only a certain percentage of revenue can come from not business-related activities. So, the gym made 10k revenue from tuition but 50k in advertising could be a problem.

 

[Akinnz]

That can be a tricky question. First off, I am not a tax attorney or accountant, so I would recommend definitive discussions with them but I have been very involved with booster clubs and this comes up often. Any business can sponsor a gym, it is basically paying the gym to advertise their product typically via banners in gym or if the gym hosts a meet at the meet. But many businesses are more targeted in their advertising dollars so other gyms might seek donations from businesses with a tax write-off. In this case, either the business has to be registered as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 or (c)4. Most gyms are not but booster clubs are. In this scenario, the business is giving a tax-deductible donation. But if it is through the nfp booster club, those funds cannot go to benefit the for-profit gym since NFPs are intended to have a broader charitable mission (ie. the promotion of gymnastics for the COMMUNITY not a business).

Legal junk aside, most sponsorships start within the gym. Parents that own a local business or have connections to ones that do. From there it is a cold call type situation. I would typically see 250-500 price points for sponsorship. But that is going to depend on the community you are in. Metro, suburban, rural. You would have to figure what "packages" you would offer and be clear that it is for advertising. I would also check with accountant/tax lawyer on this too, since I know for some businesses only a certain percentage of revenue can come from not business-related activities. So, the gym made 10k revenue from tuition but 50k in advertising could be a problem.

This was so interesting and so helpful. Thank you so so much. This gives me a great start.

 

[JBS]

Legal junk aside, most sponsorships start within the gym. Parents that own a local business or have connections to ones that do.

This is exactly what we have found. We stopped doing this long ago as it's just too much work for the money. Most people don't understand the legal side of it and that turns into an issue.