One of the great but unexpected successes of the West Kent Group is our ability to use our numerical strength to raise substantial amounts of new money. And a good example of this is the West Kent 500+ Club.
The great Ann Widdecombe is the Club's Patron, and having such a respected and popular name involved certainly helps.
If you opened a letter from Andrew Kennedy asking you to stump-up £30 it would probably go straight into the bin. When you see Ann's familiar face and signature, you at least read what she has to say!
The Club is now coming to the end of its third successful year and has once again raised over £14,000 profit for local Association funds. Since its formation, it has raised over £40,000 and given a similar amount back to members in cash prizes. It takes about 10 hours per month to administer from the office with no burden whatsoever on our Associations. Imagine how many BBQs, Cheese & Wines or Jumble Sales you would need to organise to raise £14,000!
What's more remarkable is the West Kent 500+ Club is a very simple and popular entry point for supporters to help the Association financially. At the end on this year over 50% of our 500+ Club Members are pledges rather than Party members. Many 500+ Club members now also buy Summer and Christmas Draw tickets, attend social events and a few have even got actively involved.
Ideally you need a group of Associations working together to make this happen. One Association alone will not produce the size of membership required to make joining an attractive proposition. Asking people for £30 with a chance of winning £80 is not that enticing. Asking for £30 with a chance of winning a share of £15,000 (with a top prize of £2,500) really is worthwhile! You need a critical mass to make it happen.
We are now recruiting members for the 2019 Draw, starting in January. If you'd like a gamble and a chance of winning, please sign up by clicking HERE
And if you are an Association or Group/Federation Chair and you would like to see if the West Kent 500+ Club model could work for you, email me via HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment