Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas to Elevate Your Game

Youth sports provide unforgettable experiences for players, teams, coaches, and parents. They teach important life and leadership skills, contribute to character development, and foster meaningful friendships. But, they can get expensive. Families with children who participate in sports need to account for travel expenses, equipment costs, uniforms, and tournament costs.

To help your team out, we’ve provided plenty of sports fundraising ideas to try out today to stay at the top of your game and win the funds you need. Some of these are popular crowd favorites while others provide a new twist to the typical fundraising campaign. Let’s jump in!

Our Top Youth Sports Fundraising Idea: Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is the most straightforward way to raise money for your team with little effort. Setting up your online page takes just a few minutes:

Fundly Makes it Easy to Raise Money for Your Sports Team or Club

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Quickly raise money for your sports team or organization with your own personalized and unique crowdfunding campaign. Get up and running in five minutes and start accepting donations immediately.

It’s Personalized
Create a beautiful fundraising page for your team or club with simple tools to upload images and videos. Demonstrate your team’s abilities and skills with eye-catching pictures and videos.

It’s Free
You shouldn’t have to invest money to raise money for your organization. With Fundly there are no start-up costs! We charge a small fee on donations only if you raise money.

Start Your Fundraiser
Don’t worry, it’s easy to get started with a crowdfunding campaign for your sports team or organization! With a crowdfunding site like Fundly, you’ll be up and running in mere minutes. Just create a profile, tell your story, and upload photos and videos to get started
Add Images and Tell Your Team’s Story
Adding images and videos to a crowdfunding campaign is a surefire way to bring in more donations and encourage supporters to share your fundraising page. Include photos and videos of your team in action to demonstrate exactly what the money will go toward.
Share Your Fundraiser
People won’t know that you’re trying to raise money for your sports team if you don’t let them know about your crowdfunding campaign! Share your crowdfunding page on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and provide a link for your sports families to share the campaign with their networks via email.
Say Thank You
Let your supporters know that you appreciate their contributions! You can share the progress of your campaign and acknowledge the people who have helped you reach your goal. You can even post more photos and videos to keep supporters in the loop.

Click here to use Fundly to start your youth sports fundraiser

45+ Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas

Sell Branded Merch

Leverage the power of your dedicated fan base by selling branded merchandise your spectators can sport at every game.

You can use an online t-shirt fundraising platform (like Bonfire) to create and sell customized and branded t-shirts, baseball caps, and more!

You can sell products at a physical storefront at your games or market your merchandise during the off-season using social media.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a great fundraising idea for teams of all shapes and sizes. Not only does it enable your team to raise more money, but it also helps you expand your existing donor base! In a nutshell, peer-to-peer fundraising enlists the fundraising help of your current team members and empowers them to ask for donations on behalf of your team.

Members will build their own donation pages that are tied back to your team’s main fundraising page. Then, they’ll reach out to their friends and family members and ask for donations for your team!

Host a Rent-an-Athlete fundraiser to raise money

Try a “Rent-an-Athlete” Event

A “Rent-an-Athlete” fundraiser involves individuals hiring your team members to complete a specific task.

Common jobs include mowing lawns, cleaning gutters, babysitting, and dog walking, but feel free to get creative!

You can charge per task or by the hour. Make sure that community members know why you’re trying to raise money for your sports team.

A person dancing, representing the idea of a dance-off fundraising idea.

Host a Dance Off

A Dance-Off can be a great way to bring your community together and raise money for your sports team at the same time!

All you have to do for this sports fundraiser idea is set up a registration process and charge a small fee for people who want to participate.

You can raise more money by charging admission for attendees and selling concessions and branded sports merchandise during the event.

Partner with a local restaurant to raise money for your team

Partner Up With a Local Restaurant

Many local chains or restaurants will gladly partner with a sports team to help them raise money for their various expenses.

Get in touch with the manager of a restaurant in your area and ask if you can host a sports team fundraising night.

Once you establish a date and time, invite your friends and family members to come out and support you. The restaurant then cuts your sports team a portion of the night’s sales.

Try a charity auction as a fundraiser for cancer research and awareness.

