Bringing football communities closer together through Crowdfunder

The late, great Jock Stein once said that ‘football without fans is nothing’ and his words have never been more apt at Crowdfunder.

They are the lifeblood of the game and its communities, increasingly turning to crowdfunding to make a positive social impact.

More and more of the EFL football club charities are using our platform to engage their supporters and generate vital funds for their community work, using the game for good.

In total we have worked with a third of clubs at some point since the pandemic so as the latest season draws to a close, we take a look at some of the organisations that are making a difference through Crowdfunder.

Green Army

We’ll start in the South West. There is something in the air at Plymouth Argyle, enjoying one of the best seasons in their history. They were crowned champions of League One and took almost 40,000 supporters to Wembley for the Papa John’s Trophy final against Bolton Wanderers.

The Argyle Community Trust is one of the 72 club charities in the football league and like the others, it uses its platform to make a real difference to the lives of people in their community. Their Project 35 initiative has been tackling child poverty in Devon and Cornwall, resulting in them being named the EFL Community Club of the Season for League One.

As part of their work they turned to Crowdfunder to create a prize draw, offering an exclusive bundle of signed Wembley merchandise as a prize. They successfully raised more than £1,600 in a matter of days to generate some vital revenue and meaningful fan engagement ahead of the big day.

Their fans led the way during Covid-19, successfully raising £55,000 and went on to raise more than £140,000 to install a statue for Jack Leslie at Home Park, making national headlines.

Up The Tics

Wigan Athletic are no strangers to crowdfunding. Three years ago their supporters worked together with Lisa Nandy MP and our team to save their club from closure, raising a million pounds on our platform to fight another day. They went on to win League One 12 months later.

Since then we have continued to support the Wigan Athletic Community Trust with 12 prize draws and counting as part of their Believe in Communities work, featuring player shirts, merch and fan experiences while their Christmas appeal unlocked more than £3,000 from one of our extra funding partners to tackle loneliness.

Like Argyle they were recognised for their work at the EFL Awards last month and were deservedly announced as both the division winner and the overall EFL Community Club of the Season. It was a fitting tribute to the man who made it all possible, CEO Tom Flower, who died suddenly at Christmas.

In the Championship

Meanwhile Ipswich Town celebrated promotion to the Championship, following in the footsteps of Sunderland 12 months ago. Both club’s charities are serial Crowdfunders and between the pair of them have hosted 31 prize draws on the platform, raising tens of thousands of pounds for their respective causes.

The latest example by the Ipswich Town Foundation to win one of 16 match-worn shirts raised almost £20,000 in a fortnight, giving supporters a chance to get their hands on a historic keepsake and support their borough in the process.

The fanbase in Sunderland has a big reputation for supporting its community through its club. This season they raised a further £10,000 through prize draws towards the Foundation of Light’s Small Change Big Difference campaign, supporting families feeling the effect of the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy costs. It takes their total to almost £200,000 on the platform.

“The Crowdfunder platform really allowed us to make the most of fundraising opportunities,” said Kate Smith, Head of Marketing and Communications at Foundation of Light.

“The user journey for both – us in setting up our prize draws, and for supporters to get involved – is a nice simple, easy to follow process and I think this went a long way towards the success we had and the amount of money we raised.

“Each time we launch a new draw they are always really well received and it’s a great way for fans to support our cause and we’re able to give a little back.”

Leagues One and Two

Pompey in League One is a Crowdfunder regular, turning to the crowd to help establish a home for their various community programmes at the John Jenkins Stadium. They have also previous run a successful virtual ticket campaign and raised more than £50,000 to install a statue of club legend Jimmy Dickinson at their famous Fratton Park ground.

Meanwhile League Two’s Tranmere Rovers Trust have been very active, recently starting work on their new fanzone, made possible by the crowd. They raised £352,695 to transform the fan experience at Prenton Park, by far the biggest of their nine projects in recent years. They have raised money for other key projects such as a lift for disabled supporters, a defibrillator, food parcels, community tickets, murals and fan banners. They also did a huge virtual ticketing campaign of their own. And the impact is tangible.

In The Premier League

It’s not just the EFL. In the Premier League, the Aston Villa Foundation have hosted 11 prize draws of their own, giving supporters a chance to win some money-can’t-buy opportunities.

The players of Manchester United –  including Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Ronaldo – showed their backing for UNICEF’s humanitarian work in Ukraine with a series of prize draws that generated £50,000. Arsenal’s Gabi Martinelli also turned to Crowdfunder, raising £3,300 to promote a children’s charity in north London as he settled into the club after his move to the Gunners. We also helped Soccer Aid to offer up the match-worn shirts from the huge TV event.

A far more effective way of raising more money.

All of these stories have one thing in common: they’re successfully using Crowdfunder as a community engagement tool. It’s bringing clubs, the players and its supporters closer together, and making a real difference.

“Prize draws are a far more egalitarian way to engage supporters who more often than not are priced out of charity auctions which tend to be ‘won’ by the same, small group of wealthier fans,” said Murry Toms at Crowdfunder Sports.

“They’re also a far more effective way of raising more money. Take the extreme example of the Glastonbury Festival, who auctioned 10 pairs of tickets to this year’s summer’s event and raised £7,000 to support the relief effort in the aftermath of the Turkey-Syria earthquake. A few weeks later, a prize draw for the same number of tickets tipped £1 million in less than a fortnight.

“They also shine a spotlight on the cause to a bigger audience, spreading the word about the things that matter. As a communication tool they offer something different and create meaningful fan, player and community engagement. They help to grow affinity between all parties.

”From an organisation’s perspective, they are relatively straightforward to create and run. Now we are seeing many clubs creating multiple campaigns, producing a vital new income stream for the work they do.”

Crowdfunder Sports works alongside the likes of Sport England, Sport Wales, Sport Northern Ireland, the ECB, British Cycling, England Netball and Skateboard UK to support grassroots sports. More than £26 million has been channeled into projects around the UK to create happier and healthier communities.