Fundraising Tips and Tricks

10+ Unique Sports Fundraising Ideas To Hit Your Goals

You want your sports team to have the best opportunities possible, which is why coming up with sports fundraising ideas is so important. 

 

Maintaining a sports team can be quite costly – from  high school teams to community leagues – uniforms, equipment, travel costs and tournament fees are all expenses that will certainly add up quickly. Most athletes, coaches and parents will be able to relate! 

 

A good fundraiser can help your team members afford all these expenses while also engaging with the local community. Talk about a win-win! 

 

Sports Fundraisers

Sports teams play an important role in the community where kids, teenages and even adults learn about teamwork, commitment, dedication, all while helping them build social connections. But to guarantee the success of all of these things and to ensure that all athletes will have access to the best activities, teams need to secure their financial foundation.

 

Sports fundraisers are one of the best ways to achieve this; they not only help to raise funds for your sports team, but are also a way to attract more supporters and to bring visibility to your club. 

 

It’s time to gather all your teammates together and start raising funds for your athletic club!

 

Fundraising Ideas for Sports Teams

Fundraising continues to be an important tool for sports teams. Here you’ll find some of the top fundraising ideas for sports teams to help you hit your goals!

 

Thinking about fresh sports fundraising ideas can be a bit tricky as we are all used to seeing the same sports fundraising all the time. That’s why in this article you’ll find over 10 unique fundraiser ideas for sports groups.

 

Luckily, sports fundraisers are some of the most fun ways to engage with the community, attract supporters, keep fit and, of course, raise funds for your team. There are plenty of activity options for you to choose from. 

 

In the next sections, you’ll find 12 of the best sports fundraising ideas, make sure to read all of them and see which is the perfect match for you!

 

Best Fundraisers for Teams

There are a lot of fundraising ideas for sports teams out there. One challenge is finding the best fundraisers for teams. To help you get started, in this section, you’ll find amazing team fundraising ideas.

 

Fitness Class

Have your athletes/club members/coach teach a fitness class. Through a fitness class, your team members will be able to practice their amazing athletic skills and put them to good use.

 

All you’ll have to do is find the perfect spot for your class, choose the activity you’ll teach, charge a registration fee, then get started raising funds!

 

Don’t forget to promote your event, spread the word early to receive sign ups & commitments. This article 6 Strategies to Connect with Strangers & Boost Your Fundraising Success can help you with that!

 

Photo by Anupam Mahapatra on Unsplash

 

Field Day

This is one of the easiest and most engaging fundraiser ideas for sports teams!

 

Gather your community for a day of fun, good food, and games. Think about a variety of activities that you know everybody will enjoy, always try to use equipment you already have or go for games that don’t require any gear.

 

Charge an entry fee to raise money for your team and to earn some extra cash you can also sell concessions! 

 

Bonus: Consider offering prizes to top performers to really incentivize people!

 

Rent-a-team

To organize this fundraiser, advertise a “rent-a-team” initiative to your community. You can do it in two different ways. 

 

The first one, your team members can be hired to do a variety of tasks, like gardening, cleaning, babysitting etc, in exchange for a donation to the team. Set an affordable fee for the services!

 

In the second scenario, you can hold an auction where people can bid for your team members. To make everything run smoothly, you can set a list of available tasks beforehand. All the proceeds would then go to your team.

 

Photo by Momentista on Unsplash 

 

Sports Photo Shoot

It is a perfect way to fundraise for teams!

 

All you need to do is partner with a professional photographer, choose a nice location and set up a photo shoot. Book time slots for families or individuals, have them taking the photos and then sell them!  

 

Easy as that! Don’t forget to have fun while doing your poses!

 

You can also use those photos to promote your team and next fundraising events, here you’ll find awesome tips to help you do so!

 

The Top Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas

Tired of doing the same youth sports fundraisers every year? It’s time to update your fundraising list with some of the top youth sports fundraising ideas.

 

Partnering with a local restaurant  

There is nothing better than spending a great time with your friends, family and community while enjoying a delicious meal at an amazing restaurant. Gathering all the people you love for a meal gives you the opportunity to talk and share good moments while also raising funds for your sports team.

 

All you need to do is pick a date where your teammates, supporters, friends and family have a meal out, and a percentage of the restaurant sales will then be donated back to your club. 

 

You can easily find participating restaurants near you on GroupRaise.com. Choose from over 10,000 partners that give back nationwide below!

