We have compiled a list that we would like to share with all our member clubs. They are for your use in your community. Some you may have to adapt or modify. We would appreciate you sending us your feedback on what worked, what you modified so that we can continue to grow the list of ideas.
- Have people sponsor the handles of your rocks
- Set up a sponsorship league with the purchase of signage you get to have 1 team of 4 for the full season or 2 teams of 4 for a half a season. These 4 people do not have to be the same every week and this is at no extra cost. But if anyone then wants to curl on other nights you now charge them the membership fee.
- Make sure that the Mayor and council members are included in your club get them out on the ice curling.
- If you have events in the ice shed during off season and want to protect your floor…why not go to a local construction company and exchange sponsorship for plywood to cover your floor? They lay the plywood then come back and remove it (you don’t need brand new plywood to cover a roof or board in a wall)
- Sponsorship signs – make them all 4 by 4 or 4 by 8 and put tracks on the wall that the signs slide in and out of. No more nail holes in the walls or signs.
- With sponsorship you get to be part of the league but you also get promoted on the clubs facebook page and website. Display your sponsors’ logos around your logo on the FB page. Also ask members to support those businesses that support the Club and remind members to tell the companies that they saw their signs at the curling club
- If you are allowed to drink in your ice shed…run a dedicated line from the ice surface to the bar so people can place orders and someone takes the drinks out.
- Do a monthly ticket draw for something relevant to the season….all the fixing for Christmas dinner, thanksgiving dinner, a BBQ…
- If you are having a dance or other social, have volunteers drive people home for a $20 donation (check to ensure driver has current insurance)
- Sell promotional items with Club name on them… hats, t-shirts, jackets, hoodies
- To cut power bills look at LED lighting saves money and makes it brighter
- Make sure your club has good signage not only on the building but so people can find it driving to your club
- In ice signage! Rings and hog lines. Sponsors like the idea of having season-long visibility even if they only sponsor one event. Make sure you talk to your ice maker first!
- With signage consider a multiyear deal. Also the sponsor pays extra the first year to get their sign made if they cease sponsorship, they get their sign back. Multi-year sponsorships allows sponsors to build their brand; visitors to the club (curlers or not) will see and recognize their community support.
- If you have the room in your parking lot – consider a car or bike show. Entry for public – put a donation bucket and have a BBQ with drinks
- First bonspiel of the year – entry fee is toilet paper, paper towel, whatever you need to stock your club with supplies for the season. In NB they have a second bonspiel with the fee being whatever is needed to stock the bar (with NS liquor laws not sure this would work)
- Have a fundraiser specifically to help fund teams going to other clubs bonspiels. The club pays half the entry fee…if you attend theirs they are more likely to send team to take part in your spiels.
- Purchase a selection of jackets to loan out to curlers when they go to other clubs…the curlers have pride in representing your club and you will get exposure for your club. If someone wants a jacket of their own they can buy one.
- Get the juniors more invested in the clubs. Every board should have a junior curler on their board. That curler is chosen by the other junior curlers and reports back to the juniors. They also have great ideas and can let you know what the juniors would like.
- If you have space hire a babysitter one night a week…mom and dad get to come out and enjoy curling and the club knowing that the little one is taken care of by a certified babysitter. If you pick up one or two new curlers the babysitter is paid for.
- Start a sponsorship for Curling Across the Nation. You get people to sponsor $.50 per game that Rob curls in the season if he curls 100 games that’s $50 per person this money stays in your club. He does the curling, you get people to sponsor and you keep the money!
- Everyone enjoys free money….have a 50/50; tickets sold before each game; $2/ticket; each team takes a turn selling tickets (front door); draw and payout is made before the start of the second draw. 50% to curler; 50% to Club (or Junior Program)
