Planning a big trip for the team? Sick of your old sports club fundraising ideas? Want to raise more money without more work? Managing sports teams is difficult enough, and then there’s the cost of equipment, the venue or member amenities. Travel teams usually have more associated costs and may have more sports club fundraising needs, such as bus fares.
We compiled a list of ten easy and fun fundraising ideas. When faced with multiple donation-seeking activities, your donors will appreciate your fundraising activity if it is fast, easy and short. Everyone is time-constrained; keep that in mind when choosing your fundraising activity.
Nobody, especially kids, wants to do a boring activity. Selling items like magazines, candy and popcorn door-to-door is time consuming for kids and parents alike. And seriously, no one really wants to buy that stuff, but parents do anyway because it’s for their kids. But others probably won’t. So let’s see what else we can come up with.
Fun Stuff
- Duct Tape Your Coach to the Wall – This is especially good for indoor sports clubs. Your only cost is for rolls of duct tape. You can sell the tape in lengths such as a yard, and see how long it takes and how much tape it takes to hold the coach to the wall. Some volunteers will need to donate their time to sell the tape lengths, and monitor the participants.
- Bake Sale – Have club members supply homemade or store bought bake goods (cookies, cupcakes and other small products like cake slices will be better than whole cakes) to be sold at the venue. Volunteers will be needed to tag, collect and sell items.
- Equipment Sale – This is probably best for sports that are equipment intensive. Used equipment is donated to the sale by members. Then members can also buy replacement equipment for themselves. Equipment is expensive, and this provides a great recycling opportunity. The kids will love going through all the stuff looking for the equipment they want. Proceeds go to the club for benefit of its members.
- Exhibition – Hold an exhibition day of your club’s sport for a small fee. Invite parents and families of the club’s members. Put a notice in the local paper and invite the community to attend. This hopefully will increase your membership.
- Hold a Clinic – Offer tips and instruction in the club’s sport for a fee. Mail or email notices to club members, and put up flyers in the community.
Easy Stuff
- Supermarket Share Days – See if your local markets will print up coupons for you to distribute to friends and family for a certain day where a stated percentage of the total coupon-holders purchase will be donated to your club. You will need to distribute the coupons within the community.
- Restaurant Night-Out – This is similar to the supermarket share days in that a particular night is chosen with the restaurant you’ve picked, and the restaurant shares a percentage of that night’s sales with your club. You will need to advertise the event within the community.
- Have a Cup of Tea on Us – This is the ultimate in easy fundraisers. Nobody has to go anywhere. Put together a club and/or community mailing list, then send an invitation with a tea bag enclosed to your “No-fundraiser” fundraiser. They can enjoy a cup of tea while they write the club a check.
- Rent Your Space – If your club owns a space, consider renting it out for other activities. Local business owners like Fit4Mom franchisees, will love an affordable space to rent. Or other independent instructors like Zumba or pilates instructors.
- Raffle – A raffle could be part of an exhibition or clinic. Sell raffle tickets at the exhibition or clinic for items that club members would like and enjoy – equipment, food, movies, etc.
Wishing you success!