Purpose

Many voluntary sports clubs face financial difficulties and consequently turn to external funding sources. Recent developments suggest that sports clubs have been successful in significantly increasing sponsorship income by professionalizing their sponsorship activities. However, not much is known about how voluntary sports clubs professionalize their sponsorship management (e.g. sponsorship staff). This study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the components addressed and the practices used by voluntary sports clubs to professionalize their sponsorship.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study was conducted to gain in-depth insights into voluntary sports clubs’ organizational developments in the context of sponsorship management. Data were collected from six sports clubs through document analyses and problem-centered interviews with decision makers. The data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach, which included both deductive and complementary inductive coding of the data.

Findings

The results show that the components addressed in the professionalization of sponsorship management are reflected in three dimensions: “people and positions” (e.g. sponsorship staff), “structures and processes” (e.g. differentiation of responsibilities), and “strategies and activities” (e.g. sponsorship rights orientation). It was also found that clubs, which have diverse characteristics and levels of professionalization, pursue distinct approaches.

Originality/value

In contrast to studies on professional sports organizations that focus primarily on the sponsor’s perspective, this study sheds light on sponsorship management in sports clubs in the non-profit sector. The findings can help voluntary sports clubs to transform their sponsorship management strategically and increase sponsorship income in the long term.

中文翻译：

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志愿体育俱乐部赞助管理的专业化：对组成部分及其规格的全面分析

 目的

许多志愿体育俱乐部面临财务困难，因此转向外部资金来源。最近的事态发展表明，体育俱乐部通过赞助活动的专业化，成功地显着增加了赞助收入。然而，对于志愿体育俱乐部如何使其赞助管理（例如赞助人员）专业化，人们知之甚少。本研究旨在更深入地了解志愿体育俱乐部所涉及的组成部分和用于实现赞助专业化的做法。

设计/方法论/途径

我们进行了一项探索性案例研究，以深入了解赞助管理背景下志愿体育俱乐部的组织发展。通过文件分析和以问题为中心的决策者访谈，从六个体育俱乐部收集了数据。使用定性内容分析方法对数据进行分析，其中包括数据的演绎和补充归纳编码。

 发现

结果表明，赞助管理专业化的内容体现在三个维度：“人和岗位”（如赞助人员）、“结构和流程”（如职责区分）、“策略和活动”（如赞助权定向）。研究还发现，具有不同特征和职业化水平的俱乐部追求不同的方法。

 原创性/价值

与主要关注赞助商视角的专业体育组织研究不同，本研究揭示了非营利部门体育俱乐部的赞助管理。研究结果可以帮助志愿体育俱乐部战略性地转变其赞助管理，并从长远来看增加赞助收入。