Taking into account times are still tough for business and all that but how is your local club doing for funding the last couple of years for equipment etc ?
Reason I ask is that this year our club got its annual sponsorship in January to buy sliothars , hurleys , upgarde jerseys or other running costs for our Adult teams.
It has always been the case that our Adult teams share the equipment used for training sliothars , bollards , poles etc.
So by July the sliothars had nearly all been lost there was about 12 left from about 45 lads pucking them into the ditch and not following them , unable to locate them and seems like some U.21 young lads may have taken a few home. Apparantly everytime the U.21 trained the ball count was getting less and less.
Our Senior team turned up to training to find only 12 balls between about 40 lads so naturally there was uproar as we couldnt have a proper session. drills were limited or very bunched.
So we asked the local sponsor who are a financial institution could they allocate an extra few pound to buy another round of sliothars given we were still in the championship and heading for a final. This was denied.
So everyone of the players had to chip in a few euro to put towards new sliothars.
I understand we had our budget at the start of the year but surely another couple of euro would not have broken the bank.
Just would like to see if any other clubs in the country had similar experience with their local sponsor.
Don't get me wrong we are grateful for what they give us during these times.
Club Funding ? Now there's a topic that gets the eyebrows raised ? Depends on the club and it's location. First thing you need is a clear focus on what you are trying to achieve ? Raise money voluntarily and honestly ! Every penny raised must be lodged to a bank account so that when you need to purchase there is an audit trail of the fundraising activity and spending that is transparent and accountable. Sounds simple ? Now you can start with the various activities - Membership Fees, Club Lotto, Draws, Charity Races and Events, Corporate Advertising and Sponsorship, Big Lottery or Local Councils, Charity Donations, Club Social House. There are many others you just have to be creative, again depends on the locality. Any more suggestions ?
Lucky man getting annual sponsorship in January. Our club relies heavily on the weekly lotto, occasional function in the local community centre and the odd dancing competition such as the one we have occasionally. We do have sponsors but due to the economy sme's cant afford to part with much cash We are a dual club but no doubt hurling is the most expensive to keep going. We have to keep a tight reign on the sliotars and have found some made in the far east fine for juveniles but its a mighty struggle at the minute to keep all teams going
there is some clubs that waste money on something and rather then admitted they made a mistake pump more more and money into their wasted project/adventure, which in turn ha their club in depth
Tough times to be getting money out of people - which is fair enough...
As Issac said be creative - give people the option to spend money where they feel they get something in return. You could sell keyrings with the club logo on one side; a reference number & the club address on the other; if someone loses their keys the finder can post them to the club and the club gets them back to their owner. Can also work with a sticker for ppl's phones. Charge ppl for the service. Seen it in Canada with their ISPCA equivilant - seemed successful.
Or distribute plastic bags with 'Change for the Club' on them, collect ppl's coppers they have laying around - ppl wont miss them and all that change adds up.
Failing all that - did anyone say Nude Calendars? Men and womens so its not discriminatory!
Am thinking..maybe clubs should return to basics of the volunteer ethos and stop paying out huge fees for 'training expenses' ? Maybe GAA authorities could introduce a scheme to help the clubs that are struggling or do not have the creative types on their boards, as in people on county committees etc. Also they should reduce the costs of administration for clubs, fees and insurance. Monitor those that are abusing the system such as we see with the insurance schemes. Possibly pass funds back to clubs that are genuinely in difficulties and assist them in any way to re-train and get they systems more efficient at fund-raising and governance. This is modeled on Club Maith programme but needs to be focused more on those clubs that are not as wealthy or successful but are equally important in their respective communities.