Searching for a great fundraising idea for your sports team?
Whether you play or coach, at some point your team will need money to fund a trip, a new set of uniforms, or to replace outdated equipment. If only you knew how to raise those essential funds!
The first step to achieving your sports fundraising goal is to find that magic idea. Something that will inspire your team, motivate donors, and get the word out everywhere. With the right big idea, and a few pro tips – your fundraising experience will be a slam dunk.
We have put together a fantastic list of the latest and most unique sports fundraising ideas for you. Organized by school level or chosen sport, each of these concepts is the best you will find online.
For speedy navigation, click the link below to be whisked away to the appropriate section.
Each of these concepts has the potential to become successful campaigns for your team. They’re counting on you to come up with a plan that will work. Luckily, you’ve found some suggestions that will lead your team to victory this season.
Let’s explore 36 of the most creative fundraising ideas for sports teams, below.
School Sports Fundraising Ideas (by Level):
Sports team fundraising is a staple practice for schools at all levels. When budgets are tight, school districts tend to slash or completely cut the funding for athletics programs at public schools. To keep your programs alive, fundraising must become an important part of the team experience.
To kick this off, you will need some super easy fundraising ideas for sports teams. Here you will find a range of viable plans for youth, middle school, high school, and college sports. These are quick to put together, simple to run, and they create excitement – which attracts donations and support.
You can also check out this post for general school fundraisers that work.
Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas
Youth sports include programs that are designed for children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old. These programs improve physical health and are great for social bonding and teamwork. The term is mostly used to describe young kids of elementary school age (5-10 years).
#1: Host a School-Wide Sports Day
Younger kids love sports days! It’s a chance for them to cheer, compete, and hang out with friends. Plus, it gives you the ability to raise money from a variety of incredible sources. Set up a fun obstacle course event with a ticket entry, and prizes for the kids with the fastest time.
Pro Tip: Host a live raffle on the day, and sell team merchandise items like t-shirts, lanyards, and caps. Don’t forget to have an outdoor BBQ and bake sale, with proceeds going to the team of course.
#2: A Viral Video Challenge
If you are looking for an online solution to fundraising, invite kids and their parents to take part in a viral video challenge for your team. This is a competition – with the video receiving the most shares, likes and comments declared the winner. Charge an entry fee and outline the rules.
Pro Tip: Whether it’s surprising a family member with a bucket of ice, doing a team baking challenge, a popular set of dance moves, or a single scene in an ongoing ‘movie-style’ clip, people will love it.
Middle School Sports Fundraising Ideas
By the time kids get to Middle School, they are between 11 and 13 years old. This is when sports fundraising is the most fun! Popular sports range from basketball, football, and swimming – to baseball, tennis, and track. You are going to have to get really creative to hold their attention.
#3: Design-a-Cheer Fundraiser
Challenge kids to come up with a motivational cheer and dance for your sports team. Rate entrants on costumes, the cheer, dance moves and banner design. It should be pay to enter, and kids must perform their cheers on a livestream, and in front of the school. Winners get a big prize.
Pro Tip: After the livestream, school videos of the event can be sold for additional income.
#4: Pie the Coach Crowdfunding
Set a financial target and tell kids that if they achieve that target, something will happen to their coach. You can pie them, dunk them in water, spray them with neon colors, any number of fun – yet mortifying – things. Your team members will create videos encouraging donations on your page.
Fundraising Ideas for High School Sports
In high school, kids are taking sports a little more seriously. Fundraising is usually linked to championships, special training, and travel to competing schools. The kids are between 14 and 18 years old, and some will go on to become professional athletes. Your idea needs to win the gold.
5: Rent-a-Team Fundraiser
What better way to raise money than to put the word out that your team is available for rent? People pay by the hour for odd jobs, moving, shopping – just about any basic task they can think of. Have a rent-a-team month, and do not stop promoting it until your goal is achieved.
Pro Tip: Remember, social media is your friend!
6: Half-Time Shot Raffle
If your team’s games gather a crowd, then consider selling seats and linking it to a live raffle. During half time, a number will be drawn, and the lucky winner will have a chance at an amazing prize. Usually this means scoring a goal or making a shot in real time. The crowd will go wild.
College Athletic Fundraising Campaigns
At college level, sports team fundraising is practically a sport itself. Universities, coaches, and team members work day and night to raise the money needed to keep their teams on top. You need ideas on how to get consistent donations, once-off pledges, and a way to fund your immediate goals.