 

Photo by Serge Esteve on Unsplash

 

Car Wash 

A sports team car wash is one of the quick and simple fundraising ideas for youth sports teams that always works!

 

Gather your teammates and tell everyone in the community that you’ll be hosting a car wash. Set up in a location (an empty parking lot, for example) with cleaning supplies and get started. Accept donations for your team’s excellent work!

 

Don’t forget to promote your event on social media to draw in the most customers! Make sure to tell the supporters where the donations are headed and provide them with information about your team.

 

Photo by Ethan Sexton on Unsplash

 

Host a Kids Camp

Your team can host a fun kids camp to raise money for your cause. Sounds good, right?

 

The best part is that this fundraising idea for high school sports doesn’t need much planning or equipment. You’ll just have to connect your team with some kids from your community, stage a few afternoons of games, exercises and fun activities, and charge a fee for the kids participation.

 

You were probably a child when you started playing sports, right? So, this is a great opportunity to inspire other kids to pick up practice and maybe some of them will end up being your teammates someday.

 

Water Balloon Fight

Nothing better than enjoying a sunny summer day, right? The good news is that you can use this moment to raise funds for your youth team with a water balloon fight.

 

For this team fundraiser, you’ll need a couple hundred balloons, some space to store them, and a few volunteers to help you fill the balloons with water. You can charge $1 or $2 per water balloon.

 

It will be a nice and funny way to enjoy a warm day and to engage with your supporters, family and friends.

 

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

 

Fundraising Ideas for High School Sports

In this section, you’ll find the funniest and most inspiring fundraising ideas for high school sports! Say goodbye to the usual ideas and enjoy these new tips.

 

Coach Challenge 

For sure, the coach challenge is one of the funniest and efficient fundraising ideas for high school sports. We know that the kids look up to their sports coaches, but we also know that they’d love to see them partake in some embarrassing activities! 

 

Set a challenging, yet achievable fundraising goal that if met, the coach agrees to do some shameful activity. The more outrageous the challenge, the more people in your community will be motivated to bring in donations.

 

You can choose from a variety of tasks, it can be dressing up like a chicken, showing their dancing skills, shaving their eyebrows, etc.

 

Photo by Adrià Crehuet Cano on Unsplash

 

Dog Wash Fundraiser

The Dog Wash is a classic and simple fundraising idea for sports teams, especially for high school teams. 

 

It is a great way to raise money for your team while spending some time with cute puppies. All you have to do is encourage local pet owners to bring their pets out for your teammates to wash at an affordable price.

 

You can match this event with a car wash fundraiser to boost your revenue! 

 

Photo by Autri Taheri on Unsplash

 

50/50 Raffle

A 50/50 raffle fundraiser is an easy way to raise funds for your high school sports team!

 

In a 50/50 fundraising raffle the prize is 50% of the money taken in by the raffle ticket sales. Basically, you’ll sell the raffle tickets and 50% of the earned money will be for the prize and the other 50% will be retained by your team.

 

A person can purchase one or more tickets, and each ticket purchased equals one entry in the drawing for a winner. You can sell the tickets for $1, $5 or $10 depending on your fundraising goal.

 

Shoe Drive Fundraisers

A shoe drive fundraiser is one of the most popular fundraising ideas for high school sports. They’re a fantastic way to raise funds for your team and to engage your community.

 

Encourage your friends and family members to donate gently worn, used and new shoes, then your team will partner with a shoe drive fundraiser facilitator. Their job will be to provide the materials you’ll need to collect the shoes and then pick them up when your fundraiser ends. Finally, your facilitator will send you a check based on the number of pairs of shoes you collected.

 

If you want to see more ideas, in this article 30 Fundraising Ideas Compared – Find the Best for You, you’ll certainly find the best for you

 

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash 

 

Over to you

Now is your turn, use these unique sports fundraising ideas to plan an effective fundraising strategy for your organization. Try something new and get all your team members involved!

 

Through sports fundraising events, your team can get more visibility and guarantee the financial foundation that’s needed to ensure that your athletes have the best opportunities.

 

An easy place to get started is with a restaurant fundraiser, a fan favorite from the list, it’s simple, fun and effective! Check out the local restaurants where you can host your next fundraising event. 

 

Natália Constantino

Natália is a Marketing Intern at GroupRaise who works with all things content. Natália is majoring in International Relations at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She understands that marketing is an important tool, and through it, we can share experiences, stories, and solutions. Natália is also a researcher who likes to spend her time learning about cyberspace and other cultures.

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