Grow your football club's income

What is your income generation strategy? Have you got an enterprising financial plan? Or do you have a 'we are a football club, so all this business jargon doesn't really apply to us' approach?

How you generate the income to finance the activities of your club should at the core of your club, your leadership and your thinking. It is simply no good to have an attitude where the coaches 'just want to do cricket' and somebody should else make sure that the finances are in place to ensure that coaches' wishes are granted.

Having a 'Fundraising Officer or Committee' operating in splendid isolation from the rest of the club is rarely going to make a real difference to the financial state of your club. Whilst I am not disputing that a few dedicated fundraisers can indeed generate some income even at the most insular clubs, their efforts are not sustainable, as these entrepreneurs lose their spirit because of the indifference from the rest of the club.

If you want to be able to put any viable business proposition to funders, sponsors and other partners you must recruit people into your club who has a background in business development. Being able to influence other people/organisations to give you money and is one that many sports and cricket clubs lack. It is crucial that your club puts a strong focus on attracting those kinds of people - otherwise you won't progress, I fear. For ideas on how to attract change-makers please read our More volunteers at your football club guide.

So, why do you need £££££££?

I understand that your club does not exist to make a profit, but if you are losing money, and you can't pay your bills, you won't be around for long.

How does your club make money?

Get a clear picture of your club's mix of income streams using this simple template below £ % of turnover

Annual membership fees Fees (match, game) Donations, Bar, catering, hospitality Grants, Commercial sponsorship, Hiring out facilities,

How to develop a Balanced Income Model

In order for your club to become long-term financially sustainable, you will have to develop income streams from different sources and build relationships with a variety of funders, partners, customers and others.

How would you like those figures to look like next year and in three years?

The key here is to make sure that you have the right income profile where you are not too reliant on one source of income, which makes you very vulnerable (just ask the clubs where their 'sugar daddy' ran into financial problems).

This is not simply a question of getting better at fundraising but about building a sustainable business model

Sustainable income is about exploring income opportunities across a spectrum of funding streams, from small events (gin nights and ladies lunches), charitable donations, through to grants and providing community services under contracts. This not only spreads risk, but it ensures that your football club is best placed to take advantage of emerging trends and opportunities.

Sustainable funding can involve all these income streams.
The key to sustainability is to have a clear knowledge of which streams are the right ones for your club to explore (and which ones are not!).