How We Pay Our Way

Body

No one will be surprised to hear that there are many demands on the money raised by Kilmacud Crokes. These demands are met through a series of different revenue generation activities throughout the year. This note was written for all of you out there who, like me, were a bit confused about which fund raiser was for which cause and, come to think of it, how come there were so many different causes in one club. Thanks to the Hurling Section Chairperson Tom Barry for patiently walking me through the detail which I’ve tried to capture below. Any errors are probably in my understanding rather than Tom’s explanation.

 
As parents of boys, you pay two charges at registration time.
 
The first is a Registration Fee to register your child as a juvenile member of the club which entitles them to train and play with the club. This money goes directly to the Juvenile Committee (as for example you would have noticed if you happened to be making out a cheque on registration day when the Juvenile Committee was the payee). The estimated outlays calculated by the committee for 2010 and expressed as an approximate cost per player are:
 
-          €31 = Contribution to paying salaries of coaches
-          €32 = Pitch hire
-          €14 = Entry, affiliation and insurance
-          €31 = Referee fees, equipment & team expenses
-          €25 = Voucher for club shop
-          €133 = Total approx cost
 
Allowing for possible unforeseen expenses during the year, this was used to set the registration fee for 2010 at €155 per boy. The plan would be that this charge should cover the yearly cost of running the juvenile section.
 
The second charge collected at registration time is a Development Fund Levy. There is recognition within the club that there will need to be investment in improving the quality of the facilities available to the club. It hasn’t been decided yet what form these improvements will take but the money accumulated over the next few years through this levy will be used to fund them.
 
Individuals or whole families may also opt in to joining the Kilmacud Crokes GAA club as full GAA members. On payment of the GAA Membership Fee, a family gets reduced registration fees for any of their children who want to train and play with the Juvenile Section. This GAA club membership fee goes toward the running expenses of Glenalbyn House and does not percolate down to any of the playing sections in the club. Glenalbyn House is run by the Kilmacud Glenalbyn Sports Club Limited.  This is a completely separate company to the GAA club and is operated independently although the GAA club does elect the majority of the board.  The Sports Club is responsible for running affairs within Glenalbyn House and in addition, separate sports clubs for the various sports activities around the house operate under the auspices of the Sports Club.
 
A second source of revenue which makes its way directly to the Juvenile Section is the annual Mini All-Irelands competition which has been running now for many years and is something which all the kids in the area look forward to for months in the run-up to it. With the running costs of the Juvenile Section met by the registration fees, the money raised through registration for this competition is being conserved in a fund which the Juvenile committee wishes to be used for the development of facilities to benefit juvenile players.
 
The Hurling Section within the club embraces all the 25 or so hurling teams representing the club at many different levels and grades. In 2009 it cost €100,000 to run the Hurling Section. All this had to be raised by the Hurling Section itself. 
 
The operational expenses of running the Section through the year are primarily met by two fund-raising events each year.  The larger of these by far is the annual Meteor Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland 7’s. This attracts the best club teams from all over the country to Stillorgan on the Saturday before the All-Ireland Hurling in early September. This is a very significant event on the national GAA calendar and kick starts the All-Ireland weekend. Nearly 70 teams and almost 1,000 people take part in the three competitions run on the day – Senior A, Senior B and under 13. Crokes have been running the event since 1973. Sponsorship plays a large part in its commercial success and we are very lucky indeed to have the support of Meteor for the competition. Additional revenue accrues from the sale of programme advertising and gate receipts. Months of advance work, preparation and planning are required from the 7’s work group so Kilmacud Crokes is best show cased to the large crowd of visitors that attend the event.
 
The second event that contributes to operational overhead is the annual Golf Classic which typically takes place around the end of June or start of July. This is always well supported and also makes an important contribution to meeting the running expenses of the Hurling Section.
 
From time to time, clubs such as ours embark on major landmark projects to drive a step change in the available facilities. For the Hurling Section within Crokes the most recent example of this is undoubtedly the Hurling Arena. This is a superb facility to have available to our players of all ages but needless to say cost significant money, €500,000.
 
It was clear from the outset that a major new source of revenue would be required to pay off such a cost and so for the last six years a hugely successful fundraiser has been held in the form of the Corporate Race Day at Punchestown at the end of April.  Proceeds from this event have nearly cleared the Arena debt and it is intended that a substantial part of future funds raised will go to improving and expanding the coaching of hurling in the club. The 2010 Race Day will be held on the opening day of the Punchestown National Hunt Festival, Tuesday 20th April. Tables at the prestigious Punchestown Pavilion, including bus transfer, silver service lunch, celebrity tipsters etc cost €1,500 (individuals €150pp). 
 
We rely each year on generous businesses and individuals to make the day a success.  The Punchestown work group under the leadership of Paul Gorman has been in session for some time and would love to hear from anyone who can support. 
 
Paul Gorman can be contacted at 0872865901 and Paul.Gorman@Pioneerinvest.ie. Other work group members include Brian Geraghty, Ed Gibbons, Peter Corish, Tim Dolphin, Brendan Sweeney, Sean Allen and Tom Barry. Additional volunteers always welcome.
 
As an opportunity to entertain clients or friends the quality is superb and a better day’s value will not be found.
 
The Hurling Section is just one of the sections in the club and as every one has to pay their own way the other sections (e.g executive, football, camogie, ladies football) also engage in fundraising. The latest example was probably the Monster Draw organised by the Executive Committee of the club late 2009 in an effort to defray the costs of grounds and pitch maintenance. This draw was promoted by Club Rathcairn Parish Development who invited clubs and community organisations around the country to come together and take part in their Monster Draw. Within Kilmacud Crokes responsibility for ticket sales was devolved to the various committees.  
 
In the current recessionary times facing Ireland, everyone is even more conscious of where their money is going and what they are getting in return. Hopefully the notes above have shed some light on where the money goes that you contribute at various times throughout the year to Kilmacud Crokes, at least in relation to the Hurling Section.  If you have suggestions for how the club or the Hurling Section could raise money, please do get in touch with one of the Hurling officers who would be delighted to hear from you. You can find their names and contact details on the web in the About Us section of our web site: http://www.kilmacudcrokes.com/hurling
Tagging