Charity Auctions

Charity auctions can be a fast-paced and energetic way for your team to raise more money and interact with your donors face-to-face. You also have the opportunity to form some solid business connections!

Ask for charity auction items from local businesses; try to get as many items donated for close to nothing. That way, you can put your budget into creating a great atmosphere for your attendees.

Hire an auctioneer, send out invites, and cater in food and drinks. Make sure that everyone is aware of the rules of your charity auction beforehand. People will walk away with some unique items and experiences, and your team can raise more money!

A baseball coach, representing the concept of a coach challenge fundraiser.

Create a Coach “Punishment” Fundraiser

How many of your teammates would pay to see your coach duct taped to a wall, have their hair dyed a ridiculous color, or forced to sit in a tree?

You can create a Coach “Punishment” fundraiser and raise some money for your team while having a little fun!

As long as your coach is in on the event, you can start fundraising for various types of “punishments.” People vote for their favorite ones with their dollars. Your coach has to do whichever one has the most money!

Host a Kids Camp

Do you remember the first time you held a tennis racket? What about when you and your friends ran your very first relay race?

You were probably pretty young when you started playing sports. Why not host a kids camp to raise money and educate children about sports and exercise?

You can charge a fee for a summer skills camp and bring all the kids in your community out for a few afternoons of practice, scrimmages, and fun. Maybe some of them will end up on your team some day!

A pitch-a-thon is a great way to raise funds of your sports team.

Organize a Pitch-a-thon

Pitch-a-thons are great fundraising ideas for sports teams because it gives your community members an opportunity to play, and you can raise funds!

For this fundraiser, you’ll need to rent a radar gun (or ask someone to donate one for the day) and measure how fast people can throw a baseball, kick a soccer ball, ride a bike, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Just charge everyone who wants to participate a fee (like $5) per try. At the end of the fundraiser, you can give a prize to the fastest pitcher.

Get the community involved in a dodgeball tournament to raise funds for your sports team.

Host a Dodgeball Tournament

You can host a dodgeball tournament as a fundraising idea for your sports team. Invite your community members to create a team of 6 players and pay a fee to enter the competition.

Each team will compete for their chance at being number 1 (and a prize, of course)!

Get permission for your local high school to host the tournament in their gym. In addition to the entry fee for competitors, you can charge a fee to those how just want to come and watch.

Have a fun day in the sun with this fundraising idea for sports teams.

Have a Water Balloon Fight

A water balloon fight is a great way to raise money for your sports team and get everyone outside for some good old-fashioned fun!

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

Pick a nice warm day for your event and give people plenty of advanced notice by posting the details on social media and tacking flyers around the community.

X Marks the Spot

The X Marks the Spot fundraiser is a simple, silly way to raise funds for your sports team. Both adults and kids will enjoy this game!

For this fundraiser to work, you’ll sell golf balls, and the buyers will toss their balls down a hill to try and get the closest to the center of a target. In addition to selling golf balls, you can also sell food and drinks.

You can reward the person who hits the target (or gets the closest) with a prize.

Create a calendar as a way to raise funds for your sports team.

Create and Sell Calendars

If you’ve got some skill with a camera, you can take photos of your team in action and compile them into a calendar as one of your team fundraising ideas.

For this fundraiser, you’ll need to find a publisher that can combine the photos you take into a cohesive calendar and print them out for you.

Then, you can give each team member calendars to sell to their family, friends, and other supporters. You can also sell them during games to raise even more money.

Host a Face-Painting Day

Face-painting days are one of the best fundraisers for sports teams because they are fun and easy to plan. You can host this event right before one of your games or one day after school.

Ask a few volunteers to help you paint faces, and make sure that you have paint that’s safe to use on skin. Kids (and even parents) can make a donation to get their face painted.

You can also include fun games and concessions to raise even more money for your team!

Writing Letters

Writing letters is a great way to raise money for your cause, project, or event. You can send out letters asking for general donations, sponsorships, charity auction items, volunteer time, and more!

Your letters should be genuine and personal. Always start with your donor’s preferred name and try to reference any past relationship or donations.

