Fundraising

Clubs are always in need of funds.  The responsibility of raising these funds is often left to a small group of committee members and coming up with new, exciting and lucrative fundraisers can be a challenge year on year.

You may get by for a while relying on just one or two sources of income, but to ensure your organisation is solid and sustainable in the long-term you need to be drawing from as many sources as possible.

Many organisations run into trouble because they only have one or two sources of funding, or because they only have two or three people really involved in raising money. If any of the sources or any of the people go away, the organisation will likely find itself in trouble.

The club help section contains specific areas for Grants, Membership and Sponsorship so we will take a brief look at the other fundraising areas here.

For more ideas on Fundraising visit Sports Community website Fundraising Ideas

Donations

Clubs often think it’s too hard or they’re not worthy to get donations. That’s not true – if you have supporters, then you can have donors. 
Getting donations is a matter of ensuring you have the right administration processes in place (Our Community provides a free online donations service that provides a handy back-bone – see www.GiveNow.com.au), being clear from the outset about what you would like to do with any donations you receive, and learning the right way to ask.

Go to the Funding Centre’s donations section (opens in a new tab)”>> Go to the Funding Centre’s donations section

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is an online fundraising campaign for a specific project. It differs from traditional fundraising in a number of ways, but the most significant is the importance of setting a target: the fundraiser sets a target, people pledge an amount – usually in exchange for some form of reward, but sometimes just as a straight donation – and the amount pledged/donated is remitted to the fundraiser only if the target is reached.

It takes energy and creativity, but it can bring in much-needed funding and attract a whole new audience of supporters.

Go to the Funding Centre’s crowdfunding section (opens in a new tab)”>> Go to the Funding Centre’s crowdfunding section

Events

Special fundraising events are the lifeblood of many clubs, though they can take a lot of time and energy to be truly profitable.
Some examples of the types of events that make for popular include:

  • Bowls Carnivals and/or Gala Days
  • Trivia or Quiz nights
  • Sports nights
  • Annual social events (Melbourne Cup Day, Xmas function, Australia Day etc..)
  • Balls, dances and discos
  • Film or games nights
  • Social themed dinners (Pizza night, Pasta night, Seafood night etc.)
  • Social bowls days
  • Themed charity days (Movember, Purple Bra Day etc..) are becoming a more prominent type of special events fundraising.

Community-Business Partnerships

Creating a successful community-business partnership brings benefits to both the business and the club involved, and often for the wider community as well.

Cash sponsorships are just one type of community-business partnership but there are many others. 

Other models include:

  • Volunteering, involving individual employees or groups, skilled or unskilled labour
  • Financial donations, as a one-off, or through an ongoing employee donation scheme, regular staff collections, or sponsorship of a particular program or activity
  • In-kind donations, involving donation of goods or services
  • Pro-bono or discounted services and products, involving donated or cut-price contribution of skills, knowledge or experience
  • Sharing/donation of premises/infrastructure, including office space, meeting space, or storage space