FUNDRAISING

Ideas to increase the income of Baseball Clubs in Qld

What is Fundraising? Fundraising is a systematic process

designed to secure funds additional to a sport and recreation organisation’s operating budget

Fundraising is usually required in order to fund special activities such as:

buildings innovative events/projects

new programs and equipment.

GETTING STARTEDFundraising activities rely on participation from your volunteers and generous community donations. The activity you choose should generate enthusiasm and motivation from members and, more importantly, it needs to be attractive enough for people to buy tickets or attend an event.

Establish Needs Determine why the funds are required

… there must be a clearly defined purpose that drives the rest of the process.

For example : “We are raising funds to purchase new equipment for our Little League teams”. Don’t just run a fundraising activity for general funds.

Set ObjectivesThese should be SMART objectives which detail what needs to be done and by when. Specific Measureable Achievable Realistic Time bound

Develop a budgetAssess the resources available.

People Equipment Facilities Money Commitment

Develop Strategies Form a fundraising committee

Allocate duties Meet at regular intervals Take Minutes and distribute

Amount to be raised….this will help you decide the scale of the fundraiser

Time frame …. When do we need the money?

Past successes …. Review past fundraising activities

More Strategies Motivation …. Decide what activity you

would all enjoy participating in or what product you would be comfortable selling

Talents and expertise …. Find out the hidden talents, skills and resources with your organisation. A child’s mother may be an event organiser, an uncle may be a sports personality or we may know a caterer. Anything that could potentially cut costs should be considered.

Planning Develop a plan - put together a plan and

schedule the event. Determine what needs to be done, when it needs to be done by and who needs to do it.

Start planning early - particularly important if you’re booking facilities, requiring insurance, applying for permissions or licences, inviting a guest speaker. Gives you time to adjust if there is a glitch.

Ask for help - Invite family and friends to help at each stage of the event.

Planning Promotion - Use a variety of methods to

promote your activity widely Permissions and regulations - some

raffles or art unions require permits, the selling of alcohol requires a liquor licence or permit (Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation http://www.olgr.qld.gov.au/index.shtml ), some Councils require permission to use a public facility, the service or sale of food may also require compliance with health regulations.

Recognition Give thanks - remember to thank all

involved. Volunteers

Guests Donors

Sponsors

Some good ideas…. BASEBALL GAME: Organise a game between club players and local businesses, schools or other sporting groups. If you can invite a celebrity or two, this will attract publicity. Teams or players can be sponsored . Spectators can be charged admission or asked to support raffles etc on the day. A BBQ can also raise funds. Make sure the local press is there. Great season starter!

More fun... PARENTS’ T-BALL

TOURNAMENT:

Each junior team in the club forms a t-ball team from their parents. Each player pays $10 to enter. A round robin tournament is played with 15 or 20 minute games, culminating in a Grand Final. The kids of the players are the officials on the night. Trophies can be novelty or serious, depending on how you want the event to go. A BBQ and raffle will also make the night even more successful. Teams can enter more than one t-ball team….maybe Mums v Dads??Used with great success by Quakers Hill Baseball Club in Sydney.

More ideas COMMUNITY BBQs:

Many community businesses support clubs by making their premises available for sausage sizzles or BBQs on weekends. Some (such as Bunnings) provide the BBQ, shade shelter and you just buy the sausages and rolls as per their specs. Others require you to provide all equipment and food. Try Bunnings, Masters Hardwares, Woolies, Anaconda.

More ideas… TRIVIA NIGHT:

Hold one-off events or a regular series with prizes for the winners (preferably donated but can be bought). If you have the money, trivia kits are available or professionals can be hired to run the night. Check the internet for tips and questions.

CASINO NIGHT:

A Casino Night using “funny money” can be a lot of fun. Again, kits can be bought or professionals hired to run it for you. Prizes can be donated. A licence is needed if you want to run a bar.

CAR BOOT SALE:Ask all club members to bring “garage sale” items in their car boot/trailer to your fields for a Boot Sale. Each car is charged a nominal fee for entrance and other money is made with a sausage sizzle, cake stall, meat trays etc. Permission may be needed from the Council.

