PitchIn Platform: Recurring income for busy club volunteers

PitchIn Platform is a customisable website that makes fundraising for cricket clubs very simple and quick to earn from.

The superpower is that it’s slick, well-designed (I’ve seen myself) and automates recurring income.

Think about all those things that every cricket club sells every year. Memberships, 100 clubs, paying for indoor nets sessions, event tickets and sponsorship packages, to name a few.

Neat solution to a recurring problem

A cricket club volunteer has to organise the admin and collection of money. Every year. It can be a pain. So much so that often clubs miss out on vital income they should be receiving.

No-one wants to endlessly chase for money; it can be awkward which is where tech can be fast and fearless, taking the emotion out of things.

We all have systems we prefer and ways, online and offline, to get the job done. Where PitchIn Platform excels is enabling players, members, supporters and corporates to buy and renew in seconds.

Their engagement tools help clubs to find new supporters as well as ensuring existing supporters feel included throughout. Integrated with social media, clubs can schedule messages about campaigns to keep the momentum and awareness going.

Meanwhile, volunteers can set up a campaign (ball sponsorship or 100 Club) and start earning in minutes.

I know, I know. You have to learn another bit of software. But, hear me out, the biggest barrier to adopting these online tools is usually getting set up and encouraging others to use them.

What struck me in the demo for PitchIn Platform was three things:

1. Just how intuitive it was. You don’t need to be a technical mastermind or plough through long, online tutorials. They get that volunteers are doing this in their free time and want to crack on.

2. Rapid outcome – Cleverly designed, forget about online profiles, roles, lots of curation and barriers to buying. Anyone can purchase from your club on their phone or laptop in seconds. No need to even login!

3. You only pay as you earn – So, no forking out for a digital product when it’s the winter months and perhaps your club isn’t as active or you’re not selling much.

There are also ready-made templates to save time, member engagement tools, and detailed reporting.

What are the costs?

The team at PitchIn Platform are involved in club cricket and appreciate first-hand that every saving is appreciated.

They are unusual in that there are no monthly fees. Instead, clubs pay a transaction fee of 3.5% and 25p per transaction.

This equates to £9.40 to the club for a £10 purchase or £96.25 out of £100 sponsorship.

While supporting grassroots cricket is at their heart, PitchIn Platform have to pay the bills like everyone else but the cost is minimal while there is continual development, benefits and features.

Why use PitchIn Platform instead of other fundraising sites out there?

It might benefit your cricket club to use various tools for different projects. i.e. Crowdfunder is more suited to bigger-budget, one-off campaigns such as outdoor nets.

PitchIn Platform’s appeal is that it’s aimed at bringing in regular, repeat income. Clubs can manage membership subs more efficiently than direct debits, bank statements and chasing in person.

It is typically one of the most admin-heavy tasks at a club made easier for both club and member, player or supporter.

There are built-in features that will suit volunteers such as a dashboard with what’s been earnt, who’s paid and the ability to send instant reminders. Plus, automated Gift Aid collection to help with donations and the admin around HMRC.

When setting up these campaigns on PitchIn Platform, clubs can offer a variety of payment plans to be thoughtful, spread the cost and ultimately get more money coming in.

Not forgetting, the lack of annual or monthly fees makes it cost-effective for even a small club with one team to use.

For transparency, there is a bit of minimal advertising on their site but it is very unobtrusive and appears in all the demos so you can see how that looks.

I think the magic of PitchIn Platform is that they compare favourably against alternatives either in cost, time to learn or both. (No names mentioned 🤐).

Case Study: Pudsey Congs

The problem for busy volunteers is always time. If they had a TARDIS then happy days but in the absence of interstellar travel, it’s the many admin jobs that hoover up lunch breaks, evenings and weekends.

PitchIn Platform are relatively new – so why trust them? Why invest your absolutely precious time with them? The answer lies in the fact that clubs are already using their services and getting fantastic results.

Here’s a Yorkshire example that is powerful.

Pudsey Congs started on PitchIn Platform with minimal fuss. They have created a number of ‘campaigns’ or products including a Bonus Ball Monthly Draw that acts as a great source of consistent income where anyone can win a monthly cash prize.

The Bradford Premier League club have since set up a social membership, pre-season nets as well as ball sponsorship for 2025 home games at the Veezu Britannia Ground.

Events can prove profitable for clubs and Pudsey Congs are looking forward to their beer festival at the end of March with live music, guest ales and ciders, as well as food on offer at Intake Road.

Reviving the monthly bonus ball

Thanks to Richard Jubb who shared this feedback: “We loved how simple it was to use and how it brought lots of different fundraising initiatives on to a single platform. Alex and the team have been brilliant in answering questions and helping us get the most out of the platform. I would highly recommend them to any cricket club who’s looking to take the time and stress out of fundraising.”

What is striking is the potential to open up new ways for a cricket club to earn without enormous effort, as was the case with Pudsey Congs:

“We used to run a monthly bonus ball draw years ago, but it needed a dedicated person to run it… which is very admin-heavy and time-consuming. Within minutes of logging it to PitchIn Platform, we adapted one of their template campaigns and just like that… our bonus ball draw was revived.”

He added: “The system is very easy to navigate and make changes to, and Alex was there on the end of the phone or email to help if we got stuck.”

I understand that players and supporters have found the system very easy to use. It can be a central hub for all recordkeeping too by still being able to record a cash sale or a payment on the system.

Good luck to Pudsey Congs as they seek to raise important funds to help deliver their cricket offerings across the club.

There are other success stories to explore as you do your research where clubs are now bringing in extra revenue from new fundraising efforts and/or more flexibility (like membership tiers and payment plans).

Get started today

If I were in your shoes as a cricket club, I’d scoot round the PitchIn Platform website (pausing to notice the very nice, uncluttered design aesthetic that your club will also benefit from).

Nothing wrong with due diligence. In fact, here are bite-sized videos to give you a snapshot in a smidge over a minute, all in.

You can sign up to PitchIn Platform and see if you like using it. There’s no cost to giving it a try to see if it makes more for your club.

🚀 Setting Up Your Site (Super Fast)
🎨 Customisation & Campaign Templates
👍 Socials and Engagement
📊 Reporting
💷 Paying and Receipts

Thanks for reading – and wishing you every success in your club’s fundraising adventures!
For the latest news from PitchIn Platform, visit pitchinplatform.com or head over to their Facebook page. There’s also Pitchin Platform on LinkedIn.