Fundraising
A variety of fundraising opportunities exist for clubs, from traditional opportunities like merchandise and movie nights, to solely online fundraising platforms like the Australian Sports Foundation. There’s numerous ways that your club can develop a diverse and secure set of revenue streams or one-off events.
Opportunities are endless, involve your members, get an idea of what they want. You make people happy and they’ll make you money.
Online Fundraising
Australian Sports Foundation
The ASF is the only organisation in Australia that provides a tax deduction for sport donations greater than $2.
Utilise this site as a catch-all for donations from businesses, players and their families towards infrastructure projects and new equipment.
Play for Purpose Raffle
A free-to-participate raffle where prizes are sourced and guaranteed. 50% of each ticket goes towards your club. Funds are distributed via the ASF Charitable Fund.
Australian Fundraising Programs
Cookie Dough Drive – https://australianfundraising.com.au/fundraising-products/billy-gs-cookie-dough/
Plant-A-Difference – https://australianfundraising.com.au/fundraising-products/make-a-difference/
These are examples of fundraising opportunities that are facilitated fully online and require little to no effort from the club to setup.
Other Online Alternatives or Opportunities:
https://www.communitylottery.com.au/ – Community Lottery is an alternative to Play for Purpose
Other Opportunities
Renting out your Clubhouse, Batting Cages or Fields
Community Groups and other Sporting Clubs might be willing to pay to use your facilities.
Clubhouse: Consider play groups, social cards, book clubs etc. Check with your local council regarding regulations in line with your own lease.
Batting Cages: Baseball, Softball, Cricket – build a relationship with your local club, you might even share players depending on when seasons are occurring.
Fields: Other sports can always use extra capacity, for example, Soccer Clubs can use the outfield for example.
Demonstrating that your facility is used by multiple sports will help in securing funding for facilities improvements and upgrades as well. It demonstrates wider community benefit.
Update your Canteen Menu
Sometimes your Canteen might not be delivering on its full potential.
Evaluate your cost of goods; make sure you’re only selling items at a price that is profitable.
Evaluate your offering; are you selling enough of something to warrant keeping it? Are you missing anything major that is guaranteed to sell? (e.g. Hot Chips!)
Evaluate your facilities; do you have the equipment or could you obtain the equipment to set yourself up for success.
If your club hosts night games, consider offering event specials.
Pizza Night, Burger Night or if you have a keen volunteer; sell something homemade. Breakfast and Lunch. Ice Cream sundaes, Ice Cream Sandwiches, cater to the weather and your audience. Your rookie ball tournament might have a slightly different menu/specials to a seniors night game.
Be aware of your food license/regulation when making decisions on prepared foods.
Club Merchandise
Develop a range of supporters merchandise or other items that your members would be willing to purchase.
This can be as simple as selling a single polo shirt, a cap or a bucket hat; or you could go all out and stock a range of items from jackets to water bottles to bumper stickers. Get an understanding of what might appeal to people by just asking them informally, or you can send a survey around to your members.
You might use your existing uniforms company or you could potentially source a partnership with an apparel organisation – this might even see you avoid having to hold stock and handle orders yourself!
Social Memberships
Introducing a tiered-membership system is an easy way to make a little extra money of your existing members, and encourage relatives and other spectators to get more involved with the club.
Offer a basic associate membership.
Introduce higher-cost tiers that provide benefits to the member. Offer at least 3x options. You might want your highest price to be slightly unrealistic or slightly lacking in benefits to push people towards the mid-tier membership.
Social Memberships Guide View and Download
Grill’D Local Matters Program
Grill’d also offer support through their “Local Matters” program.
If you’ve never ordered from Grill’D before, every burger equals a vote – you receive a token – you then vote for the cause you’d like to support and at the end of each month, the cause with the most support receives $300, 2nd and 3rd are given $100 each.
They may also help run BBQ’s, provide vouchers for raffles or sponsor. Enquire with your local store to find out more.
Find out more and apply here: https://www.grilld.com.au/local-matters
Containers for Change
Recyclable Container Collection is a simple and easy way to earn some money.
Collect the cans and bottles from your club, members can donate their own (either to the club or directly at a refund exchange point)
All you need to do is register for a Scheme ID as your club.
You could also:
- Create a bin or cage at your club for members to drop their eligible containers into
- Contact your local refund point operator(s) and see if there’s any additional support they can provide (they might be able to collect from your club or provide a bin/cage themselves!)
