Fundraising Made Simple
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Key Takeaways
- Fundraising success shouldn't be measured by total raised alone, but by return per volunteer-hour, since a fundraiser that raises less can still be more efficient if it takes far fewer people and hours to run.
- Car washes and bag packs sit at the lower end of this ranking, they're great for community bonding but tend to demand heavy volunteer hours relative to what they raise, and bag packs depend on factors like supermarket footfall that clubs can't control.
- Fun runs and sponsored challenges can raise significant money by tapping into participants' personal networks, but need enough scale to justify the organisational effort involved.
- Quiz nights are one of the most underrated formats, generating income through entry fees, raffles and round sponsorship simultaneously, often using a venue's existing infrastructure.
- Every fundraiser, even small team ones, should run through the club's proper financial processes. Digital fundraising and payments create a clear record, protect the volunteer handling the money, and give the treasurer full oversight.
Here's an unpopular opinion:
The club car wash might be one of the least efficient fundraisers in grassroots sport.
That's not to say you shouldn't run one.
Car washes can be great community days. They bring players together, create some fun around the club and get everyone involved.
But if the goal is specifically to raise money, there's another measure worth considering:
How much money did we raise per volunteer-hour?
Volunteer time is one of the scarcest resources any grassroots club has. Yet committees often analyse how much a fundraiser generated without considering how many people, and how many hours it took to generate it.
A fundraiser that produces €1,000 isn't necessarily better than one producing €800 if the first required 100 volunteer hours and the second required five.
Looking at fundraising through that lens changes the ranking considerably.
5. The Car Wash
Let's start with the controversial one.
A typical car wash might involve 15 or 20 volunteers spending much of a Saturday washing cars, directing traffic, collecting payments and keeping everything organised.
Then there's the weather.
And a physical limitation: you can only wash so many cars in an hour.
You might generate a few hundred euro or pounds and have a fantastic day doing it, but when you divide the final total by the combined volunteer hours, the financial return can be surprisingly low.
Verdict: Do it for the community and team bonding. Don't automatically assume it's your most efficient way to raise money.
4. The Bag Pack
Bag packing has been part of grassroots fundraising for years, and many clubs have excellent longstanding relationships with local supermarkets.
It's reliable, easy for supporters to understand and can generate decent money.
Its weakness is volunteer management.
Filling a full day's rota can require dozens of shifts, with additional supervision needed when juvenile players are involved. The amount raised is also heavily dependent on supermarket footfall - something the club has no control over.
It works, but it can become a serious organisational exercise.
Verdict: Reliable and familiar, but volunteer-heavy.
3. The Fun Run or Sponsored Challenge
This is where fundraising potential starts increasing significantly.
Sponsored activities allow individual players and members to reach their own personal networks, bringing donations into the club from well beyond the usual supporter base.
That peer-to-peer effect can be incredibly powerful.
The trade-off is organisation.
Depending on the event, clubs may need to think about routes, permissions, insurance, registration, stewards, promotion and event-day logistics.
At sufficient scale, the return can absolutely justify that work.
For a small team trying to raise a relatively modest amount, it may be more effort than necessary.
Verdict: Strong fundraising potential, particularly at scale, but make sure the target justifies the workload.
2. The Quiz Night
The humble quiz night deserves more credit.
You have one venue, one evening and the opportunity to create several revenue streams simultaneously.
There's the table entry fee.
Add a raffle.
Then sell sponsorship for individual rounds or prizes.
Suddenly, you're generating income in three different ways from essentially the same event.
If you're partnering with a local pub or venue, much of the physical infrastructure is already there too.
It also works as a social event, meaning supporters receive something tangible in return for participating.
Verdict: One of the most underrated fundraisers available to clubs.
1. Last Man Standing
In terms of fundraising return versus administration, Last Man Standing is difficult to beat.
The concept is simple, supporters understand it and much of the excitement builds naturally as participants are eliminated each week.
Take 200 entries at €10 or £10.
That's €2,000/£2,000 in entry revenue from a fundraiser that can run for six weeks or longer.
Once everything is set up digitally, ongoing administration can be relatively light compared with organising physical events. Ste it up once and it runs itself for six or more weeks.
There's also a natural communication hook every week as participants check results and see who's still standing.
Verdict: Pound-for-pound; or euro-for-euro - one of the most efficient team fundraisers in grassroots sport.
Make Every Volunteer Hour Count
Run fundraisers digitally, track every donation automatically, and give your committee a clear record of what's raised and where it goes.
There's a Pattern Here
Look at the fundraisers towards the top of the list.
The volunteers aren't necessarily working harder.
The structure is doing more of the work.
That's an important principle across all club fundraising.
The goal shouldn't always be finding another 20 volunteers.
It should be finding ways for the volunteers you already have to achieve more with the time they're giving you.
That could mean digital registration, online payments, individual fundraising pages, recurring subscriptions or simply choosing fundraising formats that aren't dependent on dozens of people giving up an entire weekend.
Volunteer effort is precious. Build fundraising around that reality.
And Don't Forget Where the Money Goes
There's one final issue with team fundraising that every treasurer should think about.
Small team fundraisers are often the money most likely to sit outside the club's normal financial processes.
The U14s raise €800.
It's collected partly in cash.
Someone holds it temporarily.
A manager pays for new jerseys.
Everyone has acted completely honestly and in the best interests of the team.
But suddenly money has entered and left the club ecosystem without necessarily appearing clearly in the club's financial records.
That's uncomfortable for the volunteer handling the money and for the committee responsible for governance.
The simplest principle is:
Run it through the club - even the small stuff.
Digital fundraising and payments create a clear record of what was raised and where it came from. It protects the volunteer handling the fundraiser, gives the treasurer better oversight and ensures the money individual teams generate actually contributes to the club's complete financial picture.
Good governance doesn't need to make fundraising harder.
Done properly, it should make it safer for everyone involved.
Start Measuring More Than Money Raised
The next time someone suggests a fundraiser at your committee meeting, ask two questions instead of one:
How much could this raise?
And:
How many volunteer hours will it take to raise it?
Because the best fundraiser isn't necessarily the biggest.
It's the one that achieves the club's goal without exhausting the people you're relying on to make it happen.
Got questions? We've got answers!
What's the most efficient club fundraiser per volunteer hour?
Last Man Standing tends to offer the best return relative to effort. It can generate strong entry revenue over six or more weeks while requiring relatively light ongoing administration once it's set up digitally.
Are car washes and bag packs bad fundraisers?
Why is the quiz night considered underrated?
Should small team fundraisers go through the club's official finances?
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