How we lifted off with the Air Ambulance

The Air Ambulance NI has launched a membership club for local supporters to join together as a community supporting this great service for the residents in Northern Ireland. Klubfunder helps clubs raise funds and how we do this for the air ambulance is by providing them with a membership payment package on our platform for FREE!

Klubfunder assists with the setting up of a chosen payment provider which is gocardless for the AANI. This feature on Klubfunder helps AANI members pay their membership online quickly, easily and at their own convenience! Members can pay anywhere in the world on the ground or up in the air providing they have internet access of course…

Why not learn more about AANI at http://www.airambulanceni.org/

Help the Air Ambulance – Donate at Klubfunder today! #jointheklub

To become a member simply follow the steps below to set up your monthly direct debit:

1. Go to www.klubfunder.com/Clubs/Air_Ambulance_NI
2. Select ‘Click here to register’
3. Choose your preferred ClubAANI amount and select ‘Add to Basket’
4. You will see your basket appear on the right-hand side – select ‘Buy Now’
5. Enter all details requested and continue
6. You will receive a confirmation email from help@gocardless.com to confirm your direct debit is set up

How Facebook Has Made Fundraising Easy

Social media keeps us connected with friends, family, and co-workers across the world. How did people ever stay in contact when they had to write a letter? Today, we are in the middle of the digital revolution. Is there anyone who doesn’t have a social media account? It seems that everybody is on the internet posting pictures, tweeting about their life, and “liking” their friends’ comments.

Many people spend their free time surfing through the recent posts to see what is happening on the message boards. While some say social media sites are addictive, they have also brought about a lot of good too. For instance, Facebook has been able to connect people far and wide that normally wouldn’t get to talk. Another positive thing is this mega site has made fundraising easy. Have you ever seen so many donation request pages or people selling their home-based business products? Fundraising is nothing like it used to be. Things have changed for the better.

Fundraising For The 21st Century

Remember the old days of fundraising. Kids often knocked on the door selling candy bars and other trinkets. Today, it’s not safe for children to go door to door, and people are leery about giving money to anyone who shows up at their door with sales tactics. Another fundraising method was to call friends and family members and ask for help, and this worked for that time period. Thanks to Facebook, those embarrassing calls are a thing of the past. With the average person having over 100 friends on this site, it is easy to see how the word can get around quickly.

It’s not uncommon to receive numerous requests to fund someone in their time of need. Maybe you get fundraisers for your local school or church selling products for a trip or new computers. Putting fundraising online takes the pressure out of it. Those who are not interested can move on, while those who are interested can buy what they want.

Some people put a picture and a brief story about why they need the money. They set their goal and then select the friends that sees this request. Now, they may be limited to 50-75 people on their friend’s list, but those friends tell their friends who will share with their friends. You get the picture. Facebook is an excellent platform to share fundraising with others.

What about all the cookie dough, candy, and candle fundraisers? Forget taking the pamphlets to work, school, church, or wherever you go. You can simply post the items you're selling online and let the customers come to you. If you think these new fundraising methods don’t work, you would be mistaken.

Why Fundraising On Facebook Is Smart

Facebook is a mouthpiece for many. One such person to use fundraising to help for medical costs was Richard Overton. He is the oldest veteran of World War II. He lives in Austin, Texas, and he needs 24/7 nursing care. His son, Volma Overton Jr., create a page and put it on Facebook. The goal was to raise $200,000 to cover medical care. After just three months of being posted, they have collected $169,000. Not only did they get money, when people heard Richard’s story, nurses and home health aids volunteered their time to help him out. Chances are he would have never got the help he did if he didn’t have Facebook to spread the word.

Options Are Limitless When Facebook Is Involved

Did you know that there are 1.32 million active accounts on Facebook? That means word can spread fast, you can reach more people online than you ever thought possible.

Let’s assume you run a local youth group in your town. If you have learned anything, you know that people love the thrill of being able to get something for nothing. The chance to win something will entice many people.

Facebook will allow you to create a page just for your fundraising. You can really create quite a stir in your neighborhood if you have the right fundraising event. Why not have a professional company help you choose and plan your next event?

Ideas For Success

Schools, churches, individuals, and all other groups and organizations are looking for ways to generate money. Here are some of the most popular options for digital fundraising available today:

●      Dessert Dash

●      Treasure Chest Raffle Drawling

●      Winner’s Choice Raffle

●      Reverse Raffles

●      Fundraising With Mystery Box

●      50/50 Raffle

●      Baby and Kids Resale

●      Mr. & Mrs Night

●      Bake Sale

●      Board Game Tournament

●      Cake Walks

●      Whatever you can think of!!

