Finance
Funding
Sponsorship
Why get Sponsorship?
Sponsorship is not only a great way to fund your group's activity, but also an opportunity for you to expand your
own personal professional network and improve future career prospects.
- What do you want from your sponsorship deal? Sponsorship doesn't always have to be monetary, for
example a food company may be able to provide refreshments for an event or an industry expert may be
able to deliver skills workshops for your members.
- What can you offer you sponsor in return? Remember sponsorship is two-way relationship so you need
to think about what you are going to offer your sponsor. Examples of this are displaying the
sponsor's company logo on your group's banners, hoodies or social media pages.
Alternatively, you may be able to promote their services via your society newsletter- make to never
share your members' personal details with the sponsor (e.g. names, email address', phone
numbers) and that any communication with your members is only via your own channels.
- Who is the right person to contact? Do your research! Don't just contact company employees on
LinkedIn. Use the generic enquiry email address or phone number on the company's website and ask
who the best person to talk to would be.
- Tailor your application to each company! Don't just copy and paste the exact same application,
research each company and their strategy.
- Be honest about any other sponsorship deals your group currently has or have had in the past
- Include an overview of your group and make it personalised! This can include photographs from any
successful events you've held, your society's social media engagement stats and member
demographics.
- Follow up after a couple of weeks, if the answer is no, ask for some feedback on move onto another
application
Successful Application? What to do next:
- Contract: Make sure you have a contract with your sponsor, detailing what you both
agree to. Use the template below. Make sure to send you contract to [email protected] before signing for a member of the
Activities team to check over. Once your contract has been checked over by the Activities team it
will need to be signed by both a member of the committee and the sponsor. Make sure to keep a copy
of your signed contract and send one to [email protected] also.
- Invoice: Once your contract is signed and sent to the Activities Team, you'll
need to fill in the invoice request form below. Send the filled in invoice request form with the
signed contract to [email protected].
- Maintain the relationship: It is mportant that you do your best to maintain your
agreement with a sponsor. The more proactive you are in working with your sponsor, the more likely
they are to sponsor your activity group in the future. Honouring your commitment is vital to
maintaining a lasting, positive relationship between your group and sponsor. Also, breaking a legal
agreement with a company could potentially have serious consequences. As well as honouring your
contract with your sponsor, here some additional things you could do to help maintain the
relationship with a sponsor:
Send a thank you letter when the contract is signed, or when money or services are receive, send
them pictures of events, ahare examples of their money, logos or donations in action and put
together a report, including pictures and examples of how money was used, with a short
description of why their sponsorship was so important to your group
How to increase your chances of getting sponsorships
We find that having your own custom email address can make your society appear more professional to
potential sponsors, so we've put together a short guide to getting your own domain:
1. Purchase a Domain Name:
There are many domain name registrars to choose from, but the most popular ones are, Namecheap, Hover and iwantmyname. An example of what your custom email
will look like: [email protected]. You can choose other top-level domains such as .org, .net etc.
Domains can cost as little as £5 per year.
2. Choose an Email Hosting Provider:
The next step is choosing your Email Hosting Provider. This is the service that will host your domain and
there are many to choose from such as Google, Office 365 Business Essentials, Zoho Mail, FastMail,
ProtonMail, Pobox and Rackspace Email. When selecting an email hosting service, consider the best email
management solutions, storage capacity, technical support and, of course, an affordable price. The
process of creating a custom email address is more or less the same for all providers and you can find a
step-to-step guide on how to do so with a few providers here.
You are now set up with your own custom email address!
Here are some useful sponsorship templates:
Development Funding is available to all KCLSU Activity Groups and Societies. The funds can be used
for groups to carry out normal core activities, new projects or KCLSU Events (i.e. Welcome, One World, etc.).
Please note: Student Activity Groups and Societies are able to apply for funding for all of the
above. Sports Clubs and Liberation Networks are able to apply for funding for KCLSU Events (i.e Welcome, One
World, etc.).
