SOCIAL MEDIA, SPONSOR & ALUMNI RELATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA:
I managed the team's Instagram page (@rensselaer_motorsport), and led the team to a 225% increase in likes on our posts, increasing our average like count from ~75 to ~300per post. Our interactions per post also increased greatly, from ~150 per post, to upwards of ~1000 per post. Our increase was the result of a multiple factor approach. We first found our target audience: the greater FSAE and Automotive/Motorsports communities. The two are very active on multiple platforms, especially Instagram. We then made the point to use hashtags and tags more effectively to attract this target audience. We set up a posting plan, collecting and curating content weeks before we posted, and preparing clever ideas and content for testing days, holidays, and more. Generating greater engagement in each post and looking at our KPI's of like counts and follower increase rate were two of my targets in helping grow the team's social media pages.
SPONSOR & ALUMNI RELATIONS:
My job? Bring in the money.
As a student-funded organization that is funded only partially by our school, our sponsorships are what allow us to thrive and reach the level that we do at competition each year. Our minimum budget to run the team each year is upwards of $70k, of which we have been historically funded an average of $15k-20k by the school. My approach to garnering sponsor money was multifaceted, taking a four pronged approach:
1. "Big Fish" - The big companies of the likes of Boeing, BAE Systems, Tesla, etc. that are seeking qualified engineers from our team.
2. "Little Fish" - Small local companies that can support us with either funding or materials.
3. "Builders" - Sponsors that can manufacture parts for us; composite work, CNC-machining, etc.
4. "Family & Friends" - Fundraising in its most classic sense, word of mouth and through connections.
The two biggest selling points of our organization are the qualified engineers that we breed, and that we are a 501(c)3, meaning that we are a non-profit that any donations (monetary or parts-in-kind) are tax deductible, inherently allowing this approach to fundraising.
To do so, I created a standardized format for our Sponsorship Packet (as seen below), outlining the team structure, how we do our work, and what we are, as well as how much money we are seeking. For the "Big Fish", we wrote tailored funding proposals alongside the sponsor packet, to request funding for more specific elements of the build. For "Little Fish" we visited in person or called to inquire if they'd be willing to donate. For "Builders", we worked alongside them to design and manufacture parts on our car. Finally, we promoted to friends and family by informing them that any donation over $250 would garner their name on the car. This approach worked amazingly for acquiring funding.
Sponsors also received monthly (to the best of my abilities) newsletters informing them of progress on the car, a subsystem showcase of work being done, as well as general team updates. We also created a similar version that was sent to alumni, to keep them engaged in the process. We rely a lot on the knowledge of our sponsors and of our alumni, so keeping them in the loop on how the project is progressing is integral.
With the number of sponsors that we have, I reworked an old model of a "Sponsor Matrix" that we had created to keep track of all of them. In the matrix, we kept a running list of the sponsors, which car they were last involved in, what sponsorship tier they were in (to determine the size of their logo on the car), the point of contact at the company, who on the team was in communication with them, and most importantly what they did for us. I managed most sponsor interactions, either being the primary PoC, or facilitating discussion between subsystem leads and sponsors.
OTHER BUSINESS TEAM DUTIES:
Alongside these duties, I also did many other things for the business team. In reworking the teams' brand identity, I made sure to update the teams' website accordingly and frequently with new sponsorships, new pictures, and updated information. The website has since migrated to rensselaermotorsport.com from formularpi.org, and is/has under(going)gone a full redesign.
Furthermore, for the 2021-2022 season, I was one of the designers of the teams' merchandise. I was in charge of the design of our race suits, jackets, polos, and standard T-shirts, as well as some of our printed media, like our car poster. Photos of some of these garments can be found below.
