Lots of good info in this thread.

I'm not an expert on sponsorship, but my current employer receives a fair number of sponsorship proposals each year and I get a chance to see or hear about most of them. I wanted to add a few comments.

I can tell you that right off the bat, the ones that simply offer decals on the car are pretty much disregarded, regardless of the driver or dollars involved (unless there is already some personal connection). Ditto for anything that doesn't appear to be professionally produced and tailored to our business (generic stats about the loyalty of race fans doesn't cut it).

As others have said, teams need to make an effort to understand a potential sponsor's business and needs, and offer creative ways to deliver value to that sponsor (and that doesn't always mean simply selling more products).

For example, in our business, many of our products are very expensive and purchased primarily by other businesses. The people that use these products on a day-to-day basis may have a decent percentage of race fans among them, but the people running the businesses (and making the purchasing decisions) seem to enjoy other things like golf, NFL football, other major league sports, etc. The ones that do enjoy racing prefer higher-profile events like the Indy 500, NASCAR Cup and Busch races, etc. One of the reasons they enjoy these higher-profile events is because they often provide better (nicer) entertainment opportunities (suites, hospitality, etc.). And we do spend a lot of money to entertain customers.

However, we just spent a decent amount to sponsor a front-running top fuel team at the NHRA US Nationals. We didn't entertain any customers, didn't get a suite, and having our logo shown on national TV wasn't really even a factor (since our territory is Indiana only). This team figured out that we have a big need for diesel and heavy equipment technicians, and they put together a proposal to use the sponsorship of their team to help us with our recruiting efforts. They arranged for booth space in the midway, our employees manned the booth and the area by the team hauler, and the team helped us collect and compile the names and contact info of several hundred potential future employees. They identified a need and put together a creative solution. I wouldn't say that writing the check was a total no-brainer, but having a specific, measurable outcome was a huge plus.

It's often said that in order to maximize the benefit of a sponsorship, a company has to be willing to spend 2-3 times the original sponsorship dollars to promote it. So unless they have a sophisticated marketing organization with experience in this, don't leave it up to them to figure out ways to promote it. Make it easy for them, and understand that actually racing the car is only part of it. There's a lot more work you're going to need to do.

Obviously, every business is going to be different, and what works for one might not work for another. But that's the point. Making a race car go fast is hard work, but finding good sponsorship is probably going to take as much if not more effort.

Again, this is just my perspective from where I happen to sit, but maybe some of this info will help someone. If I had to sum it up in one sentence I'd say "think outside the box".