The sample sponsor pack: Cedar Grove.

Hi — I'm the new sponsorship director for Cedar Grove Little League. We're a rec baseball and softball league in Ohio, about 340 kids on 26 teams this spring. Registration opens in January and the season runs April to the middle of June, opening day is April 11 and we do a little ceremony where we read the sponsor names out. Last year the guy before me just texted the same five businesses and we got $4,300. The board wants $7,500 this year because the batting cages have to be redone (we have a quote for $5,200) and we are trying to cover registration for families who can't pay it. So I actually have to do this properly. Tiers, as far as I have them: $750 team sponsor, that's their name on one team's jerseys for the season plus the framed team photo plaque. $650 field banner, 3 by 8 foot, on the outfield fence from opening day to the last game, they keep the banner after. I had a $300 scoreboard slide in my notes but we don't actually have a screen, scratch that. $250 snack shack sponsor, a sign over the window and we name a menu item after them, the Hendrick Dog or whatever. And $100 friend of the league, name on the website and in the opening day program. Checks to Cedar Grove Little League, PO Box 218. Deadline needs to be March 1 because jerseys go to print March 10. We're a 501c3 I think?? Little League charters usually are, but I have not found the EIN letter yet, so I don't know what we're allowed to say about tax stuff. Don't write 'tax deductible' if we can't back it up. Actually don't say 'donation' at all if that's safer, it's a sponsorship, they get something. What I need: an actual letter on letterhead I can walk into a business with, one page, not begging. A sheet that lists the tiers that doesn't look like my word doc with three fonts. Nobody ever answers the first email, so something I can send two weeks later that isn't rude. And when a check comes in I never know what to say — last year someone sponsored in May, their banner went up mid June and they were annoyed, so I want the thank-you to say when the banner actually goes up. And renewals: Hendrick's Hardware and Lakeview Dental did jerseys last year at $600, I want to ask them again without it being weird that the tier is now $750. Sign everything from me, Marcus Webb, sponsorship director, and our president Teresa Alvarez. marcus@cedargrovell.org. Thanks.

