The fundraising strategy compliled by Fundraising Director and Bees United  board member Natasha Judge is now available to view.

Fundraising Strategy

Aim

To help provide Bees United with the funds to continue to support Brentford  Football Club.

How to achieve this

In order to attain sustainable fundraising we must incorporate  Brentford supporters, local communities and corporate sponsorship/funding.  One  without the other  will not be enough to eventually take Bees United and subsequently  BFC forward.

Fundraising cannot stand alone, it must be coupled with increased Brand  Awareness, Marketing and Communication.

To achieve the ultimate aim  of raising a substantial amount of money for Bees United we need  to create a pool of resources and services  that we  can use to  advertise events, engage with possible corporate clients, cut costs  etc.

Most important of all is to harness the drive and ambition of  those that are willing to assist without them BU will not achieve its targets.Moving  Forward

Targeted fundraising is an important tool that is not currently  utilised. This is particularly relevant to those schemes and  events that have  the potential to raise amounts in excess of £10,000. Indeed  targets could also incentivise the scheme as a whole.

Inclusion  and communication is an influential part of any fundraising  effort and these areas need to be reviewed and improved. Events  and schemes need  to be properly advertised and communicated to not only as many  Brentford fans  as possible, but also the wider community. Mediums to use could  include, local newspapers, matchday programme, fanzines, websites,  scoreboard,  leaflets/flyers, emailed newsletters, local community centres  and university halls of residence.

In addition the profile  of Bees Untied in general needs to be raised. Fans of other clubs do not  appear to be aware of  the  gravity of  our situation, the myth of everything being ok now we are  a supporters owned club needs  to be  dispelled and efforts made to ensure that BU and the situation  at  BFC is  as well known as the problems encountered by Wrexham, Brighton,  Rotherham etc.

There must be liaison between BU and BFC to  make sure that there is not a conflict of activity, (Charity match day  collections v Bees  United  bucket  collections  for example). All schemes must be ethical and not compromise  the standing of BU or BFC in the community. If there is  a chance that  this will  not be the  case an ‘out of the box’ approach should be  considered. In addition where possible and when appropriate,  the co-operation of BFC should be used  to maximize the potential of the activity.

Regular reports  and updates should be made to the BU board and also published  regularly (once a month) on the Bees  United Website.  Part  of the ongoing  strategy will be to arrange regular (monthly) fundraising  meetings.

Review of fund raising initiatives past and present

 •  Bucket Collections
 •  Bee Green
 •  Spare Change for Brentford
 •  Sponsor a Striker
 •  Quiz Nights
 •  Gigs at Stripes
 •  Membership Subscriptions
 •  Life Membership
 •  Standing Orders
 •  Players Fund
 •  On Line Auctions
 •  Text Bees
 •  Shopping Portal
 •  Easyfund raising
 •  BU Investment Club
 •  Victor Predictor
 •  Loan Note Holders Badges

Fundraising Targets

To focus on a plan for raising or replacing the cash that  has been borrowed to fund the £1million loan to BFC that is repayable  in January 2009. Obviously this is a long term target and will remain in the  fundraising strategy  for some time. In addition there should be fundraising that is ongoing throughout  this period that fulfils the responsibilities that Bees United is required  to meet. Fundraising Targets should be set and it is the Fundraising Directors  ultimate responsibility to ensure that these are at least met, if not exceeded!

A specific target should be set for each season and a way of visibly recording  the progress made so that supporters are encouraged to become involved.

We also  need to raise the profile of some of the schemes already in place to enable  them to fulfil their potential. Some schemes require more resources  than others and it is necessary for the Fundraising Director to ensure that  the resources at Bees United’s disposal are used in the most effective  way possible.

Ideas

Ideas and suggestions must be welcomed from all quarters and they should  be acknowledged and discussed. The Fundraising Director should maintain  a pool  of volunteers etc to call upon to take ownership of certain projects. Ideas  can, and will be allowed to remain with the originator and co-ordinated  by the Fundraising Director.

Fundraising should be categorised as short, medium  and long term and classified as to whether the idea/event should be targeted  for use on something specific.  Liaison between Bees United and Brentford FC should be increased and  the channels of communication opened.

The pdf, which can be downloaded below,  contain a few ideas that have already been put forward and some projected idea of monetary targets for each

Fundraising ideas and targets (pdf format)