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Oct 27, 2017
174
43
Fundraiser

What have you done for team fundraisers? What are your favorites (top answer = none) and which were the best return?


I'm looking at options for a new team and need opinions.



Thanks
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Given all the time a head coach (and usually his/her staff) puts into this sport, I don't believe they should be expected to participate in fundraisers. Nor should parents and players who simply want to pay their way. Just my opinion.
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
I just say TB should cost $x and write a check for that amount. It's usually around 2-3x the player fees and I skip all the fudraising BS. I tell the coach/admin that this is what we're paying and we expect to be excused from all the time and money that is wrapped up in fundraising. My $.02
 
Sep 29, 2010
1,082
83
Knoxville, TN
Golf tournaments. You can easily make $3-5k on your first tourney. Use a nice course and charge $300 a team. You should clear $100-$150 per team depending on the course. Some courses will discount cart and greens fees for fundraisers. Sell hole sponsors for $125. You can have the signs made for less than $20 each. Get a car dealership to put up a car for hole in one. Most will gladly cover the insurance policy for the advertising they receive. Find a local restaurant to supply breakfast, we use a fast food joint who sells us biscuits at cost and we make them a “breakfast provided by” sign we place on the first hole. 100 biscuits for around $50 bucks per 20 teams goes a long way in getting teams to return. Find local businesses to donate prizes for long drive and closest to hole and 2nd and 3rd places. The more prizes you can get donated, the more attractive your tourney will be to people. Lowe’s and Home Depot have been good to donate a grill, mower, cordless drill set, etc. Put up a nice cash prize for the winners and free entry to next years tourney. More times than not, winners will donate their cash prize minus their entry fee.

It’s a lot of work, but the one time pay out is better than any fundraiser we’ve been involved with.

I know a local travel team who is on their 5th annual tournament and the coach expects to make $7-8k this fall.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Ah, fundraising. I'd rather work a few extra hours a week to fund any extra expenses myself. But we still do them, unfortunately. The players sold Krispie Kremes outside a Dick's sporting goods and raised a good bit that way. We ran a rec camp (6U-12U) that was 3.5 hours and $25/player. Our players helped run it, and it was REALLY great. We had a huge turn out. We were able to get the fields for free so the expenses were very low. Everyone had a blast with that one. Raffling stuff off tends to do pretty well. We raised a good bit with the stupid superbowl squares last year. I don't know why I just really dislike that fundraiser.
 
Jan 30, 2018
252
0
SE Michigan
I absolutely hate fundraising, if you can't pay for your own kid to play then don't, It should never be forced upon parents. Our team has some cheap parents who love to do fundraisers and unfortunately pressure everyone into doing it. Most of my close friends and I have an agreement not to hit each other up for fundraisers. I do run a beer tasting fundraiser that is put on by a local liquor store that is really lucrative, our team in the past made 2-3k just standing around and drinking beer. Unfortunately most people on our team (almost all drinkers) didn't get behind it and we made less than 1k, they would rather sell football squares and hams and other bs all year long. Ugh, I hate fundraising. Won't have to worry about that next year.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
One big event versus lots of little BS.

Casino Nights are the best bang for the buck - Poker, Bingo, Silent Auctions, Raffles, Food & Drink...

Golf Tournaments are OK - but the organization and logistics way harder than casino nights for what we found was a smaler return. Plus finding a weekend day to do it is tough during season. Casino Night you just have on a Friday Night and let everyone party
 
Mar 20, 2014
918
28
Northwest
I think that fundraisers for TB are great depending on how they are organized. The ones that I have found work best are set up for the whole team and then the money goes to the players after a certain amount goes to the team. For instance, DD's team went to the USA nationals last year. We did a fundraiser for individuals & businesses to get their logo on our team banner that was displayed at the games. Every player was required to get one sponsor to pay for the team entry fee. Any other sponsor that they got went towards the players expenses to travel to the tournament (hotel, gas, meals, etc.). DD got 8 sponsors which really helped us out. After we got back, I made a collage or pictures of her playing at nationals with a thank you to their business, framed it and we gave it to the business to display.

Other fundraisers we have done:
Team logo apparel
Team logo car stickers
Butter Braid Pastry (really yummy)
Garage sale (everybody got item donations from friends & relatives)
 
Jun 1, 2015
500
43
I'm actually the opposite of most coaches in that I like doing fundraising/fundraisers with my girls (Full disclosure - I coach a 1-month, rec-ball-ish level team - none of my girls play travel ball [very unlikely they ever will, financially]) My purpose is for the girls to 'work' for their team's funds so they recognize it isn't MY team they're joining, it's OUR team and program they're helping to build. The ONLY thing my girls/parents pay for are about 75% of their uniforms (the team covers socks/belts because I buy them bulk).

We do a car wash about a month out from the season starting - reserve a Main St. church parking lot for 4 hours, all washes are by donation (patrons choose their payment - we've never had less than $5 or more than $30 in 2 season). We've made a combined $650 in two years (profit). The girls really enjoy it, they have fun working, the parents like seeing the girls holding signs, getting the cars in, talking to the customers about where the money goes to, etc.

We also do a t-shirt fundraiser. A friend of mine from college does the designing of the front/back, I buy the t-shirts bulk, get them printed, and we sell them to make about $7-8 profit/shirt. Last year we made around $260 profit. It costs me roughly about $800 to run 1 season (insurance, umpires, game balls, etc.). We also go to businesses and sell "sponsorships" (advertising reciprocity to the businesses - banners, plaques, etc.) I've also thought of other fundraisers, but as we are not a registered not-for-profit, we're semi-limited in what we can do.

My main goal with this team being a short-season team: DO NOT CHARGE the kids to play. This area is very financially disadvantageous to most families/people. Only the "upper middle-class" families do travel ball (in my town of about 5,000, only maybe 5-7 do travel ball in cities about 25-60 minutes away). I'm simply doing this to give my girls a chance to play more softball over the summer, have them learn to love the game, develop skills, and keep them active over the summer going into fall HS sports. I've been reasonably successful so far, and I hope it continues forward.
 
Jul 29, 2013
6,782
113
North Carolina
I honestly think I'd rather be punched in the mouth than to take part in ANY sort of fundraiser! I hate them, let me write a check for our part and let's play ball!!!
 

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