Marketing and Promotion

Know your brand - 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.

Communicating with your members

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.

Plan your communication

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?

Other tips include:

Stay committed & communicate with your club throughout the season!
Ensure your marketing officer is able has the skills to reach all members – using only one avenue to communicate means you may miss reaching some people
Ensure your club has a clear social media policy for those who are administrators of your social media channels.
Be consistent across communication channels

Sponsorships

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 – does the club 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

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 should:

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

Fundraising

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.

Canteen and bar

Your club’s canteen and bar are potentially one of 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. For example: “Thanks to the money raised through our canteen, we will be able to purchase new equipment for the club next season”