100 squares, 24 hours, and a shot at the Storm

When people stop playing sport, they usually stop turning up. That becomes a quiet problem for rural communities like Clermont in central Queensland where plenty of people work drive-in drive-out or fly-in fly-out rosters, making committing to a season genuinely difficult. When someone stops playing they lose a great deal more than the football itself. They lose the training nights, the change room, and the routine of being somewhere every week.

Clubs are often described as being good for the community, which rather undersells what they actually do. For a lot of men in a town like this footy provides the only regular exercise they get and the only real challenge outside work. It is often the one place where they are known well enough that somebody would ask if they seemed off. Losing that connection when they stop playing is not a small thing, and it is not easily replaced.

None of that had really been named as a problem until Clermont lost one of their own. It was a loss that rocked the community, and the conversation that followed was about everyone who was no longer around the club: how you stay in touch with them, how you notice when someone has quietly drifted away, and how a club goes on looking after people once they have stopped pulling on a jersey. The Clermont Bears Old Boys were formed to answer that question.

Why the Old Boys exist

Rhiannon Finger's family had been involved with Clermont Bears Rugby League for years, and when her husband Brendon retired from playing they stepped away the way most families do. The Old Boys are what brought them back, and Brendon is now president while Rhi is secretary.

What began as a way of keeping former players connected has turned into something rather more useful than just a social gathering, because the Old Boys also fundraise. Previously, they raised money to help a former player seek cancer treatment, and this year they went after something different again.

That structure is worth pausing on, because it is unusual and it works. The club runs the football week to week, which is more than enough for any volunteer committee to be carrying, while the Old Boys take on the fundraising. The result adds fundraising capacity to a club without asking anything more of the people already coaching, running the canteen, maintaining grounds and managing club finances.

Trent

Trent White grew up in Alpha, a town of around 550 people west of Rockhampton, before moving to Clermont for work as an apprentice carpenter and playing representative level for the Bears. Footy later took him to Yeppoon and a stronger competition, where Rhi describes him as a force to be reckoned with. He was selected for the Queensland Country side, played against City and was watched by more than one scout, and at 24 he signed with the Melbourne Storm for a train and trial period of twelve weeks in Melbourne.

The Storm have put real resources behind the players going through that process. But a train and trial is not a guarantee of an ongoing position with the Storm, and there is a lot of work ahead for Trent. Relocating to, and living in, Melbourne for twelve weeks also costs money that lands squarely on the player, so the Old Boys decided to get behind him.

100 squares, under 24 hours

Rhi launched a 100 square grid at $100 a square with a $5,000 first prize, which is considerably more than the 20 per cent of the pool that Lucky Squares usually suggests. But the Old Boys wanted to offer a first prize that would get the town's attention. And it did, with thirty five squares selling in the first hour.

"We knew the community would rally behind Trent," Rhi said, "but I couldn't believe we sold 35 $100 squares in the first hour."

The grid sold out in under 24 hours, taking $10,000 in square sales, of which $5,000 went to the winner and $5,000 went towards getting Trent to Melbourne. It is the second fastest 100 square campaign to sell out on the Lucky Squares platform.

If your club has something worth rallying around, you can build a grid and preview it for free before committing to anything.

Rhiannon had previously done this the hard way

None of this was new to Rhi, because she has run 100 board fundraisers before on paper, as recently as a couple of months earlier. Her assessment of that experience is blunt.

"It was an enormous amount of work, messy and time consuming, and it needed someone with time on their hands to drive it behind the scenes, fielding Messenger messages and chasing people for money."

She found Lucky Squares through a Google search and set the campaign up herself, surprised at how simple the process was. "Even my husband, who is technically challenged, said it was easy for someone like him."

Pricing was a genuine concern for her going in. Because Rhi also sits on a P&C that had been caught out by unexpected platform fees elsewhere, she came into this one wary.

"The fixed pricing is brilliant. We knew up front what it would cost and there were no hidden fees," she said. "We knew all the variables before we launched and knew exactly what we would end up with at the end."

The campaign fee was $19. Lucky Squares does not take a percentage of what a campaign raises, and you can see exactly what a campaign costs before you launch it. She also had a clear view on why a grid suited this better than a straight appeal, which was simply that "the fact that someone wins something is amazing". Nobody in Clermont had to be asked for a handout, because they were offered a square and a chance to win $5,000 instead.

The draw, and Pene

They recorded the drawing of the winner with a witness present to supervise, and the $5,000 went to Pene, a local hairdresser who is expecting a baby.

"It was such a positive result," Rhi said. "People from our community are so happy for Pene and her partner."

What struck Rhi about the draw had less to do with the mechanics than with the clear communication and privacy around it, with recorded draws, integrity certificates and automated notifications all part of how campaigns are run.

"As I went to click the draw button I was prompted to record the screen, which was good because we could then be accountable to the community by posting how the draw happened. The website was great in that it emailed people whether they won or not, and included a link to the draw integrity certificate. And it respected the privacy of the winner, which is important especially when dealing with big prizes like this. Her name wasn't immediately announced, allowing us to have a conversation with her and get her consent to release her name."

Pene's answer, when they asked her, was "Hell yeah!"

"I also liked how confidentiality was considered on the live grid as well, where surnames aren't displayed. I think that's important and was something I didn't expect."

Rhiannon has worked in graphic design and user experience, which shows in the details she noticed. "I can tell a lot of thought has gone in to the design of the Lucky Squares platform."

What it meant

When Trent was told about the $5,000 support he got choked up and said he was not sure how he would ever repay them, though there is no expectation that he will. Support like this for local kids usually arrives without conditions attached, because the community simply wants to give someone the chance to find out how good they might be.

There is a second effect the Old Boys did not have to plan for, which is that there are juniors in Clermont who want to play professionally and have just watched one of their own get a chance to be signed by the Melbourne Storm. If Trent can get picked, maybe they can too.

Rhiannon's last word was about the experience of using the platform, and it is the part we are proudest of.

"I really liked how Jamie personally reached out to me to ensure everything was running smoothly. It felt really personal, and you often don't get that level of country style customer service. It really feels like a carefully considered and organically grown site from someone who has had a lot of grassroots experience."

And on Lucky Squares itself? "It's amazing."

If anything in this story raises something for you, support is available around the clock. Lifeline is on 13 11 14, MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, and 13YARN on 13 92 76. In an emergency, call 000.

The Clermont Bears Old Boys exist so that a club can get on with running football while somebody else carries the fundraising and keeps former players and members in touch. Not every club has an "Old Boys" to lean on. But every club has the same question sitting underneath it, which is how to continue supporting a community without asking more of the same handful of people.

Every Lucky Squares square has a purpose, and Trent's was a flight to Melbourne and twelve weeks to prove himself. What would yours be for?

You can set up a grid and see how it looks without paying anything, read how a campaign runs from launch to draw, or start with the organiser checklist if you are weighing it up for your committee. If you run fundraisers for a whole club rather than one team, have a look at the organisation plan, and there are more organiser success stories on the blog.