What image does your club want to portray to the community? This image should match your club’s values and mission stated in your constitution.
Communication is key for the success of your sports clubs. Open, honest, internal communication with committee members, players and parents, coaches and volunteers is essential to ensuring your club’s values and mission stated in your constitution is continuously upheld.
Each role on the committee should have a club email address that can be passed on to the next volunteer. This makes your outgoing communication professional to members and external stakeholders and it stops volunteers using their personal addresses and having to update those details when a volunteer moves on from the role.
E.g. President:
[email protected] or
[email protected]
- WHAT is the key message?
- WHO needs to know?
- WHEN do they need to know?
- HOW will you get your message across?
- RESPONSIBILITY who will be delivering the message?
Stay committed to communicating with your club throughout the entire season. Ensure the person who is responsible for doing the communicating is able to complete each task, if not have a plan B. Not every member/player/volunteer will be using the same communication channels, so you will need to have more than one avenue to be inclusive to everyone.
You do not need to be on all channels to communicate effectively. Find what works, what is easy for your volunteers to manage and stick to being consistent across those communication channels. Ensure your club has a clear social media policy for those who are administrators of your social media channels.
Sponsorship is a mutually beneficial business agreement between two parties. A company wishing to enter into a sponsorship with your club does so to gain commercial advantage and market their products. The business may also use the sports positive branding to gain public trust, acceptance, or alignment in the local community. Make sure the businesses you approach are suited to your club’s values and brand.
Top tips for finding a sponsor
- Know your club’s brand and values
- Write a proposal clearly stating what your club can OFFER and what your club NEEDS
- What do you need the sponsor for?
- How can they contribute to achieving this goal e.g. cash or product(s) in-kind?
- Be realistic in what you are asking for
- Do your research – do you align with their values?
- Build a relationship with the business you are trying to approach, don’t just give them your proposal
- Be willing to negotiate
There has been research into the negative link between unhealthy sponsorships and junior sports, remember your club’s brand and values and do your research.
Sponsors your junior club should avoid:
- Unhealthy food and beverage
- Alcohol and gaming
Maintaining sponsors
Sponsors will walk if you do not deliver on your end of the bargain. To maintain your relationship with your sponsors your club must:
- Keep in contact with your sponsor regularly – don’t just accept a cheque and then don’t speak to them until the next season.
- Invite your sponsor to games, training and events/fundraisers
- Host one of your events at their location e.g. local car dealership; host a quiz night in their showroom.
- Offer something unique for them e.g. Local butcher; name your club canteen burger after them to sell on home games.
- Ask them if they are happy with the relationship/partnership
The sky is the limit when it comes to fundraising! Make your fundraising FUN, so volunteers and members are happy to get involved to help the club achieve its goals.
Top 10 tips for fundraising
- Have a goal – What are you fundraising for?
- Appoint a fundraising coordinator – someone interested in organising events
- Review what has worked in the past and what hasn’t – if a fundraising event has worked in the past, host it again bigger & better
- Plan your fundraising events/programs for the whole season
- Time your fundraisers to consider other factors e.g. school holidays, camps
- Do your homework on suppliers and read the T and Cs
- Make sure your fundraising events/programs match the values and mission of the club
- Keep an accurate record of products sent out and monies received, all funds collected need to be recorded with the Treasurer
- Child safety in fundraising must be a top priority when trying to raise funds
- Acknowledge the hard work put in to achieve your fundraising goal and communicate what was achieved through your communication channels.
Your club’s canteen and bar are your strongest fundraising tools; they should bring in a steady cash flow throughout the entire season. It is important to remember that your bar and canteen represent the club’s values and uphold code of conduct practises. E.g. if you’d like to be seen as a healthy club in the community, make sure your canteen menu reflects this message by offering healthy food options.
Tips for running a successful canteen and/or bar
- Strong cash management procedures to protect the club assets and volunteers
- Operational guides and procedures for daily running of canteen/bar by volunteers
- Regular monitoring of the stock inventory
- Invest in a point of sale that allows non-cash sales, monitoring of goods and sales and simple reporting.
- Follow food and safety requirements as specified by your Local and/or State Governments
- Decide on the core products to be sold during the year before the season starts
- Price all products and create a list for volunteers to refer to
- No freebies - all products must be paid for!
- Your canteen/bar is a club fundraising tool, remind your members of its purpose, and highlight it as an achievement through your communication channels. E.g. “Thanks to the money raised through our canteen we will be able to purchase new equipment for the club next season”