7: Sports Gala Event
Your sports gala can be hosted at a venue or online. Sell tickets to the event, get live performers or professional speakers and pair it with a delicious dinner. This black-tie event should honor your team and directly ask for donations from corporate sponsors. Invite the local media to get the word out.
8: Date Night with an Athlete
Whether live or online, you can auction off a night with the top athletes on your team. Promote the auction on campus for a couple weeks leading up to the event. Make sure that you let everyone know it’s for a good cause and get your team mates to put on their best auction attire.
Quick Fundraising Ideas (by Sport):
Whether live or online, fundraising ideas for sports teams are as varied as the sports themselves. The key is to dial-in to the community support base for your sport, by showcasing the atmosphere of excitement that it creates for everyone. Don’t forget to promote the benefits of teamwork!
Use a smart, flexible fundraising platform to quickly raise money for your goal. If you pick a good one, your entire team will be able to launch fundraisers at the same time, which makes the whole experience faster and more engaging. Here are the ideas you need for your favorite sports team.
Fundraising Ideas for Sports Clubs
Not all kids play sports at school. You may belong to a sports club, association or society that is privately run and regularly needs funding. In this case, your team will be your secret weapon.
#9: A Virtual 50/50 Raffle
An online 50/50 raffle is a numbers game. Your sports team will promote the sale of these tickets far and wide using team fundraising functionality.
The more people buy-in, the bigger the prize becomes. Finally on draw day, you will livestream the draw in real time, awarding the winner with 50% of the raffle takings. The other 50% goes to your sports club as a donation.
#10: Immortal Wall Fundraiser
People like to feel special, and you can sell them that feeling! If your sports club has a premises, promote an ‘immortal wall’ with tiered donations, linked to a crowdfunding campaign. Depending on how much they donate, they will move up in rankings on the wall – which will be in your club.
Pro Tip: The immortal wall concept can be used online too, using virtual space. In the old days’ clubs sold bricks, but digital monitors work equally as well these days.
Athletic Department Fundraising Ideas
People everywhere love sports, but when the budget is tight the athletic department feels the budget cuts. That’s when it’s up to you and your team to make a plan to get things done.
#11: Sports Team Car Wash
A quick and simple idea that always works is the sports team car wash. Get your entire team to tell everyone at school or in the community, that they will be hosting a car wash on the weekend. Have three wash packages and be affordable. Accept donation tips for excellent work too.
#12: A Secret Sports Auction
Get a sporting goods company to donate sports items or ask your team mates to donate items from home. Wrap them up so no-one can tell what they are. Make sure some items are impressive, so that the auction is worthwhile. Then invite people to bid on the secret items in a livestream.
Pro Tip: The key to success is opening each item while the livestream is still happening.
College Athletic Fundraising Campaigns
The world of college athletics is highly competitive and always short of money. Give your team the edge by perfecting the art of raising money, using one of these creative fundraising ideas.
#13: Corporate Sponsorship Fundraising
If your team wears a uniform, it can be sponsored by a local company. Brands have budgets for this kind of thing, especially for popular teams. Put together a pitch and invite local companies to bid for the space. You can do this via a live auction or manage the whole thing in person.
Learn more about corporate sponsorship here.
#14: Athlete Crowdfunding
At college level, athletes already have social profiles and fan bases, which can be leveraged for donations. Brands will often sponsor a promising athlete, and if this is not possible – crowdfunding pages to support these athletes are also possible.
Pro Tip: Get the athlete to send personal thank you notes via video in exchange.
Baseball Fundraising Ideas
There are dozens of amazing fundraising ideas for sports teams that play baseball. Whether you’re in a youth league or the minors – one of these plans will come in handy at your next team meeting.
#15: Home Run Race Day
Host an event and have entrants race in ‘home run’ heats. You can invite competing schools or teams, with the proceeds of the event going to your team. Award prizes for ‘fastest lap’ and make it fun by introducing sack races, three legged races and more to your baseball race-day runs.
Pro Tip: Have a special ‘slide to the plate’ event where team members must avoid being hit by tennis balls along the final stretch. The kids love this one!
#16: Virtual VIP Sale
Parents and friends can be super fans, so why not tap into that? Have a virtual sale where you sell ‘experiences’ with the team, the best seats, a parking space closest to the field on game days, and other incentives that will make the fan feel important.
