Sponsorship question

[carmine]

like everyone else we do team fundraisers and try and find local business to sponsor our team. I also try to instill community involvement with my girls. We do volunteer work for Breast Cancer. Here are my 2 questions. I getting a few of my parents disagreeing with the way team funds are handled. When we do any fundraiser or looking for sponsors I tell the sponsor right up front that we give 10% off all donated money we received to one of our local Breast Cancer foundations. The same with any fundraisers. For example at a recent fundraiser we had businesses donate gifts and we made about $500. Which we would give $50 to the Foundation. I have 2 parents that think that we should not giving money away. I try and tell them its not coming from team fees just donations.
Secondly some parents want half of any sponsorship money they bring in to offset their cost. For Example if they find a sponsor willing to give $500 they think $250 of that should be taken off their fee for the year. I have never had a problem in the past with any other teams. Meanwhile these same parents do not seem to have a problem when I treat the team for pizza or bagels

does anyone have a opinion

 

[SoftSocDad]

If you have someone in your organization who does fundraising full-time, then yes, it's reasonable for them to take a commission on any sponsorships brought in. Chances are, you don't have that person, though.

In any team situation, invariably, some people will do more of the fundraising legwork than others. That's just the nature of the beast. But those funds go into your team's general fund, which help to decrease the out-of-pocket expenses of ALL the girls, not just the ones with the more well-connected or ambitious parents.

Depending on your finances, however, I would agree that giving money away to other local foundations isn't what you should be involved in. I know that can sometimes give your sponsors an added value, but in reality, people who are willing to sponsor girls' softball would do it regardless of whether the team was donating the 10%.

If your team is committed to breast cancer awareness, have the girls and parents volunteer their time by doing or helping out with Race for the Cure, etc. That would be an excellent compromise as far as the money is concerned and would be a great service opportunity for your girls.

 

[absdad]

We had a fundraiser in the fall, and had a parent who did pampered chef. Each of the kids went out and sold whatever, and that money went into their own account. There was some issues with other parents, not happy about the commission part of it. Best bet is to find something that won't benefit anyone personally. There are plenty of great options out there. Hot dog/lemonade stands at a local grocery store work very well. Car washes, etc. Just be sure to let everyone know that participation is mandatory.

 

[Bishop]

Sagging economy. The longer this goes the more you can expect some parents to nit pick over fees and how they are used. I don't have any answers short of, be creative and try and come up with ways to do team fund raisers that gives the parents the opporunity to off set some of thier out of pocket costs. We do raffles with donated prizes from sponsorships and families and get credit towards fees for the tickets they sell. Families that embrace this for what it is can get multiple kids through the program with nothing but individual equipment costs. Others pay most of the $ fees out of pocket because they can't be bothered to sell tickets. It's a big advantage to us when people complain about the fees. We gave them the opportunity to pay nothing, they just couldn't be bothered to put forth the effort. It really keeps the complainers to a minimum.

 

[Coach JV]

Fundraising is no fun, we all have to do it. 100% are never happy with it and we
all have horror stories about our experiences with fundraising

 

[SoftSocDad]

We had a fundraiser in the fall, and had a parent who did pampered chef. Each of the kids went out and sold whatever, and that money went into their own account. There was some issues with other parents, not happy about the commission part of it.

WOW. That's one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of!! Even if 100% of the proceeds went into the team's fund, I'd still have a huge problem with this. There's a big difference between this and the father of one of the girls allowing the team to set up a lemonade stand in front of his drugstore.

I'm glad it worked for you guys, but even though the team did benefit, I strongly disagree with using the girls as a private sales force.

 

[Bill Bollinger]

In any team situation, invariably, some people will do more of the fundraising legwork than others. That's just the nature of the beast. But those funds go into your team's general fund, which help to decrease the out-of-pocket expenses of ALL the girls, not just the ones with the more well-connected or ambitious parents.

Just to be a devil's advocate. Couldn't the same logic then be transferred over to playing time where every girl should be given equal playing time at all positions not just those who are more ambitious or have worked harder at improving their skills?

Bill

 

[WinThemAll]

WOW. That's one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of!! Even if 100% of the proceeds went into the team's fund, I'd still have a huge problem with this. There's a big difference between this and the father of one of the girls allowing the team to set up a lemonade stand in front of his drugstore.

I'm glad it worked for you guys, but even though the team did benefit, I strongly disagree with using the girls as a private sales force.

Actually, many people like these kind of fundraisers, they feel that they actually "get" something and that are also helping out the team.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Just to be a devil's advocate. Couldn't the same logic then be transferred over to playing time where every girl should be given equal playing time at all positions not just those who are more ambitious or have worked harder at improving their skills?

Yes, but no.

The assumption was that the OP was talking about a travel team which, while certainly concerned with player development, may sometimes value winning over equality in playing time.

If, however, they were talking about a rec team which has to do its own fundraising, I, sadly, would have to concur because of the generally accepted standards for rec leagues around the country.

The kids who put in the time and/or have the natural talent will move on to better opportunities within the next year or so and those who don't will remain in rec or move to other activities. Kids who desire to play elite-level softball aren't going to get there without work.

 

[Bill Bollinger]

You had originally said:

But those funds go into your team's general fund, which help to decrease the out-of-pocket expenses of ALL the girls, not just the ones with the more well-connected or ambitious parents.

and

Kids who desire to play elite-level softball aren't going to get there without work.

Couldn't the same be said of those parents who are more well-connected or ambitious? Why would you penalize them or "spread the wealth" of their work. Why wouldn't a team reward those players more who play/train/practice and ultimately perform better on the field? I would assume on your travel team, you do in fact reward those harder working and better performing players. Why wouldn't you use the same logic for those harder working and better performing parents in their fundraising efforts?

Bill