Some of the best fundraisers around are entertaining, but they can also be educational too. Digital fundraising is a great way to make money online. Charities and not-for-profit organizations often have to use fundraising to keep their doors open. Now, fundraising can be fun. Best of all, people can use their PayPal, Google pay and Apple pay accounts to get involved. They don’t have to write a check, run to the bank for cash, or chase you down to collect their products. Everything is automated and ran with ease. Do some research and you will see why so many are now using fundraising on Facebook to help their cause.

Author Bio: Helen Cartwright is a passionate blogger, who excels in the Digital Marketing, Fundraising and Finance niche. When not wired in marketing strategies she ghost-write for a variety of authors who have their work published on leading online media channels such as The Huffington Post and Entrepreneur.com.​

Clann Credo - Fields of Dreams

Proud amateur sports clubs around the country have big dreams for their club members and players: better playing fields; better clubhouse; better dressing room; better equipment, and better training facilities. But finance can often be the obstacle to making these dreams realities.

Clann Credo Community Loan Finance does not believe that finance should be an obstacle to community projects and so provides loans with affordable interest and repayment rates with no personal guarantees asked for. Clann Credo has provided loans of over €10 million to over 100 sports clubs nationwide over the past 20 years. 

                                                    

The different sports that have benefited from Clann Credo community loans include: GAA; Athletics; Soccer; Water sports; Baseball; Archery and Badminton. Clubs who have benefitted include: Louisburgh GAA Club in Mayo; Cork Boat Club; Tralee Bay Swimming and Social Club; Drogheda and District Athletic Club; Ashbourne Baseball Club, in Meath, and Stella Maris Football Club in Dublin.

Stella Maris FC U16 training session

Clann Credo provides community loan finance for any sports club that can demonstrate the positive impact the project would have on the community and that has the ability to repay the loan.  

Clann Credo is a self-sustaining, not-for-profit charity helping community, voluntary and charity groups and clubs transform their communities with Community Loan Finance and, over the past 20 years, has managed to loan over €82 million to almost 800 projects.

Clann Credo has regional staff with vast experience in community sports loan and who help club members through the loan application process from beginning to end.  There is no application form needed, just pick up the phone at 01 4002100 or contact our regional offices (details can be found on the website www.clanncredo.ie)

Stella Maris Football Club in Dublin has given us some great footballers including John Giles and Eamon Dunphy, but the club was on the brink of collapse when they heard about Clann Credo. Clann Credo’s loan helped them to construct a new FIFA Two Star pitch and are also continuing to help with new training facilities.  As a result, new managers and payers have increased by 240%.

“From the get go, Clann Credo understood where we wanted to go and what we wanted to achieve”, says Derek Moore, Secretary, Stella Maris FC, “They took our field and gave us a field of dreams.”

          Stella Maris FC new pitch

“Clann Credo is unique, it is essential and laudable and the work it is doing is incredible”, says Eamon Dunphy, sports journalist, “I would encourage people to look at what Clann Credo has to offer and to see what that support can do for your own community”.

“We want to ensure that every sports club who could avail of Clann Credo funding knows how we can help them with Community Loan Finance”, says Paul O’Sullivan CEO of Clann Credo, “We work in partnership with these clubs, not just in relation to finance, but also with expert support and strategic planning”.

This is a video about Stella Maris FC and their experience with Clann Credo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6z8hvnqCY

Eamon Dunphy, Sports Journalist and former Stella Maris player.

The Power of Convenience!

Sometimes it’s not always about the big production fundraiser, it’s about opportunity.

It came to the attention of St Eunan’s GAA club that the biggest problem organisers of the Donegal Rally had was finding accommodation for rally goers.

The subject was discussed by the club but it wasn’t until two weeks out from the rally Vice Chairman of St Eunan’s, John Haran, thought they should give it a go - The club grounds, O’Donnell Park, was now the official campsite for the Donegal Rally 2016.

As time was tight someone was brought in to help with promoting the campsite, by simply making a Facebook page and promoting it through this and their club Twitter account, the online bookings soon snowballed.

“At the 11th hour I decided to give it a go. That was about 2 weeks out and at that stage we thought most people had their accommodation booked etc. Online booking was going ok but I didn't have time to push it on Facebook or the expertise. The club Treasurer then decided to get someone on board who could push this…this proved to be a master stroke as the bookings began to flood in.”

With just two weeks of promotion the club managed to bring in around €12,750 from online payments alone!

There were more funds generated through cash payments, club bar and club shop. By bringing people to the club grounds it gave the club the opportunity to make the most of their bar and shop facilities.

“The online booking was great as it gave us a lifeline… The experience with KlubFunder was excellent and Ryan was always on the ball to help out.”

The power of social media promotion and the convenience of paying online is clear to see from the dramatic increase in bookings following the creation of a Facebook page to promote the campsite. People nowadays are constantly checking their social media pages and can pay for something in seconds, the success St Eunan’s had in such a short space of time is evidence of how powerful online fundraising can be.

