30 Team Fundraising Ideas that Work for Any Sport

Participating in and managing a sports team can be expensive. Paying for travel, equipment, and other miscellaneous costs can quickly overshadow the fun of the sport that brought your team together in the first place.

Luckily, there are a lot of engaging (and profitable!) fundraising ideas for sports teams. To help you get your head out of your team’s finances and back in the game, we’ve compiled our top team fundraising ideas, sorted into the following categories:

Kick off with one of the most engaging yet simple fundraising ideas that can be adapted to any sports team: t-shirt fundraisers.

T-shirt fundraisers double as both an effective team fundraising idea and a smart way to deepen your team’s relationship with its community. Design and sell custom shirts with your team’s colors and logo. Then, encourage supporters to buy them to show their team spirit.

To get started, look for a top t-shirt printing site like Bonfire that offers flexible options for designing, printing, and selling custom merchandise to your supporters. Bonfire lets you:

Everyone loves a well-designed t-shirt, especially one that shows off their favorite local sports team. Get your community excited and raise more support with custom tees!

While peer-to-peer fundraising is an online technique, it’s one of the most flexible, customizable, and effective ways to reach your whole community (and beyond!).

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns leverage the power of your extended supporter network. Your team members and volunteers will create their own individual fundraising pages through a peer-to-peer fundraising platform. Then, they’ll share the word with their friends and families to raise funds on your team’s behalf. 

This structure makes peer-to-peer fundraising extremely engaging. For instance, it’s easy to create timed fundraising challenges or post rankings of top-earning volunteers to generate friendly competition and keep everyone motivated. To get your campaign started, look into peer-to-peer fundraising best practices and start researching potential platforms to invest in.

These campaigns are perfect for promoting and hosting major fundraising events. For example, many charity races and walk-a-thons are the grand finale for a longer peer-to-peer fundraising campaign—don’t forget to offer special edition 5K race shirts to maximize revenue. Consider creating timed fundraising challenges or posting rankings of top-earning volunteers to generate friendly competition and keep everyone motivated.

Auctions

Auctions are a powerhouse strategy in the fundraising world. And the idea that they’re only for major charities with wealthy donors is a misconception. Auctions are, above all, an experience for your community—a fun night out to enjoy a nice meal, mingle with neighbors, and maybe purchase that perfect auction item.

Depending on your audience’s preferences, consider trying out these various auction formats:

• Virtual auction: Your team can host a live stream with live music, entertainment, and all the other fun activities of in-person auctions. Guests will bid remotely, which can even help drive bidding wars as they can make a new offer within seconds of being outbid rather than needing to circle back to a physical bidding sheet.
• Hybrid auction: These events incorporate both virtual and in-person elements. Some guests will attend and bid remotely, while others will join the in-person event. Create a website or select auction software that can manage bids from both groups.
• Silent auction: Silent auctions can be in-person or virtual. The main difference between this type and traditional auctions is that there is no auctioneer or a set bidding time. Attendees can bid on items at any time during the auction, usually via a silent auction app or software.
• Live auction: Live auctions are likely what comes to mind when you think about these events—everyone gathers in person, views the available items, and bids on them in real time. Keep in mind that you’ll need to hire an auctioneer (or a fast-talking volunteer) to lead the bidding.

Once you’ve selected a format, start building your catalog of donated auction items. Include your own team’s memorabilia in the auction items, and consider promoting your merchandise with swag bags or offering your custom team shirts for sale. To cut down on costs, secure sponsorships or in-kind donations of goods, services, or vouchers from local businesses.

Online Shopping Fundraisers

During online shopping fundraisers, teams partner with an online shopping program that provides a dedicated app and browser extension. Spread awareness of the program to get team members and their personal networks involved. Then, the team earns a percentage of the sales any time someone makes an online purchase at a participating retailer through the app or browser extension. 

Get the word out about your fundraiser through email, social media, and your team’s website. Include directions on what an online shopping fundraiser is and how to participate. 

Throughout the campaign, share regular reminders about your fundraiser to get new shoppers to sign up. Remind your current supporters to continue shopping through the app and browser extension whenever possible.

Text-to-Give Campaigns

Your team’s supporters can give quickly and conveniently through their phones with a text-to-give campaign without even needing to visit your donation page. Here’s how these campaigns work:

1. Partner with a text-to-give service. Work with a text-to-give platform to receive a phone number that your supporters can send their texts to. 
2. Choose your keyword. Pick a keyword that’s short and easy to remember. For example, BEARS2024 is easier to type than BOSTONBEARSBASKETBALL2024. 
3. Share your text-to-give number and keyword with supporters. Announce the campaign and share these details at your games and fundraising events. When supporters pull out their phones to make a donation, others will join in to help your team earn more!

Add your text-to-give number and keyword to your website to keep donations rolling all year. This is a great way to passively fundraise with minimal time and effort required on your end.

#GivingTuesday Campaigns

#GivingTuesday, hosted on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a national day of giving in the U.S. Supporters are looking for worthwhile organizations to give to during this season of generosity, and they often make their donations on #GivingTuesday. Earn their support by launching a social media campaign.

