When I have been asked by a rugby club how can they create an addtional regular income stream, I ask whether they have set up a 200 club?
A 200 club is a way for a rugby club to make a steady monthly revenue through a monthly lottery. This will help support the clubs finances and is simple to set up and manage .
The following guide will help you through the initial stages of setting up a 200 club from creation to holding regular draws.
The guide contains the following information:
What is a 200 club and how does it make money?
Who can set up a 200 club?
What happens if you can’t get 200 people to join?
What is the prize breakdown of a 200 club?
What is required to set up a 200 club?
What happens if more people want to join the 200 club?
What is a 200 Club and how does it make money?
A 200 club is a lottery whereby, individuals from the rugby club can reserve a number from 1-200 for a monthly fee, usually £5. A percentage of the fee collected goes towards the prize break down and the remainder goes into the club finances.
The small amount of £5 is insignificant to the average rugby club member. However, it makes a significant contribution to the club. If the club has 200 members taking part in the monthly draw and takes 60% of the contribution, the club should make a profit of £3,600 every annum from the draws.
Who can set up a 200 club?
Any rugby club can set up a 200 club however, only members of the club should participate in the 200 club or people on the premises at the time of the draw. The Gambling Commission treats a 200 club as a private society lottery, as the proceeds from the 200 club are being used to be invested with the rugby club.
There must be no proceeds left from th 200 club at the end of the year. Therefore, all the money is either given away over the course of the year as prizedand the money must be invested into the rugby club. For instance the person who organises the 200 club could not take a portion of the money as a wage, as this is not within the private society lottery rules.
What happens if I can’t get a 200 people to join?
It is always worth while conducting a bit of market research within your rugby club to see if anyone would be interested in taking part in a 200 club. Have a prize breakdown and see if individuals would think that it is a good value for money.
If you are unable to get 200 people to join the 200 club then you can increase the number over a period of time incrementally. For instance you may start with 50 people and every quarter you could build this up by 10 people until you get to 200.
At a 200 clubs initial inception it may seem that signing 200 people to take part in a private lottery is a daunting task but in reality it is a simple numbers game. If you have ten members interested why don’t you encourage their partner to have a number as well in order to increase the chance of winning. If your rugby club has a large membership base, include the monthly winners in the newsletter and a link with how to join. During the 200 club it is important to reiterate that the money helps the club, as if there is no money, there would be no club and in turn there would be no members.
Prize breakdown of a 200 club?
The key to a 200 Club is to charge a certain amount a month such as £5 and split the money 60% towards the rugby club and 40% towards the prizes. If you had 200 members sign up to your 200 club, then you would receive £1000 a month. Therefore, 60% (£600) of this will go towards the rugby club and the remaining 40% (£400) would go towards the prize funds. However, to make more winners over the course of the year it would be better to have a prize of £50 a month, the remaining £350 could be put in a prize pot for a quaterly bonus draw and a yearly mega draw. Therefore, the prize break down could be as follows in the table below.
| Month | Prize Break down | Additional Prizes |
| Jan | £50 | |
| Feb | £50 | |
| March | £50 | £100 |
| April | £50 | |
| May | £50 | |
| June | £50 | £100 |
| Jul | £50 | |
| Aug | £50 | |
| Sept | £50 | £100 |
| Oct | £50 | |
| Nov | £50 | |
| Dec | £50 | £100 & £200 |
This means once a quarter, there is an opportunity for members to win £100 a month and then an additional £200 at the end of the year.
What is required to set up a 200 club?
If you wish to set up the 200 club you will require the following documents:
Rules of the 200 club
These should tell members the prize breakdown of the 200 club, how and when the draw will take place. This is very important, perhaps it will be the first home game of each month or another significant social event. The rules should explain what happens to a members number when they are unable to fufil payments to the 200 club.
Direct Debit Forms
On your website you should have a direct debit form which explains how and when payment will be taken. The form should be sent to a members bank to set up a direct debit or the member can complete this from their internet banking.
Winners should be listed on your club website.
What if more than 200 people want to join the 200 club?
There is no problem with more people wanting to join the 200 club but you have two decisions to make. Firstly, If you would like to have more than 200 members or would it be more appropriate to have a waiting list whereby people can join if members drop out for any reason. The second option is you could increase the club by increments of 10 however, you would have to consider putting up the prize breakdown, as the odds of winning become less and less as new members join.