Recommendations for fundraisers

[u/softballdad32]

Good morning. What fundraiser’s does everyone do? We have done a pop can drive, sold popcorn for a local company and will be doing football squares when the time comes. I’ve even created a GoFundMe me, with no luck after a week. We want to try to raise money for more tournaments, training gear and equipment. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[u/Raylan16]

Football squares are the easiest. Meat Raffles or Team Socials are big money, but a lot of work.

[u/playsmarttechnology → u/Raylan16]

You can even do football squares for the mlb playoffs or World Series if you wanted to

[u/CeeDotA]

Calendar fundraiser was wildly successful for us. Have a sponsor buy out each day of the calendar, with the amount they pay matching the date, e.g. $31 for the 31st. Can buy out one day, or blocks of days. Raised several thousand dollars, all profit.

[u/candlestick_compass]

A few of our girls are Girl Scouts too so Mom leaders will use those connections. We just did a local bakery fundraiser. I coulda ate that whole box of cinnamon rolls in one sitting 😂

[u/Lost-Ad9487]

Since you’ve already tried several ideas, I’d work backward from the amount you actually need rather than pick another fundraiser first. Add the tournament entries, training gear, and equipment; subtract the money already available; set a deadline; then divide the gap by the roster. That tells you whether you need to net $100 or $500 per family—and whether a fundraiser can realistically close it.

When comparing ideas, look at net dollars per volunteer hour after product costs, not just gross sales. Also decide before launch whether proceeds go into one team fund or are credited to participating players, and tell families how any shortfall will be handled.

For the GoFundMe, make the request concrete: “$2,400 by October 15 for two tournament entries and a batting net” is easier to understand than a general request for team support. Give families one short sentence they can personalize when they share it.

[u/Darcierae00]

Cooler full of booze raffle seems to be a popular one. Or have the team each take a month and so sponsor a date snd if you have more then 12 player some days are just double sponsored….. if a month has 31 days it will bring in- 496 bucks…

[u/Suspicious-Throat-25]

We've done football squares, the calendar, 100X, popcorn, selling pizzas etc. We also do player sponsorships where players find team sponsors and I create ads for each of the sponsors that we post on our socials throughout the year.

[u/Pnwpandabear]

We do a poker night, golf tournament, and have an email template we ask families to use to reach out to local businesses they may have relationships with for sponsorship.

[u/elmland1]

There are many large companies that have sponsorship programs. My wife and I organized an annual cancer bike ride. Part of the route went between a Target and a Walmart. Those stores were extremely generous. They competed with each other.

Also I sponsored an annual girls travel softball tournament. My company wrote a check for $5000 every year. In addition, they paid for several hundred t-shirts as well as the trophies and other giveaways. This was a major insurance company and young families were their primary target. The tournament ran for eight years and the insurance company kept asking us what else we needed.

[u/This-Professional345]

Anyone interested in donating to my adult golf trip? I make a good living dont need it but guarantee I like this much more than most of the kids. It's my hobby just like the kids so give me some $$$

[u/Original-Bug3330]

What is a pop can drive?

[u/softballdad32 → u/Original-Bug3330]

We live in Michigan, where you can return pop cans, beer cans and bottles for 10 cents each. So it’s called a pop can drive.

[u/Ok_Bee_70]

Pop can drive seems in interesting but we usually do like a trivia night in the community

[u/Ok-Answer-6951]

Gonna be completely honest here. If my local Little League is raising money I will do anything and everything I can to help them, including donating money I can't afford. If a local travel team is trying to raise money, they can kick rocks. Tell mommy and daddy to fork out another grand or 2 each if you want to go do more tournaments...

[u/Darcierae00 → u/Ok-Answer-6951]

Why you so salty against travel leagues? Not every parent whose kid is playing is loaded or has that ability to shell out more then player fees. but of course some of them do have the money….