We wanted to find out about our players attitudes to charity. Wanderers purpose since reforming in 2009 has been to benefit good causes and we have raised nearly £10'000 for our charitable partners. We asked six questions related to charity giving.
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS: 1. Once the club has reached an agreement on a main home ground for the coming season, the Club Secretary will explore which community causes the club could support through publicity or volunteering. 2. At the end of the season, the club membership will be consulted on whether any financial surplus is donated to a charity and, along with the club's current charitable partner, CALM, and any community groups we work with, members can nominate beneficiaries.
Question 1: How important is it that Wanderers FC supports a charity?
52.2% of players are in favour of Wanderers supporting a charity whilst 30.4% are neutral. Only 17.3% do not believe the club should aid good causes. This is surprising for reasons explaining shortly.
Very important | Somewhat important | Neither important or unimportant | Not that important | Not important at all |
26.1% | 26.1% | 30.4% | 13.0% | 4.3% |
OUTCOMES: Instead of making a one-off, end of season donation to our charitable partner, the club will ask members to decide how much of any financial surplus will be donated.
Question 2: Have you ever personally raised money for a charity or cause?
Considering the majority of respondents were ambivalent towards Wanderers support of a charity, it was surprising that 78.3% of people players have raised money for a charity or cause.
Question 2b: If 'Yes', could you provide details about what you did and what cause it benefited?
Over 40% of respondents had participated in physical activities, including walks, Park Runs, half marathons, and marathons.
Benefiting causes mentioned were schools, food banks, Age UK, Alzheimer's, Amnesty, British Red Cross, the Global Educational Trust, Macmillan Cancer, Mind, Movember, National Deaf Children's Society, Tommy's, and the British Beekeepers Association! The most commonly supported charity is Cancer Research.
OUTCOMES: If club members decide that the club should make a charitable donation, they will be able to nominate a charity at the same time. For every match played, players will earn a vote, so that the most committed players have more say over where our surplus funds are sent.
Question 3: How else have you helped another person?
To see what else people have done, beyond raising or donating money, we asked them to tell us what other actions they had taken. 82.6% have donated goods or services, 69.6% have signed a petition or sent an email, and 65.2% have volunteered for an organisation.
Question 4: Are there any specific causes which you believe Wanderers should support?
Nine different suggestions were made, but the most chosen response was 'No', suggesting that there are no clear preferences for which cause the club should support.
Question 5: What would be the best way for Wanderers to support a charitable cause?
Financial contribution | Volunteering | Raising awareness | Organising fundraising events |
13.0% | 30.4% | 39.1% | 17.4% |
The least popular way that the club could contribute was through a donation. This suggests that promoting a cause through our platform - whether that is through shirt sponsorship, social media, or something else - is far and away the preferred option. What is positive when it comes to working within our community is that there are players who appear keen to volunteer their time.
OUTCOME: Engage with local community groups to identify ways in which we can support them through publicity or volunteering.
Question 6: What skills, experience, or knowledge do you have that might help a fellow club members?
There was a broad and varied collection of responses. Club members are prepared to help fellow players in the following fields;
Job applications
Data analysis
Personal fitness
Graphic design
Accountancy and finance
Writing and copy editing
Photography
Film making
DJing
Mental health coaching
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