I have decided to renovate a disused old bike track and turn it into a 4Cross venue. We have done the first Dig Day and had a good volunteer turn out but we need some funds for stuff like tools and the bigger projects we have planned.

I reckon £5,000 – £10,000 would be a useful start so I don’t really want to do it with a few quid here and there from the riders who use it. We are set up as a Community Project and have, or will have once it clears, the correct bank account etc. but would rather have the volunteer members for free this year if they help with the simple dig days. We can worry about membership charges and event fees once we have developed the better facilities.

I was wondering if anyone had any good fundraising ideas beyond:
– Begging letters to local businesses
– Some kind of donations page
– Searching the gazillion possible grants to find any that we qualify for

How about:
– a sponsored ‘something’, cycle, run, something in aid of the 4x funds
– an event such as like a – i dunno, a disco or something people will turn up to and pay to go
– coffee mornings, bake sales, something like that
– car washing day (or somesuch) with volunteers washing cars
– Car boot sale/auto jumble on the 4x grounds

None will bring in huge amounts of money in one hit, but its a process…. that coupled with sponsorship/grants and GoFundMe should be a good dtart. Also shows your willing to ‘work’ for it and not just have ‘handouts’. Also help raise the profile to people who maybe dont know the project.

If you find a really effective answer to this conundrum please let me know :-)

We have been working on donations and raffles for the last 12 months and managed about 1k, we need 80k!

Sponsored ‘something’ might be worth a punt.

The issue with the sponsored something is that a lot of people are sponsored out. It is hard enough raising good money for a traditional cause such as cancer, MND etc. but when people see you want money for an adult play park……well, you know.

We are hoping to get some success with aggregate by talking with a local supplier but it has a been a slow process due to some politics we have that maybe you don’t.

I would say our biggest success is raffles and eBay sales of new mtb kit that has been donated, that has brought in a few 100 on it’s own. We are trying to get a bike to raffle but this is proving somewhat challenging.

We have B&Q head quarters right close by. I thought I would get them to arrange a sponsored track relay.

Multiple teams.
1st person rides down the track hands the bike over to the 2nd person an waits.
2nd person pushes the bike up to the top of the start ramp, hands the bike over to the 3rd person and waits.
3rd person rides down the track, hands the bike back the the 1st person and waits.
1st person pushes the bike up to the top of the start ramp, hands the bike over to the 2nd person and waits.
2nd person rides down the track, hands the bike back the the 3rd person and waits.
…

How many trips down the track in the allotted time can they manage?

I guess we could extend that for other companies in the area.

have a look at this:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/clubs/article/20140530-Club-Funding-0

works like Topcashback – if volunteers buy stuff  (TV, fridge etc etc) then there is a percentage back to you

And following on from the British Cycling link in the post above, try BC’s regional development manager for your area.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride/article/goridest-Regional-Development-Staff?c=EN

There are various community grants available through them and they’ll also have links to people who know how to design, build and develop pump tracks, BMX tracks, 4X courses and so on.

Sports England?

https://www.sportengland.org/funds-and-campaigns/our-funds/small-grants-programme

Postcode Lottery – I think ideal for you. I have £1m a year from them for work.
https://www.postcodelottery.info/making-a-difference/local-funding-opportunities

Tesco Stronger Starts (used to be Bags of help) https://tescostrongerstarts.org.uk/

Lottery Community Grants – can be onerous reporting, but 16 weeks IIRC from application to decision.
https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes?max=20000&location=england

And last one : Landfill Tax Credits – who runs the local tips, find out who then manages the giving. They love a good public park / active / nature scheme generally.
https://www.entrust.org.uk/landfill-community-fund/

Asda, coop etc have funds they put into community projects. Windfarms and major project winners usually have to contribute to local groups through councils. I’m looking at £10k from a local windfarm project.

And following on from the British Cycling link in the post above, try BC’s regional development manager for your area.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride/article/goridest-Regional-Development-Staff?c=EN

There are various community grants available through them and they’ll also have links to people who know how to design, build and develop pump tracks, BMX tracks, 4X courses and so on.

Yep I managed to get £60k from BC for a pump track project. But now they have changed the funding model no in that they will match what ever you successfully crowd fund. Much harder to do.

They do smaller grant thought for equipment etc.

Just had a big lump from BC for my original Southampton BIke Park so might be a challenge but I will ask, thanks.

Sports England, Postcode Lottery, Lottery Community Grants and the Supermarkets will all be getting a call/email shortly. Thanks

I raised a good bit in needed equipment when i did vso type thing in the 90’s

I promised the companies i spoke to if they donated, they could use the affiliation in any advertising they wanted. They love that type of thing. Good for you and good for them.

Round table?

Rotary?

Any local businesses for sponsorship?