Board leadership must support a youth club’s success — in the game, and in the eyes of your community. Increasingly, this means using today’s technology to automate and organize. But can you fund sports organization software?
For sports groups, today’s leading-edge software can improve players’ experiences, monitor their wellbeing, and develop their talent. The right software can also keep the board on-track, efficient, and compliant with rules and regulations.
Now, to our point. What happens when a youth sports organization decides it needs software to stay competitive and up-to-date, but didn’t plan for it in the recent budget?
Let’s look at some software that’s vital today, and consider a few great financing solutions.
Helpful Software Tools for Today’s Youth Sports Associations
Your board might decide to adopt:
- An email service that’s discounted for nonprofits. For example, MailChimp is an elegant, user-friendly service that can welcome new members, thank donors, announce events, and keep track of correspondence.
- A website hosting service. Website domain firms offering super-good, reasonably priced hosting options can support a fabulously professional online presence for today’s community-focused organization.
- Board management software. A cloud-based solution for small and medium-sized nonprofits, enables collaboration, scheduling, communication, planning, and a system for handling all important documents with ease.
While having these systems doesn’t take a lot of money, your board might still want to plan creatively to cover the expenses without going over budget. Creative fundraising ideas can also provide plenty of teachable moments and collaboration opportunities for your league.
RELATED: Defensive Leadership for Your Sports Organization
How Clubs Fund Software Needs
Software can vastly increase member input and transparency. It can make scheduling and changes easier on everyone. It can support a club’s efforts to conduct polls and receive feedback throughout the season.
With that in mind, parents and guardians should be able to get behind these fundraising ideas:
Seasonal Fee Increases
Clubs should communicate any registration increases promptly, and explain how software can be put to use for everyone, parents and guardians included. Luckily, fees hikes aren’t the only fundraising method. There are numerous options for youth sports clubs to raise money. Let’s look at some fun, sustainable ideas.
Yard (or Field!) Sales
Sales can keep gently used household items out of landfills, and they’re a fun way to meet, greet, and pick up great gear. Players can help organize and price items, and help move purchased items to people’s cars. Be sure to include a donation jar at any event. Some organizations have success with “mission bids,” which spell out the cost of common club needs. Put a framed photo of some gear next to the donation area with information such as, “$20 can buy our club four baseballs.” This encourages people to think tangibly about their donations and possibly be more generous.
Sponsorships From Local Businesses and Sports Companies
Finding a sponsor can cover the costs of your organization’s wish list, and create a lasting alliance between a business and your teams. It also offers for-profit businesses a way to give back to the community in a way that promotes local pride. Try spelling out what you are seeking a sponsorship for (administrative technology needs), and be sure to provide the appropriate recognition. For example, if a company sponsors your email software, you can put a “sponsored by” footer on your messages as a grateful nod to your funder.
Branches of nationally known teams, stadiums, or corporations can also be worth an ask. To make a great impression on them, have an attractive promo package designed, so decision-makers can get to know your club. You can create sponsorship tiers to fund specific needs, and media information to announce the sponsors’ commitment to the success of your players.
Look for Software That Pays for Itself
Finally, the right software can lift your league’s performance. As Jonathan Zeicher, Executive Director of A Place Called Home puts the point, Boardable’s software solution “more than pays for itself in admin labor savings.” By running a well organized sports organization, you will attract more players and better sponsors. You just have to get started!
Want to know how your nonprofit board of directors and staff can be more productive and efficient through the use of technology? With Boardable’s board portal, you can centralize board information and communications, where everything (and everyone) is just a couple of clicks away. Click below to get started with Boardable.
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