Maximising New and Existing Revenue Streams to Secure Your Clubs Financial Future

Finding new ways to increase revenue is always a hot topic for Clubs and as grant funding pots become smaller and the number of organisations asking for money grow, it is becoming increasingly important to consider other ways to create revenue streams.

There are a wide range of different potential funding sources including individuals, organisations, corporates, commercial, community/charitable trusts, gaming, Iwi and Local and Central Government. Sports clubs (including gymnastics) currently focus most of their efforts on commercial revenue streams (membership fees, revenue from competitions etc) and top up their funding with grants from Community/Charitable Trusts and Gaming funders. When compared with where revenue is generated for organisations world-wide, this reveals a huge area of untapped potential for Clubs.

New Zealand is a generous country with large sums of money donated to charitable cause every year. However at present almost all of this money is donated to social service causes. Sports clubs need to recognise and believe that they are doing great things and that what they do and provide contributes significantly to the wellbeing of the country.

Maximising traditional revenue streams

Commercial: Clubs need to take time to review commercial membership streams. Membership fees need to be looked at annually to ensure there is a balance between offering an affordable service while still valuing the product you are offering. If you have an excellent product, don’t be afraid to charge accordingly.

Things to consider:

• A small incremental increase in fees annually eg. in line with inflation is much easier for parents to stomach than no increase for a number of years and then needing to increase significantly to cover costs.
• Look closely at your membership fees structure – is what you are getting worth what you are charging or are you undercharging for the amount of coaching time offered eg. the membership fee of a competitive athlete when worked out at an hourly rate.
• Grant Funding: Compared with other sports gymnastics is low in terms of the amount the sport as a whole gets from grant funding. So even though the pot is shrinking and the market is getting more crowded, there is still potential to increase how much is brought in through grant funding.

For a wealth of information, ideas and templates to support grant funding please look up our Grant Funding Guide on the Members Only page of the  website.

Tapping into new revenue streams (eg. individuals, organisations and corporates)

When looking at potential new revenue streams, Clubs need to consider how they will approach them and what for. Some examples are:

• Sponsors / Partners: Think of what you want funding for in terms of a package. You need to know exactly what it is that you want funding for and where possible what they would get in return. Make sure you know ALL your facts and figures before you meet. Don’t apologise for asking for large amounts of money if what you are asking for funding for is worth it.
• Endowments: Endowments represent money or other financial assets that are donated to a group or organisation. The sole intention of the endowment is to invest it, so that the total asset value will yield an inflation-adjusted principal amount, along with additional income for further investments and supplementary expenditures.
• Gifts: These are sums of money gifted to an organisation or cause. Gifts can range in size and can be ongoing or a one-off. How you approach someone about a gift will vary depending on whether they are a first-time giver, a repeat giver or making a one-off donation.
• Bequests: Bequests are provisions left in someone’s will for a certain purpose eg. a bequest from an individual for a sum of money to go to a nominated charity when they die.

Translating Ideas into Practice – Tips for Success

For much more detailed information on how to maximise your chances of success when pursuing new revenue streams, take some time to read through the presentation made by Steve Bramley (Director of SGL Funding LTD) at the GymSports NZ AGM on 7 May.  This is also available on the Members Only part of the website.