Treasurers update - June 24
The month of June has gone very much to plan. The two main focuses for the June, as stated in my update for May, was on sponsorship and season tickets.
Our strategy for sponsorship is built on sustainability. Rather than having a few sponsors who effectively donate funds and get very little in return, we are looking to build relationships with local businesses and national business with a local presence. These relationships are very much symbiotic, with sponsors getting good value from both our matchday exposure and our excellent social media reach, and the money we look to get in return reflects that. We want partnerships that endure for the long term. The deals we have in place so far fit exactly with our strategy and we are slightly ahead of where we expected to be in terms of numbers.
Our season ticket sales started slowly, perhaps due to the comparisons made on social media to ticket prices of amateur sides our league, who operate very differently to a semi-professional club. However, if there was any negative impact it didn’t last, and we are currently exactly on track to hit our season ticket sales target. We’ve also had a successful month in terms of player sponsorships, with many being taken up by both fans and businesses within minutes of the player being announced. Merchandise sales have also been exceptionally good, and we’ve already exceeded our target for the whole season, helped by a highly successfully stall at the Nuneaton carnival.
In terms of costs, we have now started to purchase items required for playing football – not only the playing kit but also training gear, physio equipment and medical supplies. We have also procured other essentials such as public liability insurance.
What to expect in July
July is a crucial month in terms of setting out our financial stall for the season. As well as continuing to attract sponsors and sell season tickets, we will be launching our crowd funder announced back in March at our presentation at the Piv. Whilst it may seem strange to some that the club is launching a crowd funder while we have nearly £30,000 of funds, it should be remembered the club is working towards two goals – one is a successful yet sustainable on field performance, but we must also focus on returning to Nuneaton. We’ve pitched this club from the very outset as an equal partnership between its supporters and local businesses, and the crowd funder is an opportunity for the fan base to play its part in covering some of the cost of setting up the club – ultimately this will free up club funds to boost the “Back to Nuneaton” campaign.
The club will also be playing its first matches – preseason friendlies, though all of them will be played away from home. This creates a particular challenge as home preseason friendlies are a traditional way to build up funds for the start of the season, and therefore this is a further reason as to why the crowd funder is so important.
We will also be paying our dues to the Midland Football League – a registration fee, league and cup entry fees for the season and a £300 “good conduct” bond.
One cost we won’t need to pay is the printing costs for season tickets – I, and along with everyone at Nuneaton Town would like to thank Nuneaton Borough Junior Football Club for covering the printing cost, which will save the club more than £450.
Back to Nuneaton update
When we launched our season tickets and matchday ticket pricing, we announced that 10% of season ticket sales, plus £1 from every matchday ticket, will be ringfenced for the “Back to Nuneaton” campaign. Those that were at the Piv will remember that any additional funds raised over and above our “baseline” average attendance of 200 per game will also be similarly ringfenced for the same purpose. In June, we have made a small but important start with £753 in the pot, coming from the contribution from season ticket sales and fan donations made specifically for this purpose.
How can I help?
There are several ways that fans and local businesses can help support the club:
Purchase a season ticket. This helps give surety of our budget for the season to come.
Join the NBSC 200 club. This is a great way of supporting the club financially, whilst give you the chance to win monthly cash prizes.
If you are a local business and would like to become a sponsor, reach out to commercial@nuneatontownfc.co.uk to discuss taking one of our great packages.
Contribute to the club crowd funder https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ntfcfundraising, and encourage friends, family and work colleagues to do the same.
