Join our affiliate marketing scheme and raise funds for the club!

Darlington FC is delighted to announce the launch of a new affiliate marketing scheme designed to raise funds to support the growth of the Club over the coming months and years. It is vital if the Club is to prosper that we look at developing additional revenue streams in addition to the fantastic financial support provided by the fanbase and the club’s owners.

The scheme, which is managed by local company Proffecy, will allow revenue generation by way of a kick-back on products and services purchased by Darlington FC fans, family and friends through a range of companies looking to grow their customer base. The scheme is already in use by many local clubs and has recently been adopted by two other National League North clubs. Whitby Town were also one of the early pioneers.

Chief Executive Officer David Johnston is very keen on the scheme, and said; “I’ve made no secret of the need for additional revenue streams to financially support the club in order to move forwards both on and off the pitch, and having recently met with the guys from Proffecy and heard the success stories of other clubs of similar size, it seemed like an ideal way in which we can start to take some of the onus for direct revenue generation away from our loyal supporters. By utilising our wider supporter network through our well-subscribed social media channels, this is an opportunity to purchase a product or service of interest whilst at the same time generating revenue for the club.”

As an example of how revenue can be earned, we can take one of the offers such as the World Lottery Club. This offer gives you two bets on the Euromillions Lottery draw for just 98p. As a result, DFC would receive £5 per person taking up the offer. If just 1 in 6 people who regularly attended games entered, this would net the club a total of £1,000.

If you don’t want to part with any cash but still want to raise funds, then the offer from “Your Noggin” which pays 25p just for submitting your email address to receive broadband and utility deals is quick and easy, plus it has the potential, if subscribed to by a large number of fans, to generate substantial revenue.

We will be promoting various offers daily via the club’s social media channels so watch out for a special deal which may interest you and in turn provide vital revenue for your club. Or to view all current available offers you can visit the Darlington FC page at http://dealmanager.proffecy.com/partner-21/darlington-fc

A FAQ document and a detailed guide to the offer rules is below. We would advise you to have a read through the document first before proceeding with any offer:

What is affiliate marketing?

You’ve probably come across affiliate marketing before but maybe not realised it. If anyone has used one of the popular cashback sites such as Quidco or TopCashback it’s the same principle. Essentially a supplier of a product or service will pay a referral fee for customers  to be directed to them by an affiliate.

The particular affiliate marketing company we are using for this scheme is a local company called Proffecy who sign-up partners wanting to sell products and services to the mass market and then advertise those products and services to individuals. In order to find those individuals who want to buy the products and services Proffecy have targeted the fans of local sporting clubs who will in turn benefit from the revenue that is shared as a result of an enquiry, trial or purchase.

The larger the Club’s fan base the more revenue can be generated through this scheme, there really isn’t a cap on what can be earned as long as the rules are followed.

Why affiliate marketing?

As a fan owned Club we’re always looking at additional revenue streams to support the growth of the business and ultimately allow us to move the football club to the next level. To date the majority of the funding for the Club has come from the fans pockets. We understand that we need to diversify in order to both sustain and grow current income. Affiliate marketing is a way that you can support your Club without having to directly hand over cash. By purchasing a product or service that you would have anyway the Club gets a share of the revenue from the supplier and you get a product you want, often at an initially discounted rate.

Affiliate marketing should be a win for all parties concerned – the supplier gains a new customer, the club is given a share of the revenue and you get a product or service you want often at a reduced introductory rate.

What happens when I click on one of the links?

Generally the offers can be split into two categories:

1. Free to enquire – these are typically lead generation, for instance a quote for health insurance or a new boiler. You will need to submit your details and commit to be contacted by the company in order to discuss a quote. It’s important to note that there is no obligation to buy, however we do ask that if you submit details you are willing to at least seriously consider the quote and be available to be contacted. Only serious enquiries will result in Darlington FC generating revenue.
2. Purchase offers - these are typically one-off purchases or subscriptions, often at a low introductory rate for which you will receive goods or services. As a result

Once you have completed the action your visit to the site is automatically captured and logged into a system that both Proffecy and Darlington FC have access to. This is completely anonymous, no customer data is captured within this system it’s simply a way to track how much revenue is due to Darlington FC at the end of the month.

A full list of the current offers available plus any important information about them can be found in the document that DFC has produced whilst testing the offers out. This document will contain important information about offers and how they are redeemed and cancelled if necessary and we do advise you to read through the offers you’re particularly interested in before proceeding.

How much does Darlington FC receive from the scheme?

This purely depends on which offers are taken up and how many fans get involved. You will see next to each offer the revenue that DFC will expect to receive as a result of you completing the offer in line with the offer rules.

Social & Ethical Responsibility

Before any offers are added to the site they will be fully vetted by Darlington FC to ensure that they are appropriate for the supporters of the Club and align to the values of the Club. During the formation of the launch we have liaised with the majority shareholder Darlington FC Supporters Group and have agreed to supress a number of offers that do not fit within the ethos of a fan owned community club. This will be continually reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Promotion of Offers

We will regularly promote offers via various channels in order to drive revenue generation. The promotions which are chosen by the Club will be based on various selection criteria outlined in the marketing strategy which has been devised for this revenue stream.

Transparency of Funding

Each month a pay-out is made from Proffecy to Darlington Football Club in relation to the value of business generated and it is our intention to share the figure that this particular fundraising vehicle has generated in the month so that you can see what is possible when a large number of fans take out just one or two offers each.

Rules

The rules for the scheme are quite simple. You can only sign-up to each offer once in order to earn the stated revenue for the Club. Customer details given for any offer must be valid and the customer must be available to be contacted. The Club will only receive revenue on fully completed transactions which conform to the rules of each individual offer which can be found on the affiliate website: http://dealmanager.proffecy.com/partner-21/darlington-fc

The Club have appointed a point of contact for the scheme. Should you have any questions you can contact Wayne Raper by email at wayne.raper@dfcsg.co.uk

Darlington FC cannot be held responsible for any charges made to customers as a result of not cancelling any products of subscriptions taken out as part of the affiliate scheme.

Further Referrals

If you know of a local club who could benefit from this type of scheme to raise much needed funds then get in contact and we can arrange for them to be set up an affiliate and as a result Darlington FC will receive a referral fee once the referred club raises their first £50.

Watch out for our forthcoming guide to all of the individual offers in detail coming soon which will help you maximise the revenue you can generate for the club.