Fundraising Ideas for Your Kids Sports Team
Managing a sports team can be very expensive. It’s possible to recoup some costs with registration and club member fees, but this doesn’t cover all the expenses. If you want to take part in a league, travel to other counties or even countries to play against other teams, you need to find a way of getting more funds. A great way to drum up extra funds is with a school fundraising event. However, there are several other ways to do it. The team will need money for new jerseys and uniforms, equipment and other costs. Finding a way to cover these extra costs, like hosting school fundraisers, means that you and your kid’s team can concentrate on improving their game. Here are some ways you can get additional funding.
A Crowdfunding Campaign
Crowdfunding has become a popular way of raising money for a variety of things. It can be used to raise funds to start a business, money for a charity, launch a new product, or collect money for your sports team. There are some specialty sports sites you can use such as Sponsor.me, Sportfunder, RallyMe, and MakeAChamp. To get a sufficient amount of interest, you’ll need to have a good story. People want to know that the money they give is going towards a good cause. A video is a good thing to add to your campaign, and some perks help create more interest.
Hold a Fundraising Event
A fun way to increase your team funds is to hold a fundraising event. There are some great ways to do it, and it’s fun to get the local community involved. If Christmas is around the corner, why not host an annual fair with food, drinks, games, and sales of your merchandise? A car wash event is another popular idea, and team members can take part by cleaning people’s cars. How about holding a fun run and team members can get sponsors to donate a set amount per mile? There are many other fundraising ideas to choose from.
Look for a Sponsor
Sponsorship is highly lucrative in professional sports, and while big name brands may be happy to sponsor big league teams, you might be able to approach a local business or organization to sponsor your team in exchange for some publicity. Sponsorship takes many forms, for example, money, goods, or services. It’s different to a donation because the sponsor expects something in return. For them, it is more of a marketing investment because their sponsorship is giving them positive exposure. Many small businesses and local shops use this form of marketing to improve their standing in the community.
Merchandising
Sports merchandising is another way to raise funds. It’s actually a multi-million dollar industry. True sports fans will happily shell out money for t-shirts, water bottles, hats, phone cases and much more. It’s already been shown to be very successful for professional teams, and there’s a place for local teams to benefit in the same way.
Offering challenge coins for sale is another option. They have been popular for many years in the military and among many of the other services. The business world has also found a place for them as a way of recognizing important milestones and achievements. They can have any logo or message you want on them, and they are easy to organize.
A Parents Night Out Fundraiser
This can take many different forms, but the ultimate aim will be to raise money by charging to take part. Organize a pub crawl or a night bowling. Maybe a treasure hunt will be a great idea. Rent space in a local bar or restaurant for the evening and hold a silent auction or a 50/50 raffle.
Hold a Garage Sale
Everybody loves a good garage sale, and there must be plenty of team members who would welcome the excuse for a clear out. Encourage all members, parents, family, friends, and neighbors to take part. You might need a permit to hold such a sale, so you’d need to check this out before making any arrangements. To get more funds for the team, you could sell donuts and coffee at the sale.
FlipGive
FlipGive is a way of raising money when you’re shopping online. You simply create a free team page and every time someone shops from a selection of retailers your team earns cash back. You can shop from many top brands such as Walmart, Starbucks, Dick’s Sporting Goods and many more. It doesn’t cost anything to set up, and there are no fees. Funds can be withdrawn at any time. The items that people will be buying are just normal everyday things. All you need to do is invite people to browse the retailers’ online stores and start shopping.
Host a Kids Summer Camp
Hosting a summer camp is a great idea because so many people can get involved. Parents love it because it gives their kids something to do during the summer break. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want it to be and you can sell custom camp shirts for additional income. You can hold the summer camp using your own sports facilities, or a public park will be just as cost-effective. It’s even possible that you could get some older sportspeople to get involved. Is there a famous sports personality that lives in your neighborhood, for example? It will take a lot of planning, and you’ll need to start making plans early if you want to get more of the community involved. Many local schools, parks, and recreational programs will be happy to form a partnership to develop and host your camp.
Being part of a kid’s sports team is a very rewarding thing to do. You’ll be there to offer support and encouragement for your own kids and the rest of the team as well. There are many costs involved in running a sports team, including travel expenses, equipment costs, jerseys and other types of team apparel. If you can raise as much money as possible in a variety of ways the team can only get better.
If you don’t want to host a kids summer camp, or are unable to find the time. Then the simplest thing that you can do is just send them to a sports summer camp like these Brookwood Camps. This way you get to keep your kids safe during the summer months when the kids are out of school. The parents can keep working, whilst the kids might be lucky enough to be coached by the one and only Charles Oakley – so it really does make sending them to an actual summer camp worth it, particularly if you can afford it. If not, then why not consider raising enough money to send the kids to a summer camp?
6 Comments
Barrie
Great ideas for fundraising than selling items. A fair/game is a great way too.
Linda Manns Linneman
These are such great ideas for fundraising. I would not have thought of some of these. Thank you so much for sharing
Melissa Storms
Our school system utilizes several of these fundraising strategies. They also partner with local eateries for one night where a portion of proceeds go towards our sports teams. As a matter of fact I need to add the next night at a local pizza place so I don’t forget.
MD Kennedy
When did kids stop selling candy bars? I thought that was a good idea…
Lauryn R
These are awesome ideas for raising funds for your kids sports teams! My kids haven’t started sports yet, but I have been looking into getting them into something soon. Thanks for sharing!
Anzhelika
A great honor to be mentioned in the article. I work at SPONSOR.ME, and we constantly see talented kids struggling to receive funds for sports. In general, combining online crowdfunding with sales, e.g., giving away rewards to people sponsoring a team’s online fundraiser works as a good alternative to door-to-door sales.