Every three months we write up the fund raising ideas that we’ve researched for you online.  Use them to buy new equipment for your rowing club.

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Gloucestershire Olympians Dinner

Gloucester Rowing Club took a classic event to a new level, when their fundraising event included 27 Olympians and 60 tables of 10, sponsored by EDF energy.  The event was held at Cheltenham Racecourse in a function room that included on the guest list, Princess Anne – a local resident.  The event included one speaker on behalf of the Olympians and another on behalf of the Paralympians – They also hired Kris Akabusi as a speaker, who (we’ve heard) was hilarious.

Tina Surman (GRC organiser of the dinner) says of the event:

EDF have paid for all the Olympian’s and their guests dinner and travel costs, the main speaker, the film and their advertising.
The main ticket sales covered the band. I still have posters and souvenir guides to sell off. I also have some auction gifts left to get rid of so I am thinking of setting up an ebay site- (including a limited edition print of the men’s four on their website).
We will make in excess of £10k.

Take a peek at the Olympians Dinner photo gallery, by FinePair.

Included in the photo gallery, are photos from items in the silent auction (which was run by a company, but we took a percentage of any sales), and of the oars which were made for our crew in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Two of them were signed by the Olympians on the night and auctioned.

Fundraise like Legacy 300, and Meet the Medalists

Below are a list of fundraisers from Legacy 300 in the UK.  These ideas can inspire your own fundraising endeavours  and in the ‘Meet the Medalists’ event, your club has the opportunity to contribute to the cause and make pounds while doing it: “we are looking for local promoters to engage audiences and receive 50%+ of the ticket price. All you have to do as a club/PTA is give everyone the booking code for the venue.”

Here’s a brief about the new group: Legacy 300 – Combining the ethos of the project to help directly fund Elite Athletes and the real desire to help with legacy issues, Legacy 300 was born. We are offering 300 Training Experience places for people to meet and train with the nation’s Olympians and Paralympians. These are to be made available to local sports clubs to auction / raffle to raise funds for their role in delivering the legacy. There is no cost to the participating clubs.

(Keep reading about Legacy 300)

On offer are a range of Training and Social days with the Team GB Athletes, covering a wide range of sports plus the invitation to people to create their own desired Olympic experience.

• LEGACY 300 Christmas Auction:

A universal auction of four different Training Days, where the winning bid gets to choose the good cause to support and this could be yours…please feel free to promote via Social Media using the attached link. Full details

• Christmas Gifts: LEGACY 300 RETAIL

A wide range of Luxury and Exclusive Athlete Experiences social and training to purchase with 20% cash back to the good cause they choose to support, and this could be yours.  Full details

• Christmas Gifts: LEGACY 300 AUCTION

A wide range of Luxury and Exclusive Athlete Experiences social and training to purchase with 100% above the reserve price to the good cause auctioning the item, and this could be yours.  Full details

For sports clubs / school PTAs only:

• Meet the Medalists

Over 50 Olympic and Paralympic Medallists have signed up to do a fundraising tour for local sports providers. These will be staged based, and whilst we do all the event delivery, we are looking for local promoters to engage audiences and receive 50%+ of the ticket price. All you have to do as a club/PTA is give everyone the booking code for the venue.  Full Details

Corporate Rowing Regatta

Recently in New Zealand, a rowing club used a country-wide corporate regatta as a way to promote the sport, and as their club’s main annual fundraiser.

“The club is expected to raise about $20,000 from the 2012 regatta which will go towards the club’s ongoing cost, most notably boats.

O’Connor said the $20,000 seemed a lot but it was a massive exercise putting on the regatta.
“There’s a heck of a lot of volunteer hours go into it. It wouldn’t be able to be put out on a commercial footing,” he said.

As well as the volunteers coaching and running the event, it is also financially successful for the club because many businesses support the fundraiser by providing services or equipment free or at a discounted cost.”  Read the full article.

Rowing and Fashion

Not always two things that go hand in hand, but they can if you take a tip from this article and host a Fashion show, like these female rowing members from Abreast in a Boat did.  The price of tickets can go to support your club, and you can link up with a local retail outlet – negotiate that any sales generated from the evening in garments includes a percentage going back to your rowing club.

Tell us, what have you fund raised for your club recently?   How did you do?