This just shows what can be done with an eye for opportunity and a little work. The club has made a lot of money in a short space of time and now has something to build on for future years as they will be able to plan ahead and really make the most of the Rally weekend.

Why Do We Love Sport?

Volunteers are the lifeblood of local sport, without them there just simply wouldn’t be any sport!

Behind any functioning sports club is a small army of people who volunteer countless hours of their time to ensure the survival of their local club.

Just what is it that drives these people to give up so much of their precious time to contribute to a local sports club?

You could start with how entertaining sports are, it’s great to have your favorite sport played close to home, or how sport is a distraction from our daily lives…but I think it runs deeper than that.

Sport inspires even the most cynical of us, makes us believe in the seemingly impossible, for example, Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League Final where they were hopeless in the first half going in 3-0 down to AC Milan. Three goals in six second half minutes turned the game on its head and Liverpool went on to win on penalties.

For a split second even the Everton/Man Utd fans where on Liverpool’s side that night, though that will never be admitted…….EVER!

Or

The story of an unlikely hero doing something extraordinary. My favorite example of this is the story of Jason McElwain. Jason McElwain is autistic, he was his high school basketball team’s manager. After a few years of fetching water and towels, the coach lets him suit up for the last game of the season. With four minutes left the coach puts him in, he goes on to score six three pointers in a row, 20 points in total. The scenes are something else, something that only sport could do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMjmzhF5320  give it a watch!

There is simply nothing that can bring a community together like sport can. How many times have you been having a relatively awkward conversation with a stranger before sports comes up and you end up blabbering and being late for something?

Sport provides common ground for people to get to know each other. In local communities many of the volunteers have played very little sports in their lives, but they are extremely passionate about their clubs and their sport. There are countless examples of communities pulling together to fundraise for clubs on the brink of folding, sports clubs give the whole community a common goal to work towards and give a real purpose to everyone in the community.

Simply put, volunteers work hard to keep more than sports clubs alive…they keep the community alive!  

So for that…

What is #Kash4Klubs?

We have been talking a lot about out our #Kash4Klubs campaign lately, so what exactly is it?

#Kash4Klubs has been established to do exactly what it says on the tin – make cash for clubs!

KlubFunder and Find Insurance NI have teamed up to bring this fundraising opportunity to local sports clubs. All the clubs have to do is refer their members to purchase insurance through Find Insurance NI.

For every policy each club member takes out their club will receive £20 for the initial sale and a continuing payment of £5 for each renewal.

Who are Find Insurance NI?

Find Insurance NI was founded in 1972 as a locally based family run business and as you probably guessed, they help you find the cheapest insurance quote tailored specifically for your needs.

With Operations Director Colin Mullan having a background in sport he understands what goes into the running of clubs and was delighted to get the #Kash4Klubs campaign up and running with us.

Success So Far?

Middletown GAA in Armagh have so far reaped the benefits of the scheme. They have already received their first donation from Find Insurance NI. 

Vincent Mallon, committee member and coach with the club had this to say:

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to both Find Insurance NI and KlubFunder.com for setting up this fantastic campaign.

“The donated funds will be used towards the much needed redevelopment of club facilities. Thank you again from all of us at Middletown GAA.” 

Upon handing over the cheque, Colin had this to say: 

"We’re delighted that Middletown GAA have already benefited from our #Kash4Klubs Campaign.

Seeing our donation go towards the redevelopment of club facilities, goes to show how much of an impact the campaign is already having on local sports clubs across Northern Ireland.

“We were taken aback by the response we’ve had towards the recent launch of our #Kash4Klubs Campaign and we’re looking forward to seeing what’s in store over the next coming months.”

KlubFunder founder Stephen Convery has high hopes for the campaign:

"We have huge expectations for the #Kash4Klubs Campaign and we’re thrilled to see that it’s already making a difference. We would highly recommend any local sports club to get involved.

“Well done to Middletown GAA, we can’t wait to see how the donation will benefit the club.”

Fancy Getting Involved?

Getting involved is simple and easy. 

1. Register your club with KlubFunder.com - Registration and all of our fundraising services are absolutely FREE!! So why are you not registered anyway??

2. Once registered your club can start promoting the #Kash4klubs campaign to their members, all they have to do is quote #Kash4Klubs when calling Find Inusrance NI. 

So What Are You Waiting For?

Scared Of Digital?

For clubs the digital world can seem difficult and intimidating, which explains why a lot of clubs are not taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them.

“But where do I start, what do I do?”

Anywhere! Really, just pick somewhere and make a start. It could be your website, social media or it could be a simple e-mail. Pick a tool you already have that’s easily accessible and try that out first. 

Try something small like creating an online newsletter that can be e-mailed to your members.

Remember that you’re not trying to change the world, make your first move and use it as a stepping stone to find your feet. The more comfortable you get the more you can experiment with different avenues, the important thing is….GET STARTED!!