Development Fund 2022-2023 Application Dates:
- Window 1: open until 19th August at midday (Core & New Initiatives funding for
STUDENT ACTIVITY GROUPS ONLY, Welcome funding for student activity groups, sports clubs & networks)
- Window 2: 12th October at midday - 4th November at midday (Core & New Initiatives
funding for STUDENT ACTIVITY GROUPS ONLY)
- Window 3:15th December at midday - 13th January at midday (Core & New Initiatives
funding for STUDENT ACTIVITY GROUPS ONLY, Student Volunteering Week funding for student activity groups,
sports clubs & networks)
- Window 4:10th March at midday - 21st April at midday (Core & New Initiatives
funding for STUDENT ACTIVITY GROUPS ONLY)
The Accessibility Fund - Open all year round!
This year an extra pot of funding has been made available to make student group events more accessible and
inclusive. The money can be used on items including
- Funding interpreters for events
- Booking accessible venues with gender-neutral facilities
- Additional materials in different formats
Please ensure that your application details the exact items you require and explains the impact that this funding
will have on your event.
You can apply for this fund through the Development Fund and the Liberation History Month Funds. For more information
on how to apply, get in touch with us at [email protected].
Liberation History Month Funding
Liberation History Months are run throughout the year to celebrate strides made in the struggle for liberation, to
reflect on past and present-day oppression and to challenge racism, misogyny, ableism, transphobia and homophobia,
in all its forms; both locally and nationally. Liberation History Months are a time when people from all backgrounds
can come together to explore liberation issues and discover what they can do as individuals to fight oppression.
Fund dates this year are:
LGBT+ History Month (Feb)
Funding opens: 28th Nov
Funding closes: EXTENDED 16TH JAN 9AM
Apply here: https://kclsu.typeform.com/to/MvAbncl2
Student Volunteering Week
Funding opens: 6th Jan
Funding closes: 22nd Jan (23:59)
Apply here: https://kclsu.typeform.com/to/B1nAyBnh
Women's History Month (March)
Funding opens: 9th Jan
Funding closes: 29th Jan (23:59)
Apply here: https://kclsu.typeform.com/to/xtpfumEl
For any questions for if you'd like to get involved with Liberation History Months please email [email protected]
KCL Internationalisation Fund
Internationalisation Funding is available to all KCLSU Activity Groups and Societies to increase the multicultural
dimensions of the student experience and open access to more diverse group of students. This fund can be
specifically used for events where two or more societies collaborate for an event. These events can be planned
already or be in the process of planning for the future.
The Widening Participation Fund
What is the WP Fund?
The WP Fund is a pot of money which Kings students can apply to for up to £500 to fund a widening participation
initiative/project which they have designed and will deliver. Any funding provided covers the costs of delivering
your project such as equipment, textbooks and software. We are currently only accepting proposals for online
delivery projects due to health and safety. We generally only accept proposals from a student
society/group/club/committee rather than solely an individual student.
What does Widening Participation mean?
Project Planning Training
If you and your society/club/group want to run a WP project at least one person from your group will need to attend a
Project Planning training session. To sign up to one of these sessions click here. If you are hoping to run a WP project which requires no
funding, at least one person still needs to attend Project Planning training.
Please submit this proposal by Monday 31st October 11:59pm 2022. Email the completed form to
[email protected]
with the subject line as ‘Widening Participation Fund Project Proposal’.
Please note that successful applications will be asked to pitch to the WP team on Monday 28th November or
Monday 5th December.
The Kings Community Fund
The Kings Community Fund is now open!
Do you have a big idea on how to improve the King’s community? Whether an individual, group or student
representative you can apply for the King's Community Fund to make it happen.
The fund is open between the 3rd of October till 31st of October, and you can apply here.
The fund is made possible through donations from King’s alumni and is there to support ideas and projects aimed
at improving our King’s community or for being part of something with fellow students.
Applicants can bid for between £750 and £10,000 for each project. The fund can cover things like
equipment, promotional materials, conference/event costs and training. It’s there to help make an idea
happen.
Shortlisting for this opportunity will conclude on Monday 7th November with successful applications presenting to the
selection committee on Wednesday 30th November.
Check out the guidelines for more information, and
[email protected] with any questions.