You can use letters to direct people to your online giving pages or crowdfunding campaign, but you should also include a self-addressed envelope within your letter to encourage people to send in checks (make sure you tell donors not to send cash!).

Interested in writing letters for donations? Check out these 12 sponsorship letter templates

Silent Auctions

Silent auctions are a fun way to get a little more face time with your donors while they bid on unique and appealing items up for grabs. Plus, if you find the right auction items, you have the potential to raise a lot of money!

Ask local businesses and individuals if they would like to donate items to your silent auction. Common items include gift cards to restaurants, signed memorabilia, lessons from a professional of some kind, gift baskets, and more!

You can enlist the help of a mobile bidding tool to create a tech-enhanced bidding experience for your attendees. Mobile bidding software also makes checking in, checking out, and item monitoring easier on your auction volunteers and staff.

Walkathons

Walkathons are perfect for active supporters who like to show their passion for a cause. Walkathons are well-suited for healthcare-related issues and causes, but they can technically be used for any type of fundraising effort!

You’ll need to determine a location and time for your walkathon. Choose a season that is a good temperature with minimal risk of rain. Make sure you have a backup location just in case!

Then, send out invitations and design some merchandise like t-shirts and water bottles. You can sell these for an extra fee to raise money above any entrance costs you charge. Make sure you have medical and first-aid supplies nearby in the case of an accident.

Text-to-Give

Text-to-give is a relatively new way for teams to raise money, but it’s an effective way to accept donations. Nearly everyone has a smartphone, making text-to-give a natural fundraising technique.

You’ll need to choose a text-to-give provider that offers all of the features you’re looking for. From there, it’s all about promoting your text-to-give option to your supporters! Post your text-to-give number and short code on promotional materials and mention it in your communications.

Soon, donors will be using your text-to-give tool to give from wherever they are! You can even incorporate text-to-give into your next event or gathering and encourage all of your attendees to pull out their phones and make a donation right then and there.

Potluck

This is the perfect way to make your community members feel like part of your team, all while raising money.

Everyone can sit down and enjoy each other’s company over home cooked dishes! Just pick a date and location, and recruit some cooks. You likely want to make a signup sheet to make sure you don’t have duplicate meals.

You can charge an admission fee or charge per plate.

Golf Tournament

A relaxed golf tournament is the perfect fundraiser to spark a little bit of competition within your community.

Work with a golf course to see if they’ll let you on the course for free or even donate some of their proceeds to your cause. You can charge an entrance fee and organize the competition in teams or individuals.

Remember to keep a general donation jar handy!

Serve-a-Thon

A serve-a-thon cleans up your community and raises money–it’s a win-win. Round up your team to participate.

Similar to a walkathon, have participants get pledges from their friends, families, and peers in exchange for various acts of community service. That way, if Mrs. Johnson pledges $2 per item of trash that Mike picks up in your local park and Mike picks up 50 pieces, you’ve raised $100!

You can also collect general donations when accepting pledges.

Obstacle Course

A good challenge for all ages and an exciting fundraiser, an obstacle course will put people’s agility to the test.

You’ll need a good location like a park or field. From there, you’ll need to set up your games and obstacles. You can use all kinds of materials from tires to rope to set up your obstacle course. You’ll want to create a signup sheet, which might be easiest to do in the form of a Google spreadsheet. You can let people compete in teams or individually.

Charge an entry fee and offer the winner a prize.

Field Day

The perfect activity for a sports fundraiser, a field day is an active way to raise money! Offer traditional games like potato sack races, water balloon tosses, and tug of war!

Pick a sunny day and a practical location like a football field. You can charge an admission fee or charge per game. Don’t forget to promote your event so your whole community knows!

You can even have a concessions stand at your field day.

Walk-and-Paw-a-Thon

A walkathon with pups! Encourage your community to come out for an active, healthy day with their best friends.

Seeing as walkathons are popular fundraising events, your walk-and-paw-a-thon will be a hit! You’ll need to decide if you want your route to be straight or a circuit and then, you’ll need to choose a good location! Don’t forget about promotion. You’ll want to draw in the largest crowd you can.

