8 September 2026 · The Entrypoint team
Every GAA club fundraising list promises the same twenty ideas. What they rarely tell you is the volunteer cost — and for most clubs, volunteer hours are scarcer than donors. Here are twelve ideas ranked honestly by effort against return, with real figures where we have them.
1. Last One Standing competition. Members pay once (typically €10), pick one team per round — Premier League gameweeks or All-Ireland Championship fixtures — and elimination whittles the field until one winner takes the prize. The rest goes to the club. Run online, the weekly admin is close to zero. Real 2026 figures: 348 entries for a West Cork camogie club, €2,300 in entries for a Dublin club. How to run one →
2. Golf classic pick competition. During each major (and the Ryder Cup), members pick a team of golfers and follow a live leaderboard for the week. Three Irish clubs ran Open Championship 2026 competitions of 42–152 players at €10–15 a head. Zero pitch time, zero catering. How golf fundraising can work →
3. 50/50 draw. Sell tickets, winner takes half the pot, club keeps half. Simple and repeatable monthly. Note: draws are games of chance, so lottery/raffle rules apply in both IE and UK — check your permit position (see idea 7).
4. Membership drive done properly. Unfashionable but unbeatable: 200 adults at €25 is €5,000, annually, for the cost of an email and a follow-up. Family rates and auto-renewal lift it further.
5. Club lotto. Still the backbone for many clubs — up to 30% of income for some — but it's a permanent weekly operation with licensing under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 2019, and many clubs report declining sales. If yours is tiring, read alternatives to the club lotto.
6. Quiz night. A well-run table quiz nets a few hundred euro and is a genuine community night. Needs a venue, a quizmaster and spot prizes.
7. Raffle with donated prizes. Works when a committee member is good at asking local businesses. Remember raffle licensing thresholds (general information only — confirm with your local authority or the Garda permit process, not legal advice).
8. Sponsored walk/run. Great family event and reliable earner; the work is in marshalling and sponsorship cards (online sponsorship pages cut this in half).
9. Golf classic (the real one). Team entries plus tee-box sponsorship can raise thousands, but it's months of organising. Pair it with a pick competition (idea 2) for members who don't golf.
10. Strictly-style dance night. Huge community energy, four-figure returns, enormous organising load. Every parish has one great one in it per decade.
11. Development draw for a capital project. Big-ticket entries (€100+) with a serious prize, run over months. Needs governance, promotion and a compelling project.
12. Club merchandise. Steady rather than spectacular; works best launched alongside championship runs.
Pick one low-effort earner to run continuously, one event for community energy, and match the calendar: a Premier League Last One Standing from August, championship picks in summer, golf picks around the majors, the quiz in winter. Two or three well-promoted fundraisers beat six exhausted ones — especially when the same two volunteers are running everything.