The best fundraising ideas for sports teams have nothing to do with the fundraising products that are sold in the fundraiser.  In spite of the fact that the preceeding statement may be counter-intuitive, it is nevertheless true.  Almost any fundraising product or product line you can think of has been an overwhelming success for a youth sports organization somewhere, and the very same product or product line has been a failure somewhere else.  Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that, when it comes to successful fundraising ideas for sports teams, product choice does not rank very high.  In sports fundraising success always comes down to what you do . . . or fail to do.   However, as is true with so many other endeavors, nobody wants to take "credit" for a failure.

Five Steps to Conducting
A Successful Sports Fundraising Campaign

Step 1:  Believe in the Worthiness of the Fundraiser’s Purpose.  Frankly, if you and your youth sports organization don’t believe the fundraiser is serving a worthy purpose then you shouldn’t be doing a fundraiser.  If you do believe a successful fundraiser will serve the mission of your organization, then you have to wear that belief on your sleeve.  Everything you do and say should project the importance of the task at hand.  Since annual fundraising campaigns are usually conducted to cover a league’s operational expenses, chances are your organization has decided to conduct a fundraiser to help keep registration fees low so that your sports program will be more accessible to the children in your community.  If you—even unwittingly—project that you don’t believe in the worthiness of the fundraiser’s purpose, then you are not likely to get much support.

Step 2:  Establish a Successful Fundraising Plan.  Too many youth sports organizations pick a product and then pass out the fundraising packets to the players.  What they are actually doing is throwing their fundraisers into the wind.  You would imagine they were thinking “Why should we have just one good fundraiser when we can have two or three pathetic ones?”  Well, if that is what you want for your league then just handing out the packets is probably an appropriate plan.  However, if you would rather ask your members to participate in just one good fundraiser, then you have to know how to conduct a successful sports fundraiser.  There are three important components to a successful sports fundraising campaign (See Three Elements of Successful Sports Fundraising), and if you plan for and properly implement those components you might be able to accomplish your goal with just one good fundraiser.  

Step 3:  Let Everyone Know the Fundraiser’s Purpose and Your Goal.  If you want the support of others, then you need to let them know why they should give it to you.  Don’t assume they’re just going to give it to you.  Believe it not, most product fundraisers are conducted without even a word about why the funds are needed.  You may as well ask everyone to go home and turn somersaults in their front yards.  Are you asking everyone to participate in this fundraiser because you think it is the one thing that is missing from their lives and that their anticipation has been building for the arrival of the moment when you would ask them to participate?  Hardly.  So, look them in their collective eye and tell them why this fundraiser is important to the league and let them know what goal will accomplish that purpose.  Also let them know how your expectation of their participation is tied to achieving the goal.

Step 4:  Assume a Positive Attitude.  A positive attitude will not only make your task seem lighter and more enjoyable, but it will elicit the confidence and support of others.  Let’s face it, fundraising is nobody’s favorite activity; however, in order to have a successful fundraiser you’re going to need a lot of support from a lot of people in your organization.  You are more likely to get that support if you project a positive attitude.  If you are the leader of your league’s fundraising campaign and you can’t project a positive attitude, then you are the wrong person for the job because you are not going to inspire anyone to action.  People will respond to and follow people who believe in themselves and their mission.  Almost nobody will follow someone who is negative.     

Step 5:  Ask for The Support of Members.  Never say “We hope you will support our fundraiser”.  That’s not only wishy-washy, it is also certainly not asking.  “We hope?”  Big deal!  So what?  When someone says something like that they are unintentionally sending a message of relative indifference.  What the audience may be hearing is that speaker doesn’t really give a flying fig whether the fundraiser is supported.  If the message being sent is that the leader isn’t all that invested, then why should those who are expected to follow become invested?  It shouldn’t be difficult to ask for someone’s support if you understand the purpose of the fundraiser, believe the purpose is important and worthy, and proceed with the expectation that the fundraiser should be supported by others.  If you have that expectation of support, then you should confidently ask for support and you shouldn’t be afraid of having the appearance of expecting to get it.  However, Brave Heart, if you do ask for support there are two additional things you need to do:  Maintain friendly eye-contact and wait for an answer.  Once the request is made, the first one who speaks loses—so just wait for an answer even if the silence becomes uncomfortable.  If you have followed the first four steps, the answer will probably be “yes”, and that verbal response will have immediately transformed itself into what you are really after—a commitment.    

With regard to asking for support, the best thing to get is a commitment because most people will follow-through on a verbal commitment they have made to another.  With most youth sports organizations it is probably extraordinarily difficult—if not impossible—for one person to get a commitment to participate from every player and parent in the organization.  However, you already have in place a hierarchy for accomplishing that objective. 

The Key To The Most Successful Sports Fundraising Ideas

Of all the sports fundraising ideas you will ever hear, here is one that can’t be bested:  Cultivate your coaches to become your apostles.  Conversion isn’t always easy to accomplish; however, over time and especially as new coaches come into the program each year, it is possible to get most of them to understand and support what you are trying to accomplish.  Once coaches understand the purpose and importance of what you are asking them to do, and once they get a sense of the positive impact they can have on accomplishing that purpose, then each year you can ask for and get their commitment to ask others for theirs.

You are looking at the key to youth sports fundraising success.  Go ahead, Brave Heart, pick it up.  When you come right down to it, wouldn’t you rather ask everyone for a commitment to do one fundraiser well than have to go back and ask them to do several fundraisers?  To this author's way of thinking, a youth sports league should never have to ask its members to do more than one fundraiser in a season, and if you are going to do one, then it should be done well. 

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