Hemington Hammers

Game-changing payments for grassroots sports

Derby’s Hemington Hammers is a volunteer-run community football club with 150-plus members and nine teams across veterans, adults and juniors.

Its community impact has grown substantially since it started collecting monthly membership fees by Direct Debit with GoCardless. By plugging holes in this vital revenue stream it has recouped thousands of pounds in lost revenue, slashed the amount of volunteer time spent on admin, and gained the financial foundation to make an even bigger difference in the local area. 

“They say in football that the referee has had a good game if you don’t notice they’re there,” said Colin Bowden, Commercial Development Officer, Hemington Hammers. “You want the same from payments, and that’s exactly what we’ve got with GoCardless. Chasing members for payments is no longer a major part of the club’s operations and yet our revenue is so secure we’re funding more teams and community initiatives than ever.”

Revenue leakage was getting out of control

The club previously collected members’ fees by cash or card on a pay as you play basis. But revenue leakage was a big problem.

“We found that 25-30% of fees weren’t being paid because players would forget to bring their cash or card, or forget to pay at the end of a match, whilst team managers and volunteers were busy with all their other matchday or training responsibilities,” said Colin.

“And because everything was manual, tracking who’d paid and who hadn’t was a nightmare, so recouping that revenue was pretty much impossible. With costs constantly rising – training is almost 30% more expensive than five years ago – we knew we needed to create a more solid financial foundation for the club.”

Up to £400 extra revenue, every month

Moving all players onto a single monthly membership fee of £15, and automating these payments through GoCardless, has proved a winning tactic for Hemington, allowing it to boost revenue while reducing time spent on financial admin.

Payments admin now only takes an hour

The intuitive GoCardless user interface and dashboard now forms the core of Hemington Hammers’ centralised and digitalised view of payments, which are infinitely easier to keep track of than before.

“We can add player IDs from the Football Association’s portal into the GoCardless database, so it’s easy to run reports that compare the two systems and tell us which players are active and whether their subscription is up to date,” said Colin.

Volunteers on the ground no longer need to chase people down to collect payments and handle cash. And the club’s officers no longer need to maintain records of who’s paid. Everything is automatic.

“It’s better for players and parents too," added Colin. "There’s no more having to stop for cash as they’re heading to the match on a Saturday or Sunday. The monthly Direct Debit is predictable and easy to plan for, and they get an automated notification every time it’s about to be collected.”

Better support for struggling members

Most payments that fail on the first attempt are successfully collected the second time around, with a simple click of the ‘retry’ button. And the extra visibility provided by GoCardless allows Hemington Hammers to be more proactive with members who might need a little extra help.

“Only one or two payments a month fail on the second attempt,” said Colin. “And if we see a trend developing then we can approach the player or parent and ask, confidentially, if it would help to have a payment holiday,” said Colin. “That hopefully means we’ll see fewer players or families drift away from the club due to temporary financial challenges.”

Thinking bigger for the community

GoCardless has even allowed Hemington to add new revenue streams through new memberships for non-players.

“Friends, family and fans can become supporting members for a fiver a month, and get access to lots of benefits including a monthly club lottery,” said Colin. “This played a major part in financing our new stand for spectators.”

This underlines exactly how greater revenue security has given Hemington the confidence to think and act bigger when it comes to serving its community.

“GoCardless has been so easy to use that I’ve never once had to contact support. It really is a game changer for grassroots sports organisations that frees up volunteer time, simplifies membership and payment management, and increases cashflow.”