Club fundraising ideas that work for sports and social clubs

Most lists of club fundraising ideas give you fifty small things: bag packs, car washes, sponsored silences. They help, but they don’t pay for new covers, a scoreboard or a clubhouse roof. For that, a club needs a few bigger moves, and the biggest is usually a night it already holds every year.

I’m Kevin Durham, a charity auctioneer and event host. At the 60 to 80 events I work each year, mic in hand on the floor, the money nearly always comes from a short live auction and a live pledge. This guide covers cricket, rugby, golf, tennis and social clubs. Football clubs have their own guide on this site.

What are the best club fundraising ideas?

The best club fundraising ideas are the ones where one night or one conversation brings in thousands of pounds, not tens. For most sports and social clubs, that means five things.

How do you turn the end-of-season dinner into your biggest fundraiser?

You turn the end-of-season dinner into your biggest fundraiser by adding two short segments after the awards: a live auction of about ten lots, then a live pledge for one named project. The tickets mostly cover the meal. The auction and pledge are where the club makes its money.

The presentation night already brings players, parents and sponsors together in a good mood. My sports dinner guide covers the running order.

Auction lots only your club can offer

I’d take ten lots that half the room wants over fifty that nobody fights for. Whoever holds the room holds the total, and a long list loses the room. The best lots cost the club nothing and can’t be bought elsewhere:

• A net session with the first-team captain, or a round with the golf club captain.
• A seat on the team coach for an away fixture.
• Naming rights on something new: the roller, the scoreboard, a bench by the 18th green.
• Signed kit from a county or professional side, if you can check it’s genuine.

Then run a live pledge for one named project

A live pledge asks the room to give a set amount with no lot in return, starting high and working down. It’s the most powerful segment of any night I work. At the Jigsaw Trust’s event, the team expected £14,000 from the live auction. It made £27,000, and a live pledge they hadn’t even planned raised another £30,600.

That was a powerful team behind a powerful charity, but it shows where the real money lives. For a club, tie the pledge to one thing, such as new covers or kit for a new girls’ team, and say what each level buys. My piece on the live pledge sets out the structure.

If your club is a registered CASC, pledges from UK taxpayers can carry Gift Aid. Auction lots and dinner tickets can’t, because the buyer gets something back.

Which fundraising ideas suit cricket, rugby, golf and tennis clubs?

Most lists of fundraising ideas for sports teams treat every sport the same, but the funding and traditions differ. These are the terms each body listed in 2026.

Cricket clubs

In February 2026 the ECB raised its maximum interest-free loan for grassroots clubs from £50,000 to £75,000, for building work, machinery, covers, nets and grounds work. It also doubled its County Grants Fund to £5m for 2026, focused on women’s and girls’ cricket.

Rugby clubs

The Rugby Football League’s club guide suggests match sponsors who hand over the man of the match award, and season sponsors who get a pitch-side board and a free ticket to the presentation night. It also says to put a reasonable price on everything at the start of the season.

Golf clubs

Golf clubs often raise money through the captain’s charity as well as for the club. At Tydd St Giles Golf Club, a Captain’s Day with a record 190 players raised more than £4,000 for the captain’s charity in July 2021. My charity golf day guide covers the format.

Tennis clubs

The LTA’s Facility Loan Scheme is not interest-free. Its page lists a 5% fixed rate, halved at the LTA’s discretion in more deprived areas, with decisions typically within eight weeks. It prioritises covered and floodlit courts. A new covered court is exactly the sort of named project a pledge can fund.

What are good fundraiser ideas for social clubs?

Good fundraiser ideas for social clubs start with what the club already has: a room, a membership list and regular nights. Most of this guide applies to Rotary-type and village social clubs too.

• A dinner with an auction and pledge. It works anywhere people already turn up.
• Community grants. National Lottery Awards for All England gives £300 to £20,000 for projects of up to two years, with a decision in 16 weeks.
• Room hire. If the hall sits empty on weekdays, let it to local groups.

My list of fundraising events has more formats.

Sponsorship a sports club can actually sell

Sponsorship sells as a priced package, not a favour. “Would you sponsor us?” invites a polite no. “The pitch-side board is this much for the season, with a table at the presentation night” invites a decision.

A simple ladder for sports club fundraising:

1. A main shirt sponsor for the first team, with first refusal next season.
2. Boundary or pitch-side boards, plus mentions on the club’s socials.
3. An award at the presentation night, with the sponsor’s name on the trophy.
4. Match or player sponsors for firms that won’t stretch to a board.

The awards are the easy win: players care about them and the sponsor’s name is read out from the stage. For junior teams, check your governing body’s kit rules first.

HMRC treats sponsorship as an allowable cost for the business only when it’s wholly and exclusively for the trade, and entertaining is specifically disallowed. Put what each sponsor gets in writing.

Grants, loans and CASC registration

Grants rarely cover a whole project. Sport England’s Movement Fund offers £300 to £15,000 for community activity projects of up to 12 months. Some awards come as a crowdfunding pledge: Sport England gives half and your community raises the rest.

A Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) registered with HMRC pays no tax on Gift Aid donations, can apply for up to 80% business rates relief, and pays no tax on trading profits while turnover stays under £50,000 a year. Membership fees can’t carry Gift Aid. Cash gifts of £20 or less can be topped up through the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme without declarations.

Can a club run a 100 club?

Yes, a club can run a 100 club, but it’s a lottery in law, so the Gambling Commission’s rules decide how. These are its terms as they stood in October 2026.

• Inside the club. A private society lottery suits sports clubs and community groups. Members can buy, non-members only at the premises. Tickets are physical, everyone pays the same and the draw happens at the club.
• At the dinner. A raffle on the night is an incidental lottery. Tickets are sold only during the event, up to £500 of takings can go on bought prizes, and donated prizes have no limit.
• Online or to the public. Register a small society lottery with your council: £40, then £20 a year, buyers aged 16 or over and at least 20% to the club.

In the first two, prizes can’t roll over. My guide to running a charity raffle covers the draw. If you’re unsure which route applies, ask your council’s licensing team before you sell a ticket.

Where to start this season

If the committee can only manage one big move, make it the end-of-season dinner. It raises money, puts your sponsors in one room and gives you match funding for the grant forms.

If you’d like me on the mic for the auction and the pledge, call me on 07596 851647. I’d rather talk it through than trade emails.