A sponsor outreach tracker is a private record of which brands you have approached, what they actually said and what you need to do next. For a jiu jitsu athlete managing conversations around training and work, a small spreadsheet is enough to start. Give every active conversation one clear next action instead of relying on memory or unread messages.

This is an organisation guide, not another email template. If you are still deciding what to say, start with our first sponsor email guide. The tracker begins where that message leaves off.

Use one row per conversation

Create a private sheet with the fields below. These are our suggested fields, not requirements from brands or a promise of more sponsorship. Add a row only when there is a real reason to consider a partnership.

  • Brand and contact route: the business, relevant contact and the channel you are using.
  • Reason for the fit: one specific connection between the brand and your audience or activity.
  • Last contact: when you last wrote or spoke, with a link or reference to the original conversation.
  • Actual response: a short factual summary, keeping an expressed interest separate from your interpretation.
  • Status: where the conversation currently stands.
  • Next action and date: what you will do, and when it is appropriate to do it.
  • Proposal version: the dated document under discussion, if there is one.

You should be able to understand a row after a busy competition weekend without rereading a month of messages. “Waiting” is incomplete. “Waiting for the contact to confirm who handles partnerships; review on [date]” tells you what remains open.

Choose statuses that describe evidence

Start with a short set: researching, contacted, in conversation, proposal sent, paused and closed. Keep confirmed partnerships in a separate delivery overview so prospective work does not become mixed with existing commitments.

Move a row because something happened. A friendly reply can move it into conversation; it does not make the brand a sponsor. If your proposal changes, update the document reference. Our sponsorship proposal template can help you put a specific scope on paper.

For example, imagine a fictional contact replies that they are reviewing next season's plans and asks you to return in November. Record that request, mark the conversation paused and set a November review. Do not translate the message into “interested sponsor” or send weekly reminders.

Use a short review to make decisions

Once a week, filter the sheet for actions due. Check the original message before responding. Has the person asked for a particular document? Is the proposed event still relevant? Can you deliver the work you were considering?

The KNVB's sponsorship guidance for clubs encourages understanding the sponsor's objectives and recording a useful lesson when an approach does not fit. For an individual athlete, our suggestion is to add a short closure note: what the brand said, whether it invited future contact, and what you would change in your own preparation.

A blank reply field means there is no response recorded. It does not tell you why. Avoid labelling people uninterested, unreliable or too small based on silence. Your tracker should help you act accurately, not turn guesses into a history.

Keep the sheet useful and private

Store only the business contact information and context needed for the conversation. Leave out personal speculation and sensitive details that do not belong in outreach notes. If somebody helps you, decide who owns each next action so the same brand does not receive duplicate messages.

Do not publish this sheet as part of your media kit. A potential sponsor needs your public story and a relevant proposal, not a list of other brands you are approaching.

Our take: track the next action, not the size of the list

A manageable record should reduce the time spent wondering what you promised. Start with a few real conversations and improve the sheet when an actual need appears.

  1. Create the basic columns. Keep each entry short enough to scan.
  2. Recover three real conversations. Check the original messages before adding their status.
  3. Give every active row a next action. Respect any timing the recipient has specified.
  4. Close or pause stale ideas. Keep one useful lesson rather than carrying an endless list forward.