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Category: Fundraising for Sports

9 Simple Fundraising Ideas for Sports Clubs

Posted on by Jordan Morris

Keeping a sports club running requires dedication, teamwork, and consistent financial support. Whether you need funds for new equipment, travel expenses, or facility improvements, a successful sports club fundraiser can make a significant impact. However, with limited time and resources, finding the right fundraising strategy can be challenging.

At Givergy, we’re here to help reduce the stress of that challenge and in this guide, we outline 10 simple and effective ways your sports club can raise funds while engaging your community and supporters.

  1. Organize a Sponsored Fitness Challenge

Encourage members or supporters to participate in a sponsored fitness challenge such as a marathon, cycle race, or obstacle course. Participants can collect pledges based on their performance, making it a competitive and rewarding way to generate funds. With the rise of social media-driven content, fitness challenges have proven to be highly effective in engaging supporters. You don’t have to do something as extreme as running the length of Africa but physically exerting challenges do tend to engage wider audiences!

To maximize your fundraising success, set a clear challenge goal and promote it as often as possible through club newsletters and your social media networks. Offering small rewards to the best fundraiser or introducing leaderboards can further boost participation and add to the friendly competition – which is always helpful for raising more!

How Givergy Can Help: Givergy’s online fundraising pages allow participants to create personal donation pages, track progress, and share their efforts with potential sponsors, all in one platform!

  1. Host an Online Auction

Silent auctions are a fantastic way to raise funds while engaging supporters. Unlike live auctions, silent auctions allow participants to place bids at their own pace, often via digital platforms. For an online auction to be most effective it’s vital your items appeal to your audience. Items such as signed memorabilia, exclusive experiences, and high-value merchandise tend to attract more interest and higher bids – but only if they’re relevant to your crowd.

How Givergy Can Help: Givergy’s online auction platform makes it easy to run live or silent auctions, allowing supporters to bid from anywhere at any time.

  1. Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign

If your club requires funds for a specific project, like new training gear or facility upgrades, a crowdfunding campaign can generate widespread support from members, families, and the local community. Transparency and storytelling play a key role in crowdfunding success, you must explain why the funds are needed and how they will be used. Sharing consistent progress update will help keep your supporters in the loop.

Encourage supporters to share the campaign widely. Offering incentives, such as club-branded merchandise or experience-based rewards, can further motivate donations. A dedicated campaign page with real-time progress tracking helps keep momentum going.

  1. Run a Raffle Event

Raffles remain one of the most effective and engaging fundraising methods for sports clubs. By securing high-value prizes from local businesses or sponsors, you can encourage more ticket sales. Digital raffles provide a seamless way to manage ticket distribution and sales while reaching a broader audience beyond in-person events. To increase participation, consider bundling tickets at discounted rates or offering multiple chances to win.

How Givergy Can Help: Our digital raffle feature allows clubs to manage online ticket sales efficiently while ensuring compliance with raffle regulations. With automated tracking and secure payment processing, clubs can maximize participation and revenue.

  1. Organize a Virtual Quiz Night

A sports-themed quiz night is a fantastic way to engage fans and players while raising funds through entry fees. Adding friendly competition and prizes makes it even more exciting.

To make it a hit, create a mix of general knowledge and sports-related questions. Consider partnering with a local sports personality to host the event for added credibility and appeal. A well-organized ticketing system helps manage registrations and payments efficiently.

  1. Sell Club Merchandise Online

Selling branded gear like t-shirts, water bottles, or hoodies strengthens club identity while generating revenue. Items with strong branding and practical use tend to sell well.

To optimize sales, use an online storefront with easy order processing and multiple payment options. Promoting merchandise through social media and at club events increases visibility.

  1. Host a Community Fun Day

A community fun day is an excellent opportunity to bring people together while raising funds for your sports club. By incorporating activities such as friendly tournaments, skill challenges, food stalls, and live entertainment, you can create a festive atmosphere that attracts families and local businesses. Selling tickets in advance and offering sponsorship opportunities can further enhance your fundraising potential.

