Fund Raising for your Cricket Club (Sports Club) and Sponsorship Guide - Part 1
I have added Cricket Club in the title, as that was the sport i was actively raising funds for but, this fund raising information and sponsorship guide applies to all sports and clubs. Whether you are looking to raise hundreds or £1000's, it doesn't matter, as these simple techniques do work. My cricket club (
Abingdon Vale CC) are proof of that.
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Form a Sub-Committee. How to get started is often the hardest part but by forming a sub-committee is by far the easiest. You may have many great ideas but, often do not suggest them as you know it will be down to you to organize. You do not need to be on the main committee to raise funds for the club but, you will need to work closely with them and they have to trust that everything you do, is in the best interests of that club. We started with a few individuals, who after a few beers came up with some great ideas for raising money. None of us wanted to do it on our own so we formed a sub committee and now meet 3 times a year. We meet more often closer to any large event, if required though.
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Decide what you are trying to raise money for and get member buy in. For members of your club to fully support your efforts, we found it was best to work on a single goal. We decided to raise money for a new artificial wicket for our 2nd pitch. This would increase the amount of cricket we were able to play on the ground, giving more opportunities for players to train and play more matches, without putting extra strain on our 1st team square. The club members had a say on what we were looking to raise money for, as we drew up a shortlist of 3 projects and then had a short poll via email. Now the members all knew of the plans and the amount we were looking to raise.
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Now to attract more sponsors to support the goal. We are lucky that were have 3 main sponsors at AVCC. Each give a decent amount of money to the club, in exchange for their names to be printed on the club match shirts. One on the front (Principal Sponsor) and one on the sleeve and the other on the back of the shirt (Major Sponsor). They are all committed long term to the club and we support their businesses as much as possible by A - by using their services or company and B - by promoting them on social media i.e. Twitter, Facebook and our Club Website. We wanted more though and started approaching club members with companies and local companies to see if we could attract more sponsors to our club. Our problem was what could we offer them in exchange for their level of support? This is where one of our sub-committee played a blinder by suggesting we create a bill of tariff or Sponsors Information pack. This gave us the opportunity to put down, in black and white, how many Key Sponsors and Sponsors, we could accommodate and what we could offer them in exchange. We also had a cost for each level of sponsorship that was transparent for all to see. BUT, i know your are now thinking, that this would cost money and you are supposed to be raising money not spending it. True but, unless you fully understand the process and potential, it will be more difficult to achieve you fundraising goal.
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Create your Sponsorship Information Pack for FREE. We decided to have 1 x Principal Sponsor, 2 x Major Sponsors, 16 x Key Sponsors, 32 x Sponsors and offer the opportunity to sponsor matches, players and the junior section as other options. We created a 4 page booklet as follows:- Page 1 was simple, with a picture from the local press of one of our players taking pride of place along with the club name and badge on the top and the Cherwell League banner along the bottom. On page 2, we wrote up some key information about the club history, current level we are playing at and our hopes for the future. We also gave 5 bullet points on why it would be a good idea for their company to be involved sponsoring our local club. On page 3 we listed all of the packages available with detailed information on costs and what we could offer each company. On Page 4, we created a table with level of sponsorship's available across the top and what we could offer, down the side, these included shirt printing options, perimeter banners, web links, match day communication, advert in our new fixture card/handbook.....etc. For each level of sponsorship the relevant boxes were ticked to show what they would get for their money. BUT HOW FOR FREE? We then asked our members if they or the companies they worked for, had any dealing with local printers. We had 3 names come up regularly and contacted each to say what we were planning. An important part of this process was to mention that the recommendation came from our members. One of these printers Northcourt Press, offered to print 500 copies for free, in fact they printed in excess of 900 copies, for which we were extremely grateful. They got a banner on the back page in exchange and link from our club website.
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Now get promoting the brochure and packages available. Now the hard work was to start as we had to approach prospective sponsors. Every club member was given a copy of the brochure to read themselves or to pass onto the company they worked for. The sub committee then spoke with and gave a copy to, many businesses they had contact with through work and socially. This initially raised huge awareness of our club, the needs we had and how we could benefit local companies. HOW? We have in excess of 150 club members and these all have extended families, that is a large community that we could encourage to support a local service or business. Many clubs underestimate that they too have something to offer to a local business, access to their members.
This process could take up to 6 months but by then end of it your club will be in a better position to approach local sponsors and have meaningful conversations. If you are lucky you will fill all sponsorship positions in the first year, don't be concerned if not though, as you have done a huge amount of work which will reap benefits in years to come.
Remember to ensure you offer value to the sponsor long term and don't just take the money and run.
Fund Raising for your Cricket Club (Sports Club) and Sponsorship Guide - Part 2 COMING SOON The next steps to gain sponsors and raise more money for your club.
