Sports Fundraising Guide

Introduction to Fundraising

Finding money to run your sports club can often seem like a never-ending struggle. With rising facilities prices many clubs are now having to put more of their income into covering the essential costs, which in turn leaves less money for expansion, development and new equipment.

Fundraising is a way for clubs to secure additional funds to it’s operational budget. Money raised from fundraising events shouldn’t be used to cover the day to day running of the club it should be used to help fund new projects, special events or trips.

However, fundraising opportunities won’t appear from nowhere – you have to seek them out. However, almost every sports club has a number of extremely committed individuals who all want the best for the club and would happily give a bit of time to help the club to success – all it takes is a bit of organisation and some ideas.

A fundraising event is not only a great way to raise money for your club, there are also a huge range of other benefits: A fundraising event can get your club in the press, help you get known in your community and even attract sponsors to your club. The event you choose should generate enthusiasm within your community and motivate your club members, most importantly it will need to be attractive enough for people to buy tickets, donate and attend.

Planning a fundraising event can be very enjoyable and rewarding, however it’s not all fun and games. Organising a fundraising event can take time and be very hard, in order for your event to run smoothly you need to make sure you leave no stone un-turned in your preparation and leave nothing to chance.

The first step is to form a fundraising committee, if your club doesn’t already have one (the fundraising committee could be made up on people already in your club committee). Nominate someone to be the event co-coordinator and oversee the event.

Allocate everyone within the committee duties and agree to have regular meetings to discuss the event and monitor progress. Discuss what everyone would like to do. If someone is enthusiastic and doing something they enjoy they are more likely to want to help and will be more motivated to make the event a success.

Two of the things you need to think about early on are targets and timescale:

• Targets. How much money do you want to raise? This will help you determine how big or small your event needs to be. Working to targets will also help to keep you on track and give you something to work towards. Remember to always keep target realistic.
• Timescale. How soon do you need the funds? If you need the money in a couple of weeks then a big event probably isn’t for you. Knowing the time you have available will help you to decide how big or small the event should be. It’s best to start planning early as you can never have to much time to plan an event. Especially if you need to book facilities and organise insurance.

Make the Most of Your Members

Some of your club members will have some hidden talents or may know some people that could help you with your fundraiser. Do you know an event organiser? Or maybe a caterer? Use any contacts you can to help cut costs.

Where possible try to involve your local community in your fundraising events too. Try to get help from local businesses and organisations and ask them for a donation. Donations don’t have to be money either, they can be anything that will help your event. For example a caterer might donate food a printer might donate posters. Everyone will know someone that could help.

Promoting Your Event

Make sure people know about your event. Publicise you event within your community, mail everyone on your club database, put posters up around your club and distribute them amongst local sport centres, businesses and anywhere you feel could have a positive effect on your event. The local press can also be a good place to gain some coverage and promotion. For more information on promotion, PR and marketing visit our PR & Marketing advice.

Event Ideas

Remember to be as creative as possible, but also keep ideas realistic. Try to combine a few ideas in order to create your event. Think about who will be attending and what they will want to do. If both parents and children are coming to your event make sure there is something for them all to do, don’t just focus on the children make sure the adults will be keen to turn up as well.

Things to remember

When you’re working on a fundraising event or idea it can be easy to get carried away and forget the real aims and targets behind your initiative. No matter what you’re planning there a certain things you should always remember:

1. Keep it simple. Make it simple to understand your fundraising initiative and don’t confuse people. It should be clear how to donate, what they donor will receive for their donation and where the funds will go/what they are going towards.
2. People donate to people. Try to make it personal, people like to donate to other people. Try to get individuals within your team to raise funds face to face, as well as using tools like Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving.
3. Tell the truth. Always be honest when raising funds, as tempting as it can be don’t try to make your case seem stronger than it is. Always be 100% honest when saying how the funds raised will be spent and distributed too.
4. Why you’re doing it. Sometimes you can get carried away with fundraising and lose track of the real reason you’re doing it.

Click here to view some exciting sport fundraising ideas…