Events
Exhibition Game or Social Tournament
Organise a game between club players and local businesses, schools or other sporting groups.
You could pit two of your own teams together, or partner with another club, you could even have a club team vs. a regional team as a scrimmage/training game.
Involve community groups or parents/carers to do fun games to support the main exhibition.
Invite local MPs, Councillors, Potential and Existing Sponsors
- Plan, Plan, Plan
- How and Who will be running your canteen
- How and Who will be umpiring, will you be scoring?
- You could even use these events to train new umpires or scorers
- What extra revenue generation are you operating
- Sausage Sizzle, Food Trucks, Jumping Castles, etc.
- Special Event-only Food Items? Ice Cream Sundaes, Ice Cream Sandwiches – Breakfast vs. Lunch vs. Dinner – do something unique!
Alternative Diamond Sports Day
Similar to the above. Set up a Baseball5/Beep Baseball/Kick Ball Gala Day or Carnival at your club.
- Charge a small registration fee
- Advertise to everyone, don’t restrict yourself to just your club or just baseball. This is an opportunity to get people into the sport!
- Encourage parents to enter. Mums v Dads or Committee v Coaches. Maximum Participation
Invite local MPs, Councillors, Potential and Existing Sponsors
- Plan, Plan, Plan
- How and Who will be running your canteen
- How and Who will be umpiring, will you be scoring?
- What extra revenue generation are you operating
- Sausage Sizzle, Food Trucks, Jumping Castles, etc.
- Special Event-only Food Items? Ice Cream Sundaes, Ice Cream Sandwiches – Breakfast vs. Lunch vs. Dinner – do something unique!
- Raffles, Registration Fees
For ideas on different Diamond Sports you can play, visit the Alternative Diamond Sports page here.
Trivia, Bingo, Movie or Games Nights
Games can be anything, board games, card games, hook up a gaming console and a projector. Or do something else, like Bingo. Organise to screen a movie.
Trivia Nights!
Try a number of different categories, don’t just limit to baseball trivia. Make it accessible, and cater it to who you’re targeting.
Trivia Nights are versatile and easy to put on. You could charge members a participation fee, and maybe that could include a free soft drink or cup of chips, etc.
Create opportunities to monetise the event. Offer a meal for purchase. Pair it with a raffle that you’ll draw on the night, etc.
Colour Run, Walk-a-thon or Fun Runs
Walk, Run, Colour, Slime. There are plenty of opportunities to create an event around this. Runners fundraise and then participate in the race.
If you do it through a provider (like the one linked below) they can even provide automated prizes – or they can plant trees/coral instead!
Information, tips and tricks: https://australianfundraising.com.au/fundraising-products/fun-run/
Host a Car Boot Sale
Note: You may require council approval to host this kind of event.
Charge $5, $10 per car and let your community sell their own products or anything they no longer need/want.
You could pair this with a car wash if you have volunteers!
Bunnings BBQ
Bunnings snags are a classic Aussie food item.
Bunnings are extremely willing to work with community groups and sports clubs to host Sausage Sizzles.
Bunnings also offer Hands-on support and DIY Workshops – enquire with your local Bunnings Activities Organiser to see what they can do for you!
For more information, please visit: https://www.bunnings.com.au/about-us/in-our-community
Golf Day
Golf Clubs make themselves available for corporate days.
Seek sponsored prizes and/or an event sponsor.
Businesses can even “Buy a hole” to advertise their business.
Extra money is made with on-course novelty holes, celebrity players, bar cart, raffle.
Community Markets, Fetes and Festivals
Does your local school or community host a market, fete or festival?
This might be the perfect opportunity to advertise your club to locals. Tie it in with a Come and Try day or pre-season training, you might even get registrations on the spot!
This works best as an advertising tool, but if you have sponsor hamper you could also do a raffle! Gives you an excuse to gather peoples contact information!
(ALWAYS ask for permission – “Do you consent to receiving information about the club outside of raffle information”)
Make sure you provide anyone that interacts with your stand/stall with information on your club.
Might be as simple as having a QR code with an EOI form or link to your website or social media.
And/or
Use flyers to provide anyone interested with basic information/promote a come and try day or pre-season event.
Set up a pop-up net or batting cage, use a radar and show peoples throwing velo.
Grants
Sponsorships
Planning
Recruitment