Because supporters only have 24 hours to give to the campaign, #GivingTuesday creates a sense of urgency. Hop on the trending hashtag to help supporters find information about your team and share your donation page. 

To stand out on #GivingTuesday, encourage your team members to share your posts on their social media accounts, ensure that your donation page is streamlined and shareable, and consider encouraging sales of themed #GivingTuesday merchandise. 

Matching Gift Drives

Some of your supporters may be able to give more to your team without actually spending more. How? With corporate matching gift programs! Here’s how these programs work:

1. A supporter donates to your cause.
2. They use a matching gift database to check their eligibility (hint: look for a matching gift solution that allows you to embed this database into your website or donation form).
3. The donor submits a match request to their employer.
4. If their application is approved, the employer will match their gift to your organization! Matches are usually at a 1:1 ratio, meaning the supporter’s impact could double at no extra cost to them!

To start raising funds through matching gifts, spread awareness of matching gift programs. Many donors are eligible for matching gifts but have no idea their employer offers the option. Consider adding a note to your donation form reminding supporters to check for these programs and following up with an automated reminder email. 

You can also partner with local businesses to set up a matching gift drive for your team. During this drive, the business will promise to match all donations to your team within a certain timeframe.

Live Online Classes

Many skills can be taught online through virtual classes. While demonstrating exactly how to play a sport may require a more hands-on approach, your team can still raise funds by hosting online classes that teach exercise, fitness, and any other talents your team members want to share. 

For example, here are a few types of classes you may be able to offer:

• Morning exercise
• Yoga or pilates
• Painting 
• Cooking

To run an online class, you’ll need to create online sign-up forms, set up a virtual meeting schedule, and ensure that the instructor has the right equipment to livestream to attendees. Consider recording the livestreams and allowing supporters to access them on demand for a small fee.

Viral Video Challenge

Earn donations and get your entire team involved in your fundraiser with a viral video challenge. During this challenge, participants will record a video of themselves performing an eye-catching activity as part of the challenge, encourage viewers to make a donation to the team, and then tag their friends and family to encourage them to do the same. Ideally, the challenge should reach and engage supporters who aren’t part of your team.

Choose a challenge that grabs viewers’ attention and is also fun for your participants. For example, you might ask participants to perform some challenging athletic feat related to your team or do a silly activity, such as eating a really spicy pepper without drinking anything for two minutes.

Along with tagging friends and family, ask your team members to share links to your donation in the description of their social media pages to attract viewers’ attention.

There’s a reason shoe drive fundraisers are among the top school fundraising strategies: Kids are constantly outgrowing their shoes!

This unique team fundraising idea can be particularly effective if your team is school-based or made up of parents (like a community softball league). Here’s how shoe drive fundraisers work:

1. Your team contacts an athletic shoe drive facilitator to set up a campaign.
2. You’ll work together to establish collection goals and a timeframe.
3. They’ll ship you collection bags and materials to promote your drive.
4. Your team then starts collecting gently worn, used, and new cleats, sneakers, and any other sporty shoe.
5. Once you reach your goal, either the facilitator picks up the shoes or your team mails them back to the program in a pre-paid bag. Then, your team receives a check!

These fundraising drives are great for school- and community-based groups, and not just because families will have plenty of used shoes. It’s also very easy to promote shoe collections at your other events, like races and walk-a-thons.

Team Fundraising Letters

By recruiting your members to help you write fundraising letters, your teams can send more fundraising appeals and ensure each has a personal touch. Getting your whole team involved allows you to turn what would be a long, arduous task into a bonding experience. 

Here are a few tips for high-quality letters:

• Provide templates. Your team members probably won’t know exactly what to put in a fundraising letter—in fact, this will likely be their first time writing one! Create custom donation card templates just for your team. 
• Encourage team members to tell their own stories. Fundraising letters are more meaningful if they feel like they’re coming from an individual. Work with your team members to put what your team means to them into words, and include those sentiments in the letters. 
• Host a letter-writing party. Make writing letters fun by hosting a get-together with snacks, music, and plenty of supplies. Team members can have fun, write letters, and encourage each other to keep going. 

After writing your letters, you’ll still need to mail them! Your team can also help seal envelopes and place stamps.

Car Wash

Car washes are simple events that tend to succeed when they’re hosted on sunny days in locations that see a significant amount of traffic.

To raise money, simply charge each car a fee for your services and keep a tip jar on hand for drivers who are feeling extra generous. Keep your volunteers’ spirits up throughout your car wash by playing music, having plenty of snacks and water on hand, and scheduling shifts so team members can come and go as best fits their schedules (and to avoid wearing anyone out). 

eCard Sales

Holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day are prime opportunities to raise funds by setting up eCard sales.

Charity eCards are online cards that are emailed to recipients. They can have custom messages, visuals, animations, and sounds. To start an eCard fundraiser for your team, design various options for supporters to purchase or allow buyers to create their own cards by choosing elements to put together. 

