Your club deserves a scoreboard that looks fantastic and brings the magic to those big moments. The great news? You don’t have to wait for a windfall or a miracle grant — a well-run fundraising campaign can get you there faster than you think.
Volunteer-run sporting clubs are the backbone of Australian community sport, but let’s be honest — the budget is always a stretch. That shiny new electronic scoreboard you’ve been eyeing? It’s absolutely within reach. Plenty of clubs across the country have funded theirs through smart, targeted fundraising campaigns, often combining a few different approaches to get over the line.
Here’s a practical, no-fluff guide to planning and running a scoreboard fundraiser that actually works.
Step 1: Know Your Number Before You Start
There’s nothing worse than launching a fundraiser without a clear goal. Before you rattle a tin or sell a single raffle ticket, get a firm quote for your scoreboard. Contact AusSport, tell them your sport and your ground, and get a proper number to work with.
Once you have your quote, check whether any grant funding might cover part of the cost — even a partial grant can dramatically reduce the amount you need to raise yourself. Our article on grants for sports clubs in Australia is a good starting point.
Pro tip: Don’t aim to raise the exact purchase price. Add a 10–15% buffer to cover installation costs, power supply work, and any unforeseen site preparation. It’s much easier to over-raise slightly than to be caught short at the finish line.
Step 2: Build a Small, Motivated Committee
This is the single biggest factor in whether your fundraiser succeeds. A great idea run by one exhausted volunteer will fizzle. The same idea run by a committed team of four or five people with defined roles will thrive.
You need someone to lead the effort, someone to handle money, someone to coordinate communications (social media, emails, club newsletters), and a couple of people who are just good at getting things done. Keep it lean — too many cooks and decisions never get made.
Give the campaign a name and a simple visual identity if you can. Something like “The Scoreboard Fund” with a basic progress tracker on your club website or Facebook page makes the goal feel real and keeps people engaged.
Step 3: Pick Your Fundraising Mix
The most successful club campaigns don’t rely on a single event or mechanism — they layer several approaches. Here are the ones that work best for community sporting clubs:
🎟️ Mega Raffle
A properly run raffle with a genuinely appealing prize (think: weekend getaway, electronics package, local business vouchers) can raise thousands over a few months of home games. Members sell books, the club sells at the canteen, and the atmosphere on draw day is a bonus community event in itself.
🏟️ Naming Rights / Sponsorship
A scoreboard is a highly visible, permanent asset — a perfect sponsorship opportunity for a local business. Offer naming rights for a set number of years (“The [Business Name] Scoreboard”) in exchange for a lump sum contribution. Most businesses love the ongoing brand visibility. Many clubs raise 30–50% of their total this way.
🍺 Club Trivia Night
A themed trivia night with entry fees, a silent auction, and a bar tab on the night can comfortably net $2,000–$5,000 for a well-organised club. Tie the evening to the scoreboard project — show renders (ask AusSport – they can help with this), share the goal — and people feel like they’re part of something. Great for community spirit too.
💻 Crowdfunding Campaign
Platforms like MyCause or ChipIn make it easy for clubs to run online fundraisers. Share the campaign link through social media and club communications, and don’t underestimate former members and club supporters who no longer live locally but still care deeply about the club.
🪙 Member Pledge Drive
Ask current members, past players, and life members to make a one-off pledge — even $50 or $100 per person adds up fast in a club of 150 members. Frame it as a legacy contribution: “Help us build something that will be here for the next 20 years.”
🔩 Buy-a-Bolt
A quirky but effective mechanism: sell “virtual components” of the scoreboard — a bolt for $10, a panel for $50, your name on the back for $200 (ask AusSport – they can help with stickers for this). It gives donors a tangible sense of ownership and creates great social media content as the “build” progresses.
Combine and conquer: Most clubs that successfully fund a scoreboard use two or three of these approaches running concurrently over a single season. A naming rights deal as your anchor, a raffle running throughout the season, and a trivia night mid-year is a proven combination.
Step 4: Make It a Season-Long Story
A fundraiser isn’t just a financial exercise — it’s a community storytelling opportunity. Share progress regularly on your club’s social channels and newsletter. Use a simple goal thermometer graphic. Celebrate milestones (“We’re halfway there!”). Thank donors publicly.
When people feel like they’re part of the journey, they stay engaged, they tell their friends, and — crucially — they give again. A campaign with good momentum tends to accelerate in its final weeks as people rally to help you get over the line.
Build in a few set-piece moments: the campaign launch (ideally at the first home game of the season), a mid-point event (your trivia night), and a final push in the last few weeks. Keep the energy up between those moments with regular social posts and updates.
Step 5: Stack Fundraising With a Grant Application
Here’s the move that really makes the numbers work: run your fundraising campaign in parallel with a grant application. Many grant programs — including the Telstra Footy Country Grants — require applicants to demonstrate community support and co-contribution. Your fundraising efforts are proof of exactly that.
Even a partial grant — say, covering 30–40% of the cost — dramatically reduces the fundraising burden on your volunteers and members. And arriving at a grant application with $5,000 already raised puts you in a much stronger position than turning up with nothing.
Check the current grant rounds and deadlines on our Footy Grants page and plan your fundraising timeline around application windows.
Step 6: Celebrate — Loudly
When the scoreboard goes up, make a big deal of it. Organise an unveiling event — invite everyone who contributed, the local mayor if you can get them, your naming rights sponsor, former players. Get photos. Get a story in the local paper. Post a reel on Instagram and Facebook.
Beyond the feel-good factor, this kind of celebration reinforces to your sponsors and donors that their contribution was real and meaningful — which makes them far more likely to support your club again in future.
💡 Don’t forget: Send a personalised thank-you to every significant donor, your naming rights sponsor, and the grant body if applicable. A handwritten note goes a long way. People remember that kind of thing — and so do the committee members who might approve your next grant application.
What Does the Timeline Look Like?
Most clubs can realistically complete a scoreboard fundraising campaign within a single football or cricket season — roughly six to eight months. Here’s a simple overview:
1
Months 1–2: Set Up
Get your quote, form your committee, set your goal, apply for any grants, lock in your naming rights sponsor, and plan your events calendar.
2
Month 3: Launch
Launch the campaign at your first home game. Kick off the raffle. Launch the crowdfunding page. Start regular social media updates.
3
Months 4–5: Build Momentum
Run your trivia night or mid-season event. Keep updates coming. Chase any grant outcomes. Hit the halfway milestone and celebrate it publicly.
4
Month 6: Final Push
Draw the raffle. Close the crowdfunding campaign. Make the big ask to any remaining major donors. Get over the line.
5
Post-Campaign: Order, Install & Celebrate
Place your order with AusSport. Coordinate installation. Plan the unveiling event. Thank everyone. Enjoy your new scoreboard.
You’ve Got This
Community clubs pull off remarkable things every single year with limited budgets, donated time, and sheer determination. A scoreboard fundraiser is one of the most achievable projects a club can take on — because the goal is tangible, the community benefit is obvious, and there’s a clear finish line.
The clubs that succeed are the ones that plan early, get the right people involved, combine multiple approaches, and keep the story going all season long. That’s really all there is to it.
And when that scoreboard lights up for the first time on game day? Worth every lamington sale, every raffle ticket, every trivia question. We promise.
