Each week, we will be profiling one member from within the Sport for Business community, highlighting the ways in which they are contributing to the business of sport in Ireland.
If you would like your organisation to be part of this feature, please contact us today and let’s talk about what you do that deserves to be placed in the spotlight in front of the influential sporting and business leaders that make up our community.
Today we take a look at PledgeSports, the crowdfunding platform that has grown from launch in 2014 to now offering projects across 28 countries from its base in Dublin.
Fundraising is a major issue for sporting bodies, clubs and athletes. It is a crowded marketplace to go seeking sponsorship and while there are plenty of blue chip companies looking to get involved with the power of sport it can be a real challenge to find the sweet spot that turns interest into commitment.
PledgeSports was established by Richard Pearson in Dublin in 2014 with the intention of moving the conversation from one big hit sponsor to literally hundreds of people and organisations that could contribute a smaller amount that would make things happen.
Surge
In an Olympic and Paralympic year there was an inevitable surge of projects for which support was keenly felt and a major deadline that could not be pushed back.
“The Olympics and Paralympics brought a lot of excitement to the office,” said Pearson speaking to Sport for Business.
“Watching the Irish Hockey team who raised over €50,000 through the site was a real privilege.”
“Becoming the first team to qualify for the games from Ireland in 70 years was a real achievement but there was a shortfall in terms of the funding that was needed to prepare as best they could.”
“Working with Atomic Sport as an agency they created some compelling imagery and content to support the campaign and they got a great reception from an enthusiastic hockey community.”
Boost
“In total their €51,000 funds came from a total of 430 individual donors. These included family, friends, players, clubs and businesses for whom a small contribution added up to a big boost for the team.”
Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal won Gold in Tandem Cycling at the Paralympics and their preparation was enhanced by raising over €10,000 to go alongside the money provided via Cycling Ireland, Paralympics Ireland and Sport Ireland. This helped get the right gear to go for gold and it paid off in style.
British Wheelchair tennis Player Lucy Shuker also used the site on her way to a bronze medal while documentary film maker Karen Darke doubled what she hoped to raise in order to fund a film on the para cyclists competing at the Games.
Investors
“This area of helping sporting start ups and different elements of the sports world, aside from athletes, to raise money is a growing area for us,” added Pearson who is himself in discussion with a number of high profile investors about raising money to expand the footprint of the site.
“We have grown from a dream to running campaigns in 29 countries as of today.”
“The site is busy with turning dreams into reality for people as diverse as Audrey who wants to run a marathon on a frozen river in Mongolia in -40 degrees and then take on an ultra marathon in Namibia in +40 degrees.”
“We will shortly be launching a charity element to the site as well, catering for those who want to spread the financial reward of their achievements.”
Expanding
The team is expanding from our Dublin base and we are currently looking to hire a new community manager to work with individuals and tell their story in a most effective way.”
PledgeSports has been a member of Sport for Business from the outset and has been a regular attendee at our regular gatherings and events as well as keeping up to speed with all the commercial developments in sport through our daily digest.
“Sport for Business is a real winner for us, bringing together people who can make things happen,” said Pearson before heading off to upload the latest campaign on www.pledgesports.org
