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)