ESSENDON will ask its wealthiest supporters to help dig the club out of its financial woes.

While the club has budgeted to pay down its $9 million debt at a rate of $2 million a year, it will need donations if it wants to do anything beyond the basics. 

The Bombers have grand plans for their Tullamarine facility and have also got an interest in entering a team in the women's competition.

"If we do that we'll look to our high net worth supporters to help fund it," Finance Director Paul Brasher said on Tuesday.

"That's going to be the basis of a campaign we'll be having with them, not just women's football, but various projects we want to do over the next few years."

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But the club has ruled out going cap-in-hand to grassroots supporters asking for extra cash beyond signing up as members.

"We feel like we've got a strong business model that we can rebound really quickly. We do have $9 million of debt, but it's manageable debt," chief executive Xavier Campbell said.

"We've got a good plan in place to be able to pay down that debt and also invest in the growth of the football club for the future."

Just before the doping scandal came to light in February 2013, Essendon had raised some $500,000 from supporters to help fund its new Tullamarine facility.

Earlier this month, the club reported a financial loss of $9.8 million after a year ruined by the season-long bans handed to 34 past and present players in January for taking a prohibited performance-enhancing drug.

Brasher conceded the saga had taken a significant financial toll. 

"We'd have cleared the debt had this not happened, that's obvious," he said.