Managing money is an essential part of good club management and is vital to running a sustainable netball club.
All clubs should have an annual budget that underpins all of the club’s activities and will identify both the operational costs and income. However, it is highly likely that throughout the year, clubs will encounter operational costs that they have not budgeted for; and considering our current financial climate, we know all clubs are/or will be affected by increasing costs over the coming months.
Therefore, it is good practice to plan for emergency financial circumstances and have a contingency fund to cover these and any unexpected operational costs – especially as many clubs may have dipped into or depleted financial reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To get started with your planning, this ‘Emergency financial planning’ resource from Club Matters can help you to ensure your club has suitable emergency plans in place should you need them.
Generating income
Once you have identified: how much you need to raise, when you need it and what resources you have to make it possible, you can start to consider which income-generation activities are right for your club.
In the content below, we focus on Fundraising and Grant Funding – but Membership and Sponsorship are also viable ways clubs can generate income. These are explored further in this ‘Other income generation ideas’ resource by Club Matters.
Fundraising
Fundraising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies.
Raising money through fundraising and social events can be a great source of income and an excellent way to bring your members together. By involving members, other than the committee, to organise events, you can allow them to feel like they are doing their bit to support the club. The list of events you could run is endless, and often the more unusual the better.
Check out Club Matter’s A-Z of Fundraising ideas here.
Crowdfunding is a type of fundraising that enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people via online platforms.
Some grant funders, such as Sport England, run grants that match the income a club raises through crowdfunding.
England Netball works with the crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder to help make crowdfunding as accessible as possible for netball clubs. You can access the Crowdfunding for netball page here.
In the Fundraising through Crowdfunding webinar, we look at:
- Running a Crowdfunding campaign and other funding opportunities this can open
- Discuss with guest speakers Sport England’s Places and Spaces partnership with Crowdfunder, where Sport England can award match funding of up to £10,000 to eligible applicants who run a successful community crowdfunding campaign
- The extra National Lottery funding that has now been made available to extend the fund across England
You can watch the webinar below.
Another example of crowdfunding is England Netball’s partner, Easyfundraising. Easyfundraising is a charity shopping site where clubs and netball organisations can raise money when their members shop online.
This webinar covers how the platform works, how to get members signed up to your page and shows you all the pre-prepared tools available for your social media, emails and digital communications.
You can watch the replay here.
Grant Funding
Grant Funding: Grants are financial awards. They are usually non-repayable but often come with terms and conditions that restrict their use to a specific purpose.
If your club needs financial support for something more than day to day expenses, for example: to help to improve your facilities, buy equipment to make your club more accessible or to develop a new netball programme in your local area, then grant funding may be available.
There are a number of different national and local funding programmes that your club may be able to access. The sources below give you a great place to find funds that may be able to support your club.
On top of these funds, your local Netball Development Officer is a valuable source of information and support and will be able to direct you to any additional local funds too.
If you want help with writing your funding applications, use Club Matters’ guidance here.
Sources of funding
Sport England invests more than £250 million of National Lottery and public money to help people play sport and take part in physical activity. They also have a ‘Fund Chooser Tool’ to help you find out which of their funding streams your project may be eligible for.
National Lottery You could apply directly for National Lottery Funding too. Every year, their ‘good causes’ program provides financial support to thousands of clubs up and down the country. They’ve invested billions since launching in 1994, so register your cause today and see what happens – you’ve nothing to lose!
Supermarket community grants Some supermarkets have started charitable funds to help people in their communities such as those run by Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and many others.
Local Authorities Many still make grants for facilities and projects which are of benefit to their local area. Visit your own local authority’s website to find out more.
Active Partnerships. These are a great for finding out about local funding available, including coaching bursaries, facility improvements and other community grants.
There are 45 Active Partnerships covering England. They work across the sporting landscape, actively supporting clubs and partners to increase participation in sport and physical activities. The funding support available varies by partnership but the majority do have some form of funding finder on their website.
County and Regional Netball Associations are voluntary netball committees that work together with England Netball staff to develop and grow netball within a specific area. Many have bursaries or hardship funds that can be accessed by individuals or clubs. The support available varies by area, and it is always worth sharing your club’s plans, as counties and regions can support you and advocate for you in a whole range of areas.
If you’re looking for facility funding sources, please head to our main website for further information, here.
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