You can also set up concessions stands and sell merchandise at your event.

This sports and teams fundraising idea is sure to raise money.

Dog-and-Car Wash

Another doggy-focused fundraiser! Offer your community a day to do multiple chores in one and have your team wash the community’s pups and cars!

All you need are some towels, sponges, soap, buckets, and towels. Plan on a sunny day and promote your event through email and on social media. For the day of, make sure you set up a dog station and a car station.

Let your customers know where their money is going.

Backyard Barbeque

No one can turn down a good barbeque. Make sure you make plenty of options from ribs to chicken to veggie patties.

Start your community’s summer off right with this fundraiser and put your team to work grilling up burgers. Advertise your barbeque online and through email, and make sure you have enough tables and chairs for everyone to sit and enjoy their food.

You can charge an admission fee or a fee per burger, patty, set of ribs, etc.

Community Picnic

This is the perfect way to make your community as close as your team.

Holding a community picnic only requires some blankets, plates, beverages, and food! Pick a nice day and a location and then promote your event! Your community can even bring their dishes to your event so you don’t have to do all the cooking.

You can charge one general fee for admission to your picnic or you can charge per plate. Remember to set up a table for the food and drinks!

Host your own mock Olympics to raise money for your team.

Olympic Games

Rally your team and community for your own mock Olympic games!

You can set up track and field events or whatever works best based on the available space you have. You charge an entry fee for participants and an admission fee for spectators. You can make the games as intense and competitive or relaxed as you’d like.

Remember to have a medal ceremony at the end!

Rock-a-Thon

Host a rockathon! Here’s another competitive fundraiser to push everyone into sport mode.

All you need are rocking chairs and participants! Similar to a walkathon, have participants accept pledges for the time they rock in a rocking chair. For example, Bobby’s mom might pledge $5 for every hour Anna rocks. Find a good location and set up your rocking chairs for your event!

Remember to keep a donation booth open at your event, too.

Viral Video Fundraiser

Perfect for larger groups like teams, the viral video fundraiser is a fun, collaborative activity!

Pick a challenge that’s easily done and fun to watch! Then film your group completing it, challenging others to do the same. It’ll be a video challenge similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Share your video online with your online donation form.

You’ll have to have a carefully and well-executed social strategy to promote and then the donations roll in!

Fundraise the easy way! Start your online Fundly campaign today

Rubber Duck Race

This playful fundraiser lets you race your duckie against your friends.

All you need for your rubber duck race is a lake/pond/etc., rubber duckies, and raffle tickets. Number each duck and sell their corresponding tickets to participants. Then, set the rubber ducks in the water and the first to cross the finish line is the winner!

You can give your 1st place winner a prize. Don’t forget to set up a concessions stand and charge an entry fee.

Envelope Fundraiser

A simple fundraiser, your team can master this set up in a heartbeat.

All you need are 100 envelopes, which you’ll label 1 through 100. Hang all your envelopes in a public space like your team’s gym or the town hall. When supporters pass your envelopes, they’ll choose one with the number they wish to donate.

For example, if Steven’s dad picks up envelope 43, he’ll donate $43. Quick and easy!

Flag Subscription Service

Put your team’s athleticism to good use by helping hang your neighbors’ seasonal flags!

A longer-term fundraiser, your team will find community members who want to sign up for the service to have their front porch flags switched out according to the season or upcoming events. For example, hang jack-o-lantern flags in October and American flags in July.

Charge a small monthly or yearly fee for the service.

This fundraising idea for sports and teams is a great way to raise money.

Kickball Tournament

Another active fundraiser, this event will get people of all ages involved and create some healthy competition.

Rally your community for a kickball tournament! First, you’ll need to secure a location, which can be a field, park, or gymnasium. Then, you’ll need to recruit players! Spread the word that you’re going to host a kickball tournament via email, word-of-mouth, and social media.

You can charge each team a small entrance fee and encourage them to accept pledges from the community. Sell tickets to spectators the day of the event and open a concessions stand.

Give It Up

We all have our unhealthy habits. Now’s the time to kick them and raise money at the same time.

