Income generation is often key to the sustainability of any student group and securing a sponsorship agreement is a great way of achieving this. We therefore actively encourage you to seek out sponsorship deals with external companies but would ask that you please follow the advice below to ensure that both the Students’ Union and the external company can uphold their side of the deal:
All sponsorship agreements must be signed by VP Societies & Sport. Student Groups are not able to sign the agreement themselves.
Please email the sponsorship agreement (template attached) to VPSocSport@su.rhul.ac.uk so it can be reviewed and approved.
Once approved, VP Societies & Sport will sign the form and send back the signed copy for you to forward onto the company
The Student Opportunities team will also raise an invoice for you based on the information outlined on the agreement if for a monetary sponsorship deal.
If you would like any advice or guidance before reaching out to a company or when in the middle of negotiating a deal then let us know!
In negotiating your sponsorship agreement there are a few things you should probably consider:
Think about what your group can offer potential sponsors that other groups may not – i.e. do you have a good reach on social media? Do you have a large number of members who would visit regularly if you’re targeting a local business?
While we’re all for supportive networks around your group, family sponsorship can be tricky as it doesn’t provide a long-term connection for the group. Where a family sponsorship is pursued, the whole committee should be on board and approve the agreement to ensure that any potential conflict of interest is transparent, and that the whole group benefits from the deal.
The Students’ Union has a Third Party Promotions Policy in place which highlights some exclusions around sponsorship. We can talk you through this in more detail when we meet.
The template Sponsorship Agreement we use may not be applicable for some large corporations, who will generally provide a written agreement themselves. Where this is the case, please bring a copy of this agreement to your meeting with us.