Fundraising Ideas for Your Club – June 2014

Every rowing club needs to raise funds. Whether its for a new boat or a new boathouse its never easy coming up with good ideas to net you the funds you need. We at Space Saver Rowing Systems are here to help you out with some more fundraising ideas.

Before we get into that though, we’d like to remind you that our FREE fundraising ideas eBook is available for download! We’ve also got an eBook that does cost a little bit but packs a bigger punch than the FREE one.

Row for your club

You’re a rowing club so why not fundraise by rowing? Niall Macdonald has recently attempted to row across the Atlantic ocean to raise funds for charity. You dont have to row across an entire ocean but why not get a few members of the club to commit to row-a-thon. Host an event where people try and break club erg records and personal bests. If you would rather be out on the water then pledge to row for a large distance like a half marathon (23km). You can then collect donations from people who would like to see you achieve that feat and the proceeds can then go to your club and towards your brand new boathouse (or whatever your fundraising for).

Plan a Fun Run

Plan a fun run like the colour run Childreach are doing. Charge a small fee to enter or have members of your club get people to sponsor them to run. You could even change it up and instead of a colour run have people dress up in costume for the event. Imagine a giant cookie monster running for charity.

Rowing Triathlon

Put on a rowing triathlon. Have people enter as a team or just as themselves. The triathlon is a 2k erg, a run from the erg to the water, then a rowing race from there to the finish. Charge a fee to enter so that you can raise funds for your club. Try and find a local business to donate a prize for the winner and have volunteers from the club to help run it so that there are no overheads and any money raised can go to the club. There could even be special prizes such as if a community team beats a member of the rowing club then they get a prize.

Merchandising

Selling rowing club branded clothing can always raise a bit of funds. But why not mix it up with some limited edition gear. Create a limited edition t-shirt that has a quirky or funny design, it could even poke fun at the club. If you are really into merchandising then branch out even further and sell things like lucky socks or even glassware sets with the clubs logo on them. You can put your rowing clubs name on anything and sell it to raise money. Keep a look out for popular regattas and other events and produce limited edition gear for them. This is doubly helpful for your club as your supporters will be seen in the club gear and it is also raising funds for the club.

Raise cattle – we’re not kidding!

As fundraising ideas go, Waikato Rowing Club in New Zealand fundraise in quite a unique way. The club farms cattle. These cows are owned by the club but farmed by generous volunteers who take the cattle onto their farm and raise them as their own. At the end of the grazing period the cattle are sent off for sale and the rowing club takes the proceeds.

You never know what\’s going to work for your rowing club so try something new, it might just bring in the funds you need for that brand new boathouse you’ve been wanting.