Getting a sponsorship from a game server provider is probably one of the best things that can happen for you and your clan, especially when the clan budget is a bit on the low side. Almost any clan out there would want to be sponsored somehow, however only a select few ever get it. So how is it that this clans get the sponsorship and some don't?

You need to be a well-organized clan.

Simply put, no company would ever sponsor a clan that was established last night. Sponsors would like to have a long-term relationship with a clan as much as possible. And so that brings us to what exactly is a 'well-organized clan'? There has always been three major factors in determining a well organized clan and they are the following:

Clan Website, sponsors are always looking for ways to expose themselves to the public. And the best, and probably the one with the largest amount of return investment for them is through a clan's website. Having a statistics logger in your clan website is handy especially when the sponsors would like to see how much visitors you get per day, how many unique visitors you get per day, and other useful information to them.

Clan Member Population, the second most important factor would be the amount of members that you have in your clan. Sponsors know that the more members you have, the greater the chance of advertisement by word of mouth.

Clan Activities, and the last one would be how 'active' is your clan? Does your clan go to LAN tournaments? Does your clan play in any leagues? The more active your clan is, the higher the chances of your clan being in the acceptable position by the sponsors.

What's in it for the sponsor?

It's not just a one-way relationship between your clan and the sponsor. You need something to offer them in exchange for their services. Remember, if you do get sponsored a business establishment is putting some of their investment on your clan, they expect something in return for that. And this is where 90% of the clans out there looking for a sponsorship fail. Things like 'We will put banners in our website!' or 'We will idle your IRC channel 24/7' just isn't enough to bring home the bacon.

It's a business relationship after all.

Treat your your sponsor the way they're supposed to be treated...in a business like manner. Letters that start with a formal greeting and end in a formal manner really helps a lot. Instead of Hey man, can you sponsor us? Thanks. try Greetings Mr. _____, ... Sincerely, Mr. _____. And yes, I know what you're thinking right now, 'My English teacher was right after all'.

So do you think you and your clan are up to it? Then what are you waiting for! Sit down with your clan and do it. I wish you all the best of luck.