Instead of spending that $5 on Starbucks, your supporters will donate the money they usually spend on unhealthy addictions. You can even hold the challenge just before a big tournament or game, when your players will need to be eating healthy, too. This way the whole community is in on it.

Plan on setting up a way to accept donations, like an online donation page.

Deliver Christmas trees to raise money for your team!

Christmas Tree Delivery

The holiday season is always hectic so have your team help out your neighbors by delivering their Christmas trees!

You’ll have to decide if you want to sell and deliver the trees or just sell them. If you’re interested in selling only, look into partnering with a local Christmas tree supplier. Promote your Christmas tree delivery services around your community through social media, email, and word-of-mouth.

Make sure someone has a car or truck capable of towing Christmas trees and give everyone gloves!

Fitness Class

Have your athletes teach a fitness class! You can even base it around your sport.

Your team can spread their expertise to the community for a small entry fee per person. Promote your class through email, on social media, and via flyers.

You’ll help get your community in shape and raise money all in one class!

Garden for green to fundraise for your sport or team.

Gardening for Green

A great fundraiser to better your community, gardening for green means picking up litter in your area!

You can ask for pledges based on how much trash your team picks up. For example, you could ask for a penny for every piece picked up, or $10 per pound of trash picked up.

Get your team together and start going green and making some green!

Best Seat in the House

This is the perfect fundraiser for your team. At your next big game, auction out the best seats in the arena!

The closest and most comfortable seats will be up for grabs, all depending on your raffle. Almost free, this fundraiser’s only cost is the roll of raffle tickets.

Promote your fundraiser through email, on social media, and by word-of-mouth!

Grocery Delivery

Give your community some more free time and handle their groceries for them with a paid service.

Partner with your local grocery store and offer to deliver your neighbors’ groceries! This easy fundraising idea will allow you to help out the members of your community while raising money.

The success of this fundraiser is in your hands with the grocery bags! Don’t forget to advertise your services!

Game Night

Get your friends, families, and neighbors together for a game night!

All you need is a location big enough to hold some tables and chairs, and a good variety of board games! You can offer participants the chance to play some classics like chess, Clue, Monopoly, and more! You’ll need to decide whether you want to charge an entry fee, a fee per game, or a fee per hour!

Don’t forget to advertise your event to make the most of it.

March Madness

When you think of basketball’s biggest, most watched tournament, of course March Madness comes to mind!

Hold your own March Madness to raise some money for your team. You can choose the sport you play, basketball, or any other! Encourage individuals to form teams and you can charge per team for this active fundraiser. All you need is a court or field and the appropriate supplies for your games.

Don’t forget to create brackets just like March Madness. Promote your tournament and have fun!

10,000 Step Challenge

Get your community up and moving with this fundraiser (and satisfy their Fitbits!).

The 10,000 step challenge requires supporters to walk 10,000 steps a day for a length of time you decide on, which can range from a week to a month. Have your supporters accept pledges on how long they’ll last and have them use their Fitbits or pedometers to monitor their steps.

Healthy and supportive all in one!

Sell popcorn to raise money for your team.

Popcorn Sale

Turn this classic snack into your team’s fundraiser! You can sell gourmet popcorn at games for your team’s fans to bring to and eat at games!

There are plenty of different flavors of the snack for all taste buds to enjoy. You’ll need to partner with a supplier that grants you a large profit margin and then promote your fundraiser online and in person.

Sell your popcorn to your community and let them enjoy!

This fundraising idea will help raise money for your sport or team.

Tie-Dye Station

Bring tie-dye back in style with a tie-dying event and let participants customize their t-shirts.

You’ll need a few supplies: t-shirts, die, rubber bands, and plastic bags. Make sure the t-shirts are white so they’ll accept the most die and make for the best and boldest design! Pick a location (you may want to work outside in case of spills) and host your event!

Charge per t-shirt and let participants make as many shirts as they’d like until supplies run out!

Car Decals

Give your #1 fans another way to support your team with car decals!

