Frequently asked questions – drivers

What does Elevate do for drivers?

We provide a range of driver services such as social media brand building and follower attraction, logos design, trackside photos, press releases and hero cards. We host a preseason workshop on speaking to the press, working with broadcasters and being a brand ambassador. We also manage the sponsorship side of your business including sourcing sponsors, contract negotiations, contract draft and legal, accounting and collections of funds, end of year tax documentation. Once the sponsorship begins, our team delivers all of the print materials, press releases, social media posts, track side hospitality, events and photography. We provide sponsor tracking reports to show our progress throughout the year and a year end debrief.

How do you decide  which drivers to partner with?

It all starts with a personal interview and finding out who you are and what you goals are. Number one, we need to be able to create value in your drivers brand. But it is very important that all of our driver act responsibly both on and off the track. We have a zero tolerance policy for racism, hate speech and bullying.

What does it cost?

That all depends on your drivers needs and where they are today. We recommend starting with a professional logo design and our monthly Social Ace program focused on your preferred social media platform and learning how to to excute for your sponsors.

How long till I see results for my brand?

In our experience, results come in the first 30 days and the more your driver supports the effort, the bigger your results can be. Starting from a basic level of brand exposure, it generally takes 9+ months to have a marketable social media following. This does take effort on the part of the driver though. We want your social accounts to be authentic and that starts with you.

Who are these new followers? Are they Bots?

Our social Media team focuses on people with an interest in racing and geographically in areas where you think your driver will be racing in the future. For instance, if that’s Super Formula, we would be adding Asia to that targeting. If it is Formula 1, we need to have a presence in Europe. Bots or fake accounts add no value to your brand and are never part of our strategy.

Where are you located?

Our headquarters are located in East Lansing Michigan and our support team are located in California, Tennessee, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Who are you?

Elevate was founded by racing parents working through the realization that sponsorship is key to moving up in racing. In that, they found that managing sponsorship is a full time job to do it right and create value. We are customers ourselves and test Elevate service offerings on our own driver and with own companies as sponsors.

Is there a long term contract?

Our services require time to get results and due to this, we suggest a yearly commitment to our program.

How long does it take to find a partner sponsor?

Sponsorship pitches go on year round but generally we find decisions on sponsorship happen at the end and beginning of the year. So our goal is to have your brand built and valuable to a sponsor before that window opens up. It could take a year to create the brand value to attract a large sponsor. Our goal here is to make long term partnerships that grow with your racing career and increasing the businesses value and investment in you.

How do sponsors pay?

Sponsors can pay by check, ACH, Crypto  or PayPal.

How do we get paid as drivers?

We can pay your sponsorship by check or ACH either directly to you or to your team directly. Our sponsorship agreements may be lump sums, single races or season long and paid over several draws.

Can you process our existing sponsor payments?

Yes, we can transition existing sponsors to our  payments services with you existing sponsor agreement or can take over your contracts with contract management, sponsor services and backend sponsor engagement.  We also take care of W-9 and 1099 tax forms for these sponsors, making their support more easily processed by their tax advisors.