Oranmore Maree GAA One Club’s Win a Home Galway City fundraiser raised over €1.5 million in ticket sales in just under four months. JEL Marketing planned and ran the digital campaign from launch to the final draw, working alongside Paul Byrnes Media on PR and events.
A home in Woodquay, won by a club family
The draw took place live at Keane’s Bar & Restaurant in Oranmore on Monday, 31 August, with Galway captain Kate Geraghty drawing the winning ticket. It belonged to Jacqueline O’Gorman, whose sons Sam and George hurl with Oranmore Maree.
I still can’t comprehend it. I never thought I was going to win it when we bought tickets through the club.
Jacqueline O’Gorman, winner
The money raised supports the club’s new dressing rooms at Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds, and the campaign delivered a €25,000 donation to COPE Galway.
What JEL Marketing managed
A draw of this size lives or dies on the campaign behind it. We looked after the full digital side, so the club could focus on selling through its own members and community.
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 and partner page pointed back to one simple place to buy, and we kept the site fresh with news, winners and countdowns right up to draw night.
Email marketing
We grew a mailing list from the first week and used it throughout, with launch emails, regular updates, bonus prize announcements and final-hours reminders before each deadline. Email was one of the most reliable drivers of repeat ticket sales across the campaign.
Bonus prize draws
We planned and promoted a series of bonus draws, from hotel breaks to concert and match tickets, each with its own deadline. They gave supporters a fresh reason to buy every few weeks and kept the campaign in the news all summer, not just at launch and close.
Partnerships and cross-promotion
We set up cross-promotions with Roscommon GAA, Galway GAA, Sweeney Oil and Connemara Chamber, each offering their own supporters a chance to win free tickets through a dedicated landing page. These partnerships put the draw in front of large new audiences and grew the mailing list, and Oranmore Maree will return the favour for their next fundraiser.
Social media and design
We created the campaign’s social media content and graphics, from launch announcements and prize features to bonus draw winners and the countdown to the big night, keeping the look and message consistent across every channel.
Why the approach worked
Big fundraising draws rarely sell out from a launch spike alone. What made the difference here was momentum: a campaign that kept giving people new reasons to look, share and buy over four months, and a website that made buying easy when they did.
It also reached well beyond Oranmore. Tickets were bought in all four provinces, across Europe and as far away as Asia, Australia and the USA, as club members, partners and the wider GAA community shared the draw with family and friends abroad.
A team effort
Win a Home Galway City was a true team effort. The club’s committee and members sold tickets and rallied the community, Paul Byrnes Media led the PR, press coverage and the closing ceremony, and local businesses sponsored the bonus prizes. We’re proud to have played our part.
Planning a fundraising draw?
Win a Home Galway City is the latest in a run of house draws and fundraisers JEL Marketing has worked on for GAA clubs and charities across Ireland. If your club or organisation is planning a major fundraiser, see how we run fundraising campaigns or request a callback below.
