A few teams have now opted to raise funds for their club using EasyFundRaising (see Make Your Website Earn Your Club Money).
Two of these are Penyffordd Panthers and Barrow Celtic Football Club
Penyffordd Panthers
The Panthers have used Web Teams for three seasons now, they get around 700 visits to their homepage each month.
Webmaster Paul Cain has decided to give the EasyFundRaising idea a go and explains,
"So far we have raised around £8 in the first month. We placed the video on the News Items and had 500 business cards printed, which we have given out to players families to try and encourage people to use it.
With Christmas coming up I'm hopeful that people will use the system when doing Internet orders as you could potentially raise about £5-£10 per month which could be £100 a year (useful to put towards additional kit, or equipment) for very little effort.
We sent out reminders when giving out letters to players for the next match, I think the key thing is getting someone to do it once (first spend) and then they see it's actually straightforward. I might try and do a simple step by step instructions for those who thinks it's going to be complicated or find another YouTube video that explains it better."
Example payments
Barrow Celtic Football Club
Barrow Celtic have also started encouraging their site visitors to use EasyFundRaising. Webmaster Stephen Quinn also believes it will be possible to make £10 a month that will help with equipment and club funds,
"...We've only just started using it, but i think £10 a month is possible in a couple of months when people get used to using it. ive advertised it on the site and also our Facebook page and will be printing some of the pre written info available on the site, for our players meeting on Saturday."
From a Web Teams point of view we see this as being a nice little idea that can supplement fundraising activities such as domino cards and betting sheets for any amateur team. It probably does need a little bit of effort in persuading players/fans/parents to go through "the system" - but it's not a bad idea to make your website earn a little money for your club.
Finally, one other thing we've noticed is that lots of Web Teams sites are posting their club sponsors within their page. Why not see if these sponsors are willing to pay £10/£20 for this advert and it may bring in a little bit more. It'll maybe help with buying some balls, or cones, or bibs, or the end of year tour to Blackpool...
If anyone other clubs have any fundraising tips - please add your comments to this blog post.