Sports teams comprise an important part of any school or community, because they offer kids the chance to learn a game, exercise, and to work as a team. They give people something to look forward to – home and visitor games, playing outside in the fresh air, and making new friends.
Unfortunately, for all of this to happen, sports teams need funds, and that’s where fundraising comes in. It doesn't matter if your fundraising for a soccer team, basketball team or football team, what works for your “booster club” – your supporting team of friends, parents and extended family of the players – won’t necessarily work for the community.
It’s natural that parents are going to want to support their children on the team, whether it’s donating time, money or equipment. In fact, many parents love to help sports teams and are coaches themselves.
Instead, you’re going to have to appeal to the outside community. To do this, it will mean you’ve got to give them something that they’ll want to support or buy.
Sometimes, candy sales and bake sales do the trick for attracting customers from the community, but if you’re looking for a really unique fundraising idea, then you’ve got to break away from fundraising companies, which do have their pros and cons.
You need to be able to get your sales force behind you, which means you need to have a cohesive team of parents, kids, coaches and friends to fan out and get that money in.
First of all, use communication – emails, phone trees, letters and fliers can really spread the word about what you need to do. Rally your team and then explain the fundraiser and what you’re aiming to do with the money. Getting everyone motivated is the first step to a great fundraiser.
If you need a lot of volunteers, stress that you would appreciate everyone pitching in an hour or two of their time to help the event work well. You’ll likely need volunteers to help out with sporting events, because there are a lot of jobs to do, including concessions, taking tickets (if they are paid games), and driving the team members to and from games.
Make sure to recognize the parents that have done a lot to help the team over the years. If there’s someone who’s run the concessions stand for three years, a public thank-you over the loudspeaker may ensure he or she will be there for a fourth year. Don’t forget to thank everyone else who helps, too!
Now, it’s time to appeal to everyone outside of the community. People without kids on the team may not see the need for donations, even though they may enjoy the games. Give them a reason to donate with a great fundraiser.
Fundraising ideas for sports teams
You can choose to run one of the generic fundraisers, like a bake sale or other on-hand sale, and these work well at sports games and other events, because you can set up a booth and sell the product at games.
Candy bar sales work for the same reason, because they are portable and people who are already at the game may just pick one up as a treat to have with the game. However, if you don’t want to do that, there are other ways to fundraise, too.
The fundraisers you choose depend a lot on the age group of the kids you work with. Older boys and girls will really get into it, and can help man the booths and run any carnivals or yard sales that you put on to benefit the team.
Make sure to choose fundraisers that will allow you to keep most of the profit, so that way you won’t have to pay a fundraising company or a lot of money upfront for things.
Selling personalized items like team jerseys can really interest supporters of your team, and may even bring in people not directly connected with your sports team, like other people in the school or high school.
The good thing about these is that they’re keepsake items, and they may appeal to people who may have played on the team in the past as well as current players. They also make great gifts.
If you have a lot of fans, you could offer a sports contest, like a football kick-off or a free throw at a basketball game. The team earns the money by selling extra tickets with numbers printed on them.
At halftime, for example, the quarterback will call out the winning number and that person will have a chance to perform their sports move for a grand prize.
If you can get the grand prize donated, all the better for your team, but if you can’t, then make sure to sell a lot of tickets at the door and in advance to make up for the hole in your profit.
A recycling fundraiser always goes over well in the green community. Have people donate ink jet cartridges (used ones, of course) or soup labels to give back to a local business or grocery store, who will convert them into cash for your team.
Make sure to find a business who wants to participate. Give prizes to the team member who brings in the most recycled items.
If you have a high school sports team, you could create a calendar of the team members or team photos. The best thing is, you don’t even have to go to a calendar company to do it – all you need is a laminating machine and book binders.
Parents and friends of the team mates will be happy to get one of these calendars, and they may appeal to people outside the main support group, too.
Many people are glad to support sports teams because they do provide so much entertainment through the year, and either the community remembers a time when they played on a team, or will have a child ready to play in a few years.
Sports teams have the capacity to earn a lot of money, if everyone works together just like the team does in every game.