Pro Tip: Put a time limit on these VIP benefits so that you can resell them every month.
Basketball Fundraising Ideas
Running an effective basketball fundraiser is challenging, but if your idea is solid, you will make money. Here are two of the most successful fundraiser concepts that we have found to date.
#17: Courtside Seats Raffle
Going to a packed basketball game is a high energy experience that you can double for the person sitting in the finest courtside seats. Host a school-wide raffle where the prize lets the winner sit in those seats all season. It’s an easy way to raise funds without any upfront investment.
#18: Hoop-a-thon
Create an interschool event where basketball teams and community basketball enthusiasts will shoot hoops for as long as they can, to raise money. Before the event, people will pledge an amount of money per basket sunk. Pit team against team, and award prizes to the highest scorers.
Pro Tip: You will need several basketball nets, but these can be rented and added to your court.
Bowling Fundraiser Ideas
Bowling might not be as mainstream as other sports, but it’s got a serious following and continues to find popularity wherever kids may be. For this skilled sport, you’ll need something a little different.
#19: Restaurant Bowling Fundraiser
Partner with a local restaurant and host a fundraiser there for your bowling team. Get as many people as possible to eat at the restaurant that evening, and negotiate a portion of the proceeds as a donation to your club. Add in some light entertainment, a raffle or quiz to engage your guests.
#20: Community Bowling Competition
A bowling alley is a fantastic location for an event. Host a community bowling competition, without age restrictions. Any team can enter and compete. Sell food at the venue, invite local bands to perform and if your bowling team has merchandise, go ahead and sell it there too.
Pro Tip: Add a shoe donation drive to your event as part of the entry fee.
Football Fundraiser Ideas
You will need some inspired sports fundraising ideas for your football team. Those jerseys, tournament entries, overnight stays, travel expenses and training days are not going to pay for themselves. Here are our favorite options.
#21: The Football Calendar Sale
With a football calendar, your team poses for pictures that will inspire, delight, and amuse the rest of your school or college community. You can theme the calendar or keep it traditional, assigning a month to every player. Then sell the calendars at school and online to raise money.
#22: Fancy Dress Race
Dress your football players and cheerleaders in hilarious outfits and host a race. This race can be on the school grounds and zigzag through town, or you can stick to laps on school property. Pay an entry fee to take part, or get people to pledge donations for every lap done.
Pro Tip: Pick the Harry Potter theme and get entrants to chase a human snitch, or host a zombie speed-walking race at Halloween.
Soccer Fundraising Ideas
Your supporters are going to love the concepts you come up with for your next fundraising campaign. Use these to attract a huge amount of donations and support this season.
#23: A Goal-a-Thon
Get participants to collect pledges for a goal-a-thon event. Friends and family will pledge a donation for every goal the soccer player scores. Kids on and off the soccer team can take part. Set a time limit, pair the kids together, and record the amount of goals scored in an hour.
#24: Training Day Auction
Recruit a famous local soccer player to donate their time so that you can raise money for your team. Then host an online auction that awards the winning bidder with a training bootcamp. This auction doesn’t need to be restricted to your team or school, anyone can bid.
Rugby Fundraiser Ideas
Sports fundraising doesn’t have to be complex, especially when your team is involved. Here are two ideas that will get people talking, sharing, and donating to your fantastic new campaign.
#25: Touch Rugby Family Fun Day
Give your community an excuse to celebrate with a fun touch rugby family day. Create games for the kids, have food stalls (where a percentage of the takings are donated) and compete to see which team will come out on top. These days pair well with live auctions, raffles, and merch sales.
#26: Livestream Games
Get your AV club involved in raising money for the team by livestreaming all the rugby matches of the season. You can pick schools surrounding yours, and film their matches as well. Parents, families, and friends will pay to watch, and they may pay a little extra to keep the recording.
Pro Tip: Create a local sports podcast to build a community around your livestream fundraising.
Softball Fundraising Ideas
It can be challenging pitching ideas to your team. Step up to the hill armed with some of the most successful concepts we can find for your next softball fundraiser.
#27: Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser
Inspire your teams to raise money by creating a friendly competition between them, with prizes for the winner. Tap into their creativity and give them the power to launch their own fundraisers, whatever they may be, from a centralized location where it can all be managed.