MARKETS, FETES, FESTIVALS:

Book or hire a stall at a local event and sell donated items (cakes, craft items, toys, glow-sticks for a fireworks night). This is a great activity to promote your club to the wider community.

More ideas…. THEMED PARTY

or FUNCTION:Decorate a local hall or your clubhouse in the theme of a movie or holiday for an evening of food and music. Ie Moulin Rouge, Halloween.Check your local costume hire for ideas. Great idea for building club unity.

And more…. NATIONAL FUNDRAISING COMPANIES:Selling goods from a national fundraising company can result in a good profit for very little effort to organise.Eg Cadbury Fundraisers will provide everything you need for a chocolate drive. There are lamington drives, pie drives…even toothbrush drives.

And more…. MOVIE NIGHT:Select a movie that would appeal to members of your club and negotiate a group deal with the local cinema. Some cinemas will even hire out the whole theatre if you can get enough numbers.Good social fundraiser that can involve many others from outside the club.

Several clubs ran “Moneyball” movie

nights last year with some success.

….and more

HIRE OUT THE CLUBHOUSE:

Is there a community group that could pay to hire your facility?Consider play groups, social cards, book clubs etc. Check with your local council regarding regulations in line with your own lease.

BOOK FAIR:Everyone has books they’ll never read again. Collect books from the area and hold a book sale. Donate all unsold books to a charity or a local nursing home.

….and morePERCENTAGES OF SALES:Invite a company, such as a cosmetics, clothing, jewellery or home goods company to run a party or merchandise display at the club, inviting all members. A percentage of total sales can be negotiated.Consider trying Avon, Nutrimetics, Tupperware, Lingerie.

And more…. GOLF DAY:

Most golf clubs make their course available for corporate days. You need to collect lots of sponsored prizes or seek a generous sponsor. Businesses can be canvassed to “buy a hole” for advertising and book a group of four to entertain customers. Extra money is made with on-course novelty holes, celebrity players, bar cart.

Padres Golf Days

Old favourites… CAKE STALL:Get all those “Masterchefs” baking. Check local food regulations. Sign-on days, election days, festivals, fetes etc.

CAR WASH:Hold on a big fixture day or at an outside event.

…..and more

CONSIGNMENT SALES:

The club takes items for sale on consignment and keeps a percentage of the sale. This is a great way to sell second hand uniforms or baseball gear

CLUB MERCHANDISE:

Make money and promote your club at the same time! Training shirts, shorts, bucket hats, bags, stubbie holders, wrist bands, pins, badges, stickers.

And more…. AUCTION/SILENT

AUCTION:Engage an auctioneer (you may already have one in the club so put the call out) and sell donated goods.

STRAWBERRY SUNDAES:Some events, such as the Ekka, will pay a club to run a stall or stand for them. Ie the Strawberry Sundae stand at the RNA.

And more…. STATE OF ORIGIN

NIGHT:Hire a projector or a large screen TV and organise a function surrounding a popular sporting event …. Doesn’t have to be a baseball game!! PARKING:

Events often pay community groups to control car parking for them. Local “shows” or festivals would be worth approaching.

More…. BUS TOUR:

This could be a one day “shopping tour” or a three day “wineries tour”. Hire a bus to take a group to a Bandits game!

PROGRESSIVE DINNER:

This can be organised at local restaurants or cafes (they may donate some dishes) or at the homes of members.

Any more?? COOKBOOK or

CALENDAR:This could be published professionally or from a desktop program depending on how wide you wish the distribution to be.

COUPON BOOKS:Discount coupon books are available for clubs to sell at a profit.

Do you have any great fundraising ideas? Have you had a successful fundraiser at your club? Let your Club Support Officer know….take some photos so we can share your club’s success with everyone else!!

Acknowledgements…. Department of Sport and Recreation,

West Australia Office of Communities/Sport and

Recreation, NSW Ausport Redlands Baseball Club Padres Baseball Club Quakers Hill Baseball Club