Sponsorship can be a great way to generate income and form a partnership with a local business or organisation. Sponsorship isn’t free money however. It requires time and resources to be successful and it should be seen as a two way mutually beneficial relationship between your club and the sponsor.

Think about the different types of sponsorship a company could offer your club including:

• Sponsorship fee e.g. for sponsoring the club kit, match, equipment etc.
• Provision of resources e.g. volunteers to help out at the club for the day or at an event
• Provision of products or services e.g. an electrical company providing energy efficient lighting or a local builder providing some facility maintenance work.

Find out more about sponsorship, including things to think about before engaging with sponsors, on the Club Matters Sponsorship and Partnership Marketing page.

Raising money from fundraising and social events can be a great source of income as well being an excellent way to bring your members together. By involving members other than the committee to organise events you can give them the opportunity to feel they are doing their bit to support the club.

The list of events you could run is endless and often the more imaginative the better. Examples include:

• Club run tournaments / galas
• Race / Casino night
• Pitch side raffles / football cards
• Community Music Festival
• Community Bonfire

See the Club Matters A-Z Fundraising Ideas toolkit for inspiration

Many football clubs rely heavily on income generated from membership fees, so it’s important to get these set at the right price. Ideally your membership fees should cover the day to day financial running costs of the club. Additional income generated can then be used to improve and develop your club and to build up a sinking fund to cover unexpected events.

Below are some questions to ask yourself when thinking about your football club's membership fees:

• Have you researched to see if your subscriptions are competitive with other local clubs or activities?
• Do your fees reflect the value of what your sports club offers? For example, the playing opportunities, coaching, facilities, social activities, etc.?
• Is there scope to increase the fees, or should they be reduced to attract more people?

Remember, raising membership fees can be an emotive issue so make sure your members know exactly what they are getting for their money and also let them know how your club is funded overall. Often a rise in membership fees is more acceptable if members are more informed about the financial position of the club.

When people talk about crowdfunding, they mean using websites to organise fundraising campaigns. Crowdfunding sites host campaigns which act as a means to promote the campaign.

They usually feature a video, some text explaining what you’re seeking to raise and why, and manage payment online via credit or direct debit. The platform automates the process of getting the money from your funders and getting it all to you in the event of success.There’s lots of platforms available to use. Most charge around 5% + VAT of what is raised on a no-success, no fee basis.

Crowdfunding online gives several important advantages. Firstly, moving away from cash makes managing funds easier and less stressful. By using cards, there’s no need to have procedures in place to manage theft, danger to volunteers from theft and lots of trips to a bank. And, by using online methods, people aren’t restricted to what funds they might have in their wallet at the time you ask, so average donations can be higher.

Secondly, it can broaden the reach of a campaign beyond the immediate users or local people and tap into families, friends and people who might once have had a connection to a club but have moved away and now use social media platforms.

Finally, as an online form, people invest and you get their email addresses and other details, so you have a means to keep on engaging with them and build the stronger relationships which can be harder with cash or cheque based campaigns.

Eligible organisations can also claim Gift Aid as part of a crowdfunding campaign.