THE SKATEROOM’s Post

The business of football (soccer to my American friends) is fascinating, exhilarating and often precarious. I’ve been on the board of Lancaster City FC (one of the world’s oldest football clubs, established 1911) for almost two years now. Lancaster is a small northern city on the west coast of the UK. Manchester is the nearest big footballing name, about an hour away down the M6 motorway. I went to University in Lancaster almost 30 years ago, which is how I got involved in the club again. We’re in the Northern Premier League, seven leagues down from the Premiership, and three leagues below the Hollywood fairytale of Wrexham. But the realities of non-league football for most clubs don’t end with Ryan Reynolds buying your club. Every week is a constant battle to keep the financial wolf from the door. Our sponsorship, gate and diner revenue is all up 30% over the last two years, and yet we still struggle to make ends meet with a multi-thousand pound defecif to manage due to rising energy costs, business rates, ground maintenance and player wages. And we’re one of the buoyant ones! Marske FC, peers in the Northern Premier League, have recently taken drastic action to recoup costs, effectively demoting themselves to the league below to give them a hope of surviving financially (cheaper players, less league-mandated ground upgrades required etc). That’s no surprise to me. Balancing fan expectations, overspending managers, player ambitions and financial realities is a real eye-opener in terms of what it takes to keep a non-league football club afloat. And their importance goes well beyond sport. These are institutions at the heart of communities - they keep people together and give neighbourhoods a collective purpose through good times and bad. They create social cohesion among strangers, combatting loneliness, forging friendships and building support networks that translate into huge social benefits that often go unacknowledged by local councils and politicians. This season alone, Lancaster has engaged hundreds of schoolchildren, refugees and vulnerable groups, to give them a sense of belonging, aspiration, support, and purpose beyond the daily grind. And it’s all done by volunteers - there are no fat cats creaming off the profits here. In fact, there are no profits at all - only debts! It’s a precarious situation that local councils should be more attune to and supportive of. These local sporting institutions, central to the community, give back so much and yet are constantly on a knife-edge, drawing on the good will of volunteers and donations to keep them afloat - whether that’s the board members, the lady on the gate, or the unseen hours of the people digging the pitch or cleaning the diner oven. So thank you to the volunteers, the part-timers and the giver-uppers. Without you, these local football clubs would be knocked down and replaced with your next out of town multi-story car park. 👇

If you missed our webinar on Top Sponsorship Tips the other week: No worries! You can watch the recording any time you'd like at the link below.👇 (It's filled with SO MANY groundbreaking and easily-actionable ideas—whether you're just getting started or have been around for awhile and are looking for a revenue-boosting refresh—you might find yourself rewatching it more than twice!) PS: Keep an eye out for a few helpful companion pieces that we will post here in the coming days and weeks. 😉 https://ow.ly/ZWG250QFqvC #nonprofitsponsorships #findsponsors #fundraisingevents

The Norwegian whale hunt is the deadliest in the world, and foreign condemnation hasn't stopped it.  It's time for a fresh approach. Thanks to your donations, WDC's stop whaling campaigner, Lottie, has been working within Norway, supporting a network of Norwegian activists and the growing movement of young people to create a Norway For Whales. Click the link below to find out how you can be part of this #WaveOfChange 👉https://ow.ly/6w6i50RlVj1 #WaveOfChange | #EndringsBølge

📣📱Calling IG specialists and digital fundraisers! 📣📱 Planning your winter campaigns and looking for a burst of inspiration? We've got you. Join us for a FREE webinar with Surfers Against Sewage to hear about how together we raised over £200k online in just one week. FREE webinar: Crafting Target-Smashing Fundraising Propositions with Surfers Against Sewage 🗓️ When? Thursday 25 July, 9:00-10:00am 📍 Where? Online (via Zoom) – link provided upon sign up Hosted by: Forward Action Speakers: Jessica Hailstone from Forward Action, and Olivia Jeffries from Surfers Against Sewage Sure, summer holidays are just starting, but now's the perfect time to get ahead and make sure that you've got the most compelling fundraising proposition to cut through the crowded giving market this winter. In April this year, we helped Surfers Against Sewage raise over £200k as part of the Big Give Challenge. Now they've kindly agreed to share how bold storytelling, finding the right hook, and agility made this campaign a success – and how these strategies can work for you too! This webinar is for you if: 🌟 You’ve got big plans to grow your income through your winter appeal 🌟 You’ve struggled to maximise your email income in the past 🌟 You’re a fundraiser looking for tips and inspiration to elevate your digital activity Jessica and Olivia can't wait to share the Now or Never Appeal story with you, and answer your questions to help set you up for a successful giving season. Sign up today: https://lnkd.in/eJRrxCD7 #Fundraising #Webinar #DigitalFundraising #CharityAppeals #ForwardAction #SurfersAgainstSewage

The new episode of a guide for CEE founders from our Marcin Borowiecki is here. Check it out!

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Jessica CVA MES, CVA, an expert on volunteer engagement, my time as an executive director, and the critical role volunteers played in our fundraising strategy. Check it out! From the blog: "Finally, our work is about relationships. Sometimes, we get too focused on building relationships with funders and overlook relationships with staff, volunteers, folks who are just in the neighborhood, folks down the street, the businesses across the street. These are the sustainers of the organization." Many times in our sector, we’re trying to find that rich person who's gonna give the money. This means we overlook smaller donations from these volunteers who are waiting to be engaged more deeply. It takes time, it takes a strategy, and it means making an investment."  #nonprofits #fundraising #boardrelations #nonprofitmanagement

Are you expecting everyone on your volunteer board to fundraise for your organization? If so, you might just be setting yourself up for disappointment. 😞 Not everyone is an enthusiastic fundraiser😃 ... and since there is nothing worse than an UNenthusiastic fundraiser 😟 ... encourage your board members to be ambassadors, storytellers, and connection-makers. BOARD MEMBERS: Do you have a story you like to tell that gets people excited about the mission of your organization?