Partner with an eCard service and prepare your website to let supporters easily buy and create their eCards. 

Sports Photos

If your team has someone skilled in photography or connections to a professional photographer who would be willing to donate their time, you can run a sports photo fundraiser.

For many teams—especially children’s teams—parents will appreciate the opportunity to purchase high-quality photographs of their child posing in their uniform or in action during a game. These items make popular gifts for family members and memorable keepsakes supporters and team members will want to keep for years. 

• Parents love the chance to keep their kids busy and active.
• Your summer camp can be as simple or as elaborate as you want.
• Your own facilities or a public park are cost-effective settings.
• Custom camp shirts are an additional source of support.
• Your team members are ready-made volunteer coaches and counselors.

Check with local schools, parks, and recreation programs for more information on forming a partnership to develop and host your camp. Research any requirements you’ll need to meet, such as waivers, camp counselor qualifications, and location guidelines.

Fitness Classes

To get started, brainstorm a few different classes your team members can lead that are related to your sport. You might sort these by difficulty, age group, or skill. For example, a baseball team might hold classes dedicated to pitching, batting, fielding, and base running.

Your audience may just want a classic workout class like you’d find at the gym. Popular activities and subjects for these fitness classes include:

• Yoga, pilates, or barre
• Cycling 
• Weightlifting
• Running
• Dance
• Wellness and exercise

Partner with your local gym, park, or community center to reserve a space to hold your fitness classes. Then, decide if your class will be one-time or part of a multi-week course—you can even challenge people to attend a certain number of classes to boost participation. 

Promote your classes to your support network and post flyers wherever interested people might see them. Charge a registration fee, then share your fitness knowledge with the community!

Community Potluck

Community potlucks and picnics are another classic fundraising idea for all types of sports teams. They require everyone to pitch in to create a tasty meal. Find the perfect place for your gathering, like a local park or your school’s campus, then start organizing. Create a sign-up sheet for your team members and other registered attendees to list what they’ll bring and promote it to your network. 

To fundraise, either ask for a flat ticket fee or incorporate competition or cook-off elements into the event for attendees to register for. Even gathering just the family and friends of your team members for the picnic can provide a support boost for your team through ticket sales and community building. Get creative to develop contests, themes, or games for your potluck picnic, too!

Field Day

Host a field day event to bring your community together, encourage exercise, and raise money—all at the same time. Approach your fundraising field day as a combination of a summer camp and a fitness class. Partner with a local park to reserve the space, then rent recreational equipment. Brainstorm activities, classes, games, and events that you can incorporate into your field day.

The best part of a neighborhood or campus field day is that it’s incredibly easy to incorporate other team fundraising ideas. Your field day could be the wrap-up event for your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, or you can sell limited edition field day shirts online leading up to the big day. Get creative to make the most of the day!

Walk-a-Thons

Walk-a-thons raise funds through pledges. Before your event, have your participating team members collect pledges from family and friends. These pledged gifts will be based on the units of distance that your participants walk. For example, one pledge might be for $2 per lap. If that team member walks ten laps, they can collect $20 from that donor after your event. 

To host a walk-a-thon, ensure you have a method for helping participants track how much they’ve walked. Provide water, snacks, and rest stops if participants need to take a break during the event. 

Increase event fundraising by selling concessions and merchandise to supportive spectators.

Product Sales

Did you know that schools, teams, and nonprofits can sell products? Round up your team’s natural salesmen and consider hosting a product fundraiser to sell candy bars, cookie dough, and other items. 

Product fundraisers have been a fundraising staple for many teams for decades, but you can always add a few twists to the idea. For example, outside of the usual products, your nonprofit can sell:

• Healthy snacks
• Branded t-shirts
• Buttons
• And other merchandise, especially items related to sports!

To ensure your product sale succeeds, partner with a program that will give your team a good deal on products. This will ensure the majority of funds raised will go to your team rather than just covering the cost of your order. Additionally, consider what types of items supporters are the most likely to buy and how you can help your team members get out there and sell their products safely. 

Alumni Events

Your sports team likely has a wider audience than you might assume. Chances are that many of your alumni would be happy to see the sports team they used to play on continue to thrive. You can tap into this network by hosting alumni events to create a community around your team and raise funds at the same time. 

These events can range from formal in-person gatherings to virtual events. Here are a few experiences that could be a hit with your team’s alumni:

• Home game after party
• Pizza lunch
• Trivia night 
• Alumni game

To raise funds from your alumni events, sell tickets and provide opportunities for alumni to buy items, especially branded merchandise. For some events, such as a game between your alumni and the current team, you can even sell tickets to the rest of your community. 

Remember, the key to team fundraising is community engagement. Include elements that will engage more people than just your teammates and their families. This broadens your pool of supporters and attracts more fans to cheer you on at your games. Get started on Bonfire to create and sell custom merchandise your loyal fanbase will love to wear.

For more fundraising tips and ideas, explore our additional resources: