By Jake Niall
Hawthorn, using a mix of wealthy benefactors and rank and file fans, comfortably surpassed their goal of raising $2 million within 24 hours for funds to complete their new Dingley headquarters.
The Hawks launched the fundraising effort at a club function on Tuesday night and reached the $2 million target by 6.20pm on Wednesday, and were nearing $2.4 million an hour before their 8pm deadline.
The Hawks raked in donations on Wednesday.Credit: Getty Images
They raised the funds via an unusual matching system in which the benefactors – there were 27 listed as “matchers” – contributed $4 for every dollar donated by the fans.
Hawthorn expects to have their Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley finished between August and October, at a cost of about $100 million.
The Hawks say that this 24-hour campaign was about raising the funds to complete the Dingley facility and ensure that is in the best possible shape when they make their move from Waverley Park, where they have been based since 2006.
The 24-hour campaign was launched at a function at Metropolis (Southbank), where coach Sam Mitchell and club legend Peter Hudson spoke, and a number of benefactors were present. The funding goes to the Hawthorn Football Club Foundation.
The new headquarters has been funded by a mixture of state and federal government funding and the local council funding, plus club funds and significant donations from club benefactors, headed by the club’s most generous benefactor and ex-vice president Geoff Harris, who pledged $10 million to Dingley back in 2018.
Purchased for $7.75 million, the 28 hectare Dingley site will house two ovals and a training centre named in honour of Harris, with the statue of John Kennedy senior, the club’s most revered figure, moved from Waverley to the new abode when it is completed later this year.
The family of club board member Anne-Marie Pellizzer and the Gillespie family foundation were among the 27 matching donors, but several of them were anonymous. The matching of donations ceased once the club had reached their $2 million goal.
Aside from Harris, who founded Flight Centre, Dawn MacKenzie and her late husband Peter, owners of an aged care business, have been among the key benefactors for Hawthorn.
The Hawks had a “consolidated cash position” of $35.8 million after the 2024 season, having spent much of their reserves on Dingley, having had $70.3 million in 2023.
Hawthorn and Richmond are both spending in the vicinity of $100 million on their headquarters – a redevelopment in Richmond’s case. That Essendon managed to build their vast Tullamarine facility at barely half that amount is a reflection of the rising costs of construction projects in Australia since the Bombers built their facility.