#28: Pitching Competition
What can be pitched and hit across the field? There is only one way to find out. Host a competition where kids bring home items they believe can be pitched and hit successfully. The team that scores the highest (from the weirdest items hit the furthest) win a prize.
Charge entry to the competition and to the event!
Hockey Fundraising Ideas
Fundraising ideas for sports teams don’t always have to be super-creative, they can also be super-easy! Keep things simple and effective with these classic fundraising models.
#29: Virtual Hockey Quiz Night
Quiz nights are a lot of fun, and a great way to raise money with your team while bonding together. The quiz theme can be hockey if you want to make it educational, or about something you all enjoy. These quiz nights can be regular occurrences, and they can be hosted and shared online.
Invite other school hockey teams to join in to raise more money.
#30: Hockey Mentor Class
Put the word out that your hockey team is hosting mentorships and online classes. These can be sold directly per class or as a training camp. Work with your team to create educational content on ‘how to shoot to score’ and ‘handling your hockey stick’ to sell these as standalone products.
Volleyball Fundraiser Ideas
Everyone loves volleyball in warmer weather, so why not use that to your advantage? These are the top ideas for raising money during the summer months, when interest in volleyball is at its peak.
#31: Teachers Vs Students Match
Get outside and host an exciting ‘teachers vs students’ volleyball match. Theme it to make it interesting, with teachers forming their own teams from pop culture. Gather the school outside to watch, with a small ticket fee for attendance. Go ahead and sell snacks as well.
#32: Hot-Potato-Athon
It’s a cardinal sin in volleyball to let the ball hit the ground. So, sharpen your team’s skills and invite surrounding school teams to join you in a hot-potato-athon. The team that can keep the ball in the air the longest, wins. Collect pledges for every successful minute the ball stays airborne!
Pro Tip: Livestream the athon to add a little pizzazz to the event and collect online donations.
Swim Team Fundraising Ideas
There are plenty of engaging ways to raise money that involve swimming and water sports. Take a seat by the pool and review some of the best ideas that will help you achieve your fundraising goal.
#33: Touch the Lilo Competition
Pile your entrants into the pool and get everyone to put a hand on the Lilo. Ticket sales go to the swim team, and you can livestream the event and charge for views. The goal is to keep your hand on the Lilo, eliminating everyone who breaks that connection. The winner should get a fantastic prize.
Pro Tip: The competition is great as part of a pool party event like the one below.
#34: Pool Party Auction
Everyone loves a pool party, and it gives you an excuse to put on some music, sell some good food, and invite your guests to take part in an auction. Get companies to donate themed items to auction, and then create a fun experience for your guests. All proceeds go to your team!
If you want to ramp up the stakes, pit team against team and see who auctions best.
Fundraising Ideas for Tennis Clubs
Last but certainly not least is tennis, a sport that demands dedication, practice, and a fiercely competitive nature. Here are some inspired plans for your tennis club to consider.
#35: The Tennis Clinic
There are some strong tennis players in your club, and a lot of younger players who would benefit from a tennis clinic. Host a day of tennis tricks and training, and invite the community to support your club by taking part. If you can get a local tennis hero to donate their time, even better.
#36: A Silly Grand Slam Exhibition
Your team may not be famous enough to raise a ton of money through a normal exhibition match, but spice it up with silly costumes and you’re in business. Charge for entry and for tickets, and promote a wide range of prizes on the day – for best dressed, best serve, and worst match.
Start Raising Money for Your Sports Team
Whether you decide on a virtual crowdfunding campaign, a raffle, or an auction – the platform you use will either help or hinder you on your journey to goal achievement.
The most engaging fundraisers are multi-dimensional – they have more than one focus.
Right now, there is a lot of sports team fundraising going on. Since the pandemic spread, everyone from restaurants to hospitals have been trying to get donations and raise more money.
The average person has fundraising fatigue.
If you and your team are going to get this right, you need to stand out with a unique experience. We make this easy by being the only platform around that lets you combine and customize fundraisers.
With your various fundraising components neatly centralized, you can quickly and easily run multiple fundraisers at the same time. Just imagine the events you could stage!
Our data has shown that these unique fundraising experiences will help your sports team raise more money, more often. Check out our custom experiences page to find out how it works.
These 36 fundraising ideas for sports teams will give you a solid starting point – but winning the race is entirely up to you. On your marks, get set – fundraise!