Work with a company that will let you customize your car decals with your team name, colors, and mascot. Remember that your decals shouldn’t be too clustered and should instead, feature large fonts and simple designs so they’re easily read!

Organize this fundraiser for the beginning of your season to get everyone excited about the team and games!

Food Truck

Partner with a food truck to offer your community great food and raise money at the same time!

You’ll need to work with a business that will let you keep a larger profit margin and one that will appeal to your fans! If you have a baseball team, go for the classic and try a hot dog truck! You can even park the food truck in the parking lot at your next game.

Just don’t forget to place it in a prominent spot and promote your dishes!

Murder Mystery Dinner

Hold a spooky fundraiser to raise money for your team!

You can work with a local restaurant, or you can do the cooking yourself and use a space like a school cafeteria. Like a live-version of Clue, your murder mystery dinner will be an unforgettable night. You’ll need to plan out when to give your guests clues and which clues to give so they can solve your mystery!

While this fundraiser will take a little bit of planning, it will also be a huge success!

Click here to launch your youth sports fundraising with Fundly

Take Your Youth Sports Fundraising Campaign to the Next Level with Fundly

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Create a crowdfunding campaign for your sports team, club, or organization for FREE. Pay absolutely no fees until you receive your first contribution.

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At only a few cents for every dollar, Fundly is one of the most affordable ways to fundraise for your sports team or club. You don’t have to worry about spending too much to raise the money you need!

Deep Social Integration

With Fundly, you can reach out to your teammates, friends, and family members via social media sites. You can even send emails to get the word out! The more you promote your crowdfunding campaign, the more likely people will be to donate.

Keep it All

There’s no need to raise a minimum amount, meet a deadline, or pay penalties if you don’t reach your fundraising goal. You get to keep whatever you raise!

Instant Fundraising

Create your sports-related or team campaign in just a few minutes. You can start raising money from your teammates, friends, and family members quickly and easily.

Excellent Customer Service

Get set up quickly and easily, whether you’re tech-savvy or not. Our interface is super easy and our team is always here to help your team! If you run into any problems while fundraising, we’ve got your back.

Best Practices for Your Sports-Related or Team Crowdfunding Campaign

Share Visuals

People want to see pictures of your sports team or club in action! Upload images and videos of your games or practices to demonstrate your passion and convince people to donate to your campaign.

Learn more about shooting and posting great crowdfunding photos.

Tell Your Story

Make sure you explain why your sports team is raising money and give a little background of your team’s history. People are more drawn to campaigns with compelling and interesting stories.

Check out these examples of great crowdfunding descriptions.

Get Social

People won’t know about your team’s fundraiser unless you tell them about it! You should use social media platforms as well as emails to get the word out about your team’s campaign.

Learn more about sharing your crowdfunding campaign with your network.

Share Updates

As you hit various fundraising milestones, make sure that you keep your supporters posted. You can even let donors know about your team’s playing schedule so that they can come out and support you in person!

Check out these tips for writing crowdfunding updates.

See What Others Say:

The kids on the little league team I coach needed money for equipment and jerseys, so I set up a crowdfunding campaign. Their parents, their parents’ friends, and their friends all helped us out. We even surpassed our goal!

Brody ArmstrongStart Your Fundraiser

My lacrosse team didn’t have enough money to travel to our regional tournament and compete. A few of us thought that crowdfunding would be a great idea. Within a few weeks of setting up our Fundly campaign, we were good to go for the tournament (and we won!).

Candace GregoryStart Your Fundraiser

Our cheerleading squad doesn’t get a lot of funding from our school, so we decided to supplement with a crowdfunding campaign. Our Fundly campaign page was shared with all of our friends and family members, and we raised a ton of money!

Madison EllisStart Your Fundraiser

Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas: Conclusion + Additional Resources

Raising money for your youth sports team can feel like facing your hometown rival—scary, exhilarating, and high stakes. But, with these fundraising ideas, you’ll be able to pull together a game-winning strategy to give your team the resources it needs to succeed.

Remember to use the power of social media and your network to give you a leg up. Share your online campaigns, send event invitations, and make appeals all online with specialized software to help guide you each step of the way. You’ve got this!