THE SPONSOR LETTER On Cedar Grove Little League letterhead · one page Dear [business owner's name], Cedar Grove Little League puts 340 kids on 26 baseball and softball teams every spring. We are a volunteer-run league; the fields, the umpires, the jerseys and the snack shack all run on registration fees and local sponsors. This season we have two jobs in front of us: the batting cages have to be rebuilt — we have the quote in hand, $5,200 — and we want no kid to sit out because the registration fee is out of reach at home. Our sponsorship goal for the season is $7,500. A sponsorship puts your name in front of every Cedar Grove family, all season. The tiers are on the sheet with this letter: a team sponsorship at $750 puts your name on one team's jerseys from opening day to the last game; a field banner at $650 hangs on the outfield fence all season and is yours to keep after; the snack shack sign is $250; a friend-of-the-league listing is $100. The deadline is March 1 — jerseys go to print March 10, and we read every sponsor's name out at the opening day ceremony on April 11. Checks go to Cedar Grove Little League, PO Box 218. I'm happy to come by, bring the sheet, and answer anything in person. With thanks, Marcus Webb, sponsorship director · marcus@cedargrovell.org Teresa Alvarez, league president THE TIER SHEET Team Sponsor — $750. Your business name on one team's jerseys for the whole season, on 340 fields' worth of kids' backs at every game and every practice photo. You get the framed team photo plaque at the end of the season, and your name read at the opening day ceremony. Jerseys print March 10 — this tier closes March 1, firm. Field Banner — $650. A 3 × 8 ft banner with your name, on the outfield fence from opening day to the last game in June. Every game, every family, every weekend. The banner is yours to keep when the season ends. Snack Shack Sponsor — $250. Your sign over the snack shack window all season — the one line every kid in the league stands in — and a menu item named after your business. Friend of the League — $100. Your name on the league website and in the printed opening day program, read with every sponsor at the April 11 ceremony. Every tier: deadline March 1 · checks to Cedar Grove Little League, PO Box 218 · your thank-you and photo within two weeks of your banner or sign going up. THE FOLLOW-UP EMAIL Subject: Cedar Grove Little League — sponsor sheet, one more look before March 1 Hi [name] — I came by with our sponsor sheet a couple of weeks ago and wanted to send it once more before the March 1 deadline, since jerseys go to print on the 10th. 340 kids, 26 teams, and the batting cages to rebuild this year — the tiers are attached, from $100 to $750. If it's not the year for it, no reply needed and no hard feelings — we'll still see you at the snack shack. If it is, I can pick up a check or you can mail it to PO Box 218. Marcus Webb · sponsorship director · marcus@cedargrovell.org THE THANK-YOU AND BANNER LINE Within 48 hours of the check: [Name] — thank you. Your check came in today and you're officially a Cedar Grove Little League sponsor for the spring season. Here is exactly what happens next: your banner goes up on the outfield fence within 14 days, I'll text you a photo the day it does, and your name is read at the opening day ceremony on April 11 — come stand behind home plate for it if you can. The social post, when the banner is up: Welcome [business name] to the Cedar Grove Little League family — their banner is up on the outfield fence and it's there all season. When you need [what they do], you know where to go. 📷 [photo of the banner] THE RENEWAL LETTER To Hendrick's Hardware and Lakeview Dental, who sponsored jerseys last year: Dear [name] — last spring your $600 put your name on a Cedar Grove team's jerseys for the whole season, and those shirts are still turning up at the grocery store. Thank you. It genuinely carried the league. I'll be straight with you about this year: the jersey tier is now $750. The league is rebuilding the batting cages ($5,200, quote in hand) and covering registration for families who can't swing the fee, so every tier does a little more work this season. Same deal otherwise — your name on the jerseys all season, the framed team plaque, your name at the opening day ceremony. You were first on my list to ask back. Deadline is March 1 (jerseys print March 10) — can I count you in for a team again? Marcus Webb, sponsorship director · marcus@cedargrovell.org · checks to Cedar Grove Little League, PO Box 218

1. “Donation” and “tax deductible” appear nowhere You haven't found the EIN letter, so the pack calls it a sponsorship throughout — they get something — and makes no tax claim of any kind. 2. The $300 scoreboard slide is out Your notes scratched it (no screen), so no tier mentions it. 3. The $5,200 cages quote leads the ask A concrete job with a number in hand reads better than a fundraising target; the $7,500 goal comes second. 4. The tiers run top down, $750 first A business owner anchors on the first number they read; the letter and the sheet both start at the team tier. 5. “We're a 501c3 I think” became a question, not a sentence Nothing in the pack asserts the league's status; question 1 asks you to confirm before any tax line is added. 6. The thank-you promises the banner within 14 days, with a photo Last year's May sponsor was annoyed by a June banner; the promise and the photo text are the fix, so only promise 14 days if you can keep it. 7. The renewal letter names the price change itself, $600 to $750 Hiding the raise is what makes the ask awkward; naming it with the reason (cages, fee help) is what lets Hendrick's say yes without feeling worked. 8. The follow-up gives them an out in one line “No reply needed and no hard feelings” is what makes the second email polite instead of pushy — and it is three sentences, as asked.

1. Is the league's 501(c)(3) determination letter (the EIN letter) in hand? Until you confirm, no piece carries a tax-deductibility line; once you do, one sentence can be added to the letter and the thank-you. 2. Does the $750 team sponsor also get a fence banner, or is the banner only the $650 tier? The sheet reads jerseys + plaque only; say the word and the tier adds it. 3. Is March 1 the deadline for every tier, or only the jersey tier? The sheet currently applies it to all four. 4. Is the snack shack league-run? The menu-item line assumes you control the menu; if the shack is contracted out, that line should go. 5. With 26 teams, is it one business per team (26 team-sponsor slots)? The sheet doesn't cap it; confirm and “one team per sponsor, 26 available” can be added as a scarcity line. 6. Should Teresa co-sign the renewal letters too, or just you? The sponsor letter carries both names; the renewal currently carries yours alone, since you know them.