Galway GAA’s Win a Home on Galway Bay fundraiser raised over €1.45 million in ticket sales in just over four months. JEL Marketing ran the digital campaign and online sales from launch in November to the final draw in April, working alongside Paul Byrnes Media and Aidan Brady & Co.
A Kinvara home, won by a Donegal chef
The prize was a new home in the seaside village of Kinvara, with views of Dunguaire Castle and Galway Bay. The draw took place in Loughrea on Tuesday, 7 April, and the first ticket out belonged to Dean Doherty from Ballybofey in Co. Donegal, a chef on cruise ships who was in Spain when Galway GAA called.
I just can’t believe it. I bought a ticket just a couple of days before the big draw and was in Spain when I got the call from Galway GAA.
Dean Doherty, winner
The money raised supports the continued development of Galway GAA’s facilities, and the draw also helped fund the Galway camogie champions’ team holiday to New York.
What JEL Marketing managed
As a Galway-based consultancy, we were proud to take on the full digital side of the county board’s biggest fundraiser, so Galway GAA and its clubs could focus on selling through their own members and communities.
The campaign website and online ticket sales
We built and ran the campaign website, with the prize, the cause and a quick, mobile-friendly checkout front and centre. Every email, post, partner page and newspaper advert pointed back to one simple place to buy, and we kept the site fresh with news, bonus prizes and winners right up to draw night.
Email marketing
We grew a mailing list from launch day and used it throughout the campaign, with regular updates, bonus prize announcements, winner news and final-call reminders before every deadline. Email was a steady driver of repeat ticket sales across the four months.
Bonus prize draws
We planned and promoted a run of bonus draws, including a Malahide getaway, a Valentine’s escape to The K Club, Six Nations tickets, All-Ireland football and hurling final packages and a final luxury break in Cavan. Each had its own deadline, giving supporters a fresh reason to buy every few weeks through the winter and spring.
Partnerships and cross-promotion
We ran cross-promotions that offered other organisations’ supporters a chance to win free tickets through dedicated landing pages, putting the draw in front of large new audiences and growing the mailing list. The same approach has since been used in other house draws, with partners returning the favour.
Social media, design and print
We created the campaign’s social media content and graphics, and produced the full-page adverts and editorial for the Galway Advertiser, the Connacht Tribune and the Tuam Herald in the final weeks, along with in-store screen graphics for Supermac’s. One consistent look and message ran across every channel, online and offline.
Why the approach worked
A house draw this size doesn’t sell out from a launch spike. The campaign kept building momentum over four months, giving people regular new reasons to look, share and buy, and made buying easy whenever they were ready. The winner himself bought his ticket just days before the draw, a reminder of how important that final push is.
It reached well beyond Galway, too. Tickets were bought in all 32 counties, across Europe and as far away as Asia, Australia and the USA, as clubs, supporters and the wider GAA community shared the draw with family and friends abroad.
A team effort
Win a Home on Galway Bay was a true team effort between Galway GAA, its clubs, Paul Byrnes Media, Aidan Brady & Co. and the local businesses that supported the draw. We were delighted to be thanked by name by Galway GAA Chairperson Paul Bellew on the night.
Planning a fundraising draw?
Win a Home on Galway Bay was followed by Oranmore Maree GAA’s Win a Home Galway City, which raised over €1.5 million. If your club or organisation is planning a major fundraiser, see how we run fundraising campaigns or request a callback below.
