Charlie Ernst on how Southport Croquet Club replaced a non-compliant rotunda with a $35,000 grant — and how the club approaches grant-writing as a year-round practice, not a one-off event. Six minutes. The headline is in the last sentence: one of their members does nothing else, and the success rate more than pays for him doing nothing else.
Six minutes ten. Watch on CroquetVideos
The rotunda — a worked example
Southport's timber rotunda had been added to over the years and was no longer Council-compliant. Council notified the club it had to be changed.
| Stage | What happened |
|---|---|
| Decision → grant submitted | Club decided what they wanted; identified a funding source; submitted application |
| Grant decision | Several months to be assessed; several more to receive funds |
| Council approvals | Drainage, electricity, building — every relevant department signed off (12+ months of meetings) |
| Build start | ~18 months after the grant application |
| Total elapsed | About two years from "we need to change this" to builders on site |
| Funding source | Gambling Benefit Fund — $35,000 awarded |
| Actual spend | $42,000 — overrun absorbed by club to finish to required spec |
| What they got | New rotunda + screening curtains around the sides (so usable in any weather) |
"So it probably took at least 18 months from when we submitted the application to when we actually got the tick to get the builders to come in and erect the new rotunda." — Charlie Ernst
The court lights — a five-year project
Bigger projects don't get grants. They get council discretionary funds, and that takes longer.
"Given the size of the money required, there was simply no grant available that would allow us to do it. What we did find out was that there are funds available through the local council. Each of your local councils have a discretionary fund — and it was simply maintaining a contact with council that allowed us to work our way up the line until we got to the top of the pile." — Charlie Ernst
Maintaining a contact. Five years of one person calling the same office periodically about the same project. That's how the court-lights project moved up the queue.
Smaller grants pay quickly
"Other projects we've had — we have equipment boxes on all our courts. We came across a small grant that would suit the construction. Simple application, acquired from one person, obtained the money, got them to make it. The whole process took less than six months." — Charlie Ernst
Southport has been winning grants in the $1,000 to $35,000 range. Equipment boxes, an electric mower, hoops, balls — all paid for through grants.
The one role worth dedicating a member to
Southport has a member whose sole role is applying for grants
He commits to nothing else at the club. The success rate covers everything else he might otherwise do.
"One of the benefits when you get involved in the management of clubs is that you realise a lot of your members have a lot of skills. Whether it be dealing with people, technology — and in his case, we've come across a member who was very good at applying for grants. He was very happy to be involved in chasing money for us, and specifically now that is his sole role in the club." — Charlie Ernst
The economics: a year of one person's volunteer time, traded for grants in the $1K to $35K range, with a non-trivial hit rate. The break-even point is low.
"The fact that he knows and has the contacts with the various people around the region — whether they be with local MPs, with council — if we need to know something, he can address it very quickly. Part of that is because he is the only contact that these organisations have with the club. When they hear from him, they know what he is chasing them for. There is one person involved — really adds to the whole building of the relationship between our club and these other organisations." — Charlie Ernst
The single point of contact does most of the work. MPs and council officers remember one person calling about one club over years. They don't remember rotating committee members.
Three things to take to your committee
- Map your project timelines in years, not months. Southport's rotunda took two years from decision to builders on site. The court-lights project took five. Equipment boxes were six months. Plan around how long these processes actually take, not how long you hope they will.
- Identify your dedicated grant member. Someone good with people, comfortable with paperwork, prepared to commit to no other club role. At Southport, the grants this person wins covers what he'd otherwise be doing on a committee.
- One contact, sustained over years. Pick a person, give them the relationships, leave them there. Rotating who calls council resets the relationship every time.
On the cut
This is the longest of the Southport posts because the source clip is six minutes and there's a lot of concrete material in it. The rotunda timeline went into a table — the calendar months matter more than the description around them. The point about having one member dedicated to grant-writing has its own block because most readers would skim past it in the video; it's the one Charlie buries in the second half of the clip.