How Givergy Can Help: Our ticketing and payment processing solutions allow clubs to manage entry fees, register participants, and track attendance with ease. By integrating online ticket sales, clubs can streamline operations and boost pre-event revenue. Find out more about our event solutions here.

  1. Offer Coaching Clinics or Training Sessions

Hosting training sessions or clinics with professional coaches can attract participants while raising funds for your club. Charging a participation fee provides a valuable skill-building opportunity for attendees while supporting club finances.

For better engagement, target different skill levels and age groups. Offering small-group or one-on-one coaching sessions at a premium can help maximize revenue.

  1. Partner with Local Businesses for Sponsorships

Local businesses are often willing to sponsor sports clubs in exchange for advertising opportunities. Sponsorship packages can include branding on uniforms, event banners, or social media promotion, providing mutual benefits for both parties.

Approach potential sponsors with a clear proposal outlining the exposure they will receive. Offering tiered sponsorship levels can make the opportunity accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Why Choose Givergy for Your Sports Club Fundraiser?

Givergy provides award-winning fundraising technology designed to make fundraising easier and more impactful for sports clubs. Whether you’re hosting an event, selling merchandise, or running an online campaign, we offer tools that help you:

✔ Boost participation – With user-friendly online platforms for bidding, donations, and ticketing.

✔ Reach a wider audience – Expand fundraising beyond local supporters with digital solutions.

✔ Simplify management – Automate ticketing, payments, and donor tracking.

✔ Maximize revenue – Proven fundraising solutions that increase donations and engagement.

With over $1 billion raised globally, Givergy is a trusted partner for sports clubs seeking vital funding. Ready to take your fundraising to the next level? Contact us today and start planning your next successful sports club fundraiser!

 

How to fundraise effectively in the gaming space

Posted on by Shane Bailey

The video game industry has come a long way since the days of arcade machines. In 2022, the global video game industry was estimated to have generated more than US$300 billion in revenue, engaging more than two billion people on a daily basis across consoles, PC and mobile. It’s a form of entertainment that eclipses non-interactive mediums like film, TV and music, yet ‘gamers’ aren’t necessarily top-of-mind for consumer brands and non-profits.

Identifying and reaching the gaming audience can be a challenge. With few options to reach the gaming audience through the games themselves (outside of mobile in-game advertising), how does one engage gamers, particularly for non-profits with limited resources? Here are some tips and guiding principles to help your charitable organisation find success in the gaming space.

6 Tips to Fundraise effectively in the gaming space

  1. Build credibility:

People often use gaming to escape; to leave reality behind and visit a fantastical realm, connect with friends across the world, or test their mettle in a challenging experience or online competition. Through interactivity, gaming is an emotion-filled form of entertainment, so when a brand interrupts that experience, it’s not always welcome. It’s why building credibility in the eyes of gamers is so important. To that end, think about the brands endemic to the gaming space you can partner with to help introduce your charity to the gaming audience, such as well-known publishers like Xbox, EA Games and Ubisoft or consumer brands like Elgato, HyperX and Logitech. Similarly, are there content creators or personalities in the space who can act as ambassadors for your cause? Before jumping straight to the biggest names in gaming and streaming, like Ninja, Loserfruit and Dr. Lupo, try starting small first and expanding from there. Grassroots creators are much more likely to work with you as they grow their own online, personal brand. Laying a strong foundation of credibility first will make it much easier to build upon your success in the space.

  1. Find the right experts:

It can be difficult navigating a world completely unknown to you and the team, so look for ways to engage experts in the space. This doesn’t necessarily mean hiring someone from the gaming industry. There are many people in the space that can deliver the expertise you need. If community fundraising via live-streaming is your first focus, start with influencer and talent agencies that represent these content creators, and be sure to ask questions when you start. It’s likely that these agencies field proposals from a variety of brands every week and the last thing you want is for the creators they represent to view you in the same way they view another brand looking to advertise via their streams and social channels. Ask how the agency’s creators like to work with charities. What would an engaging charity or fundraising campaign look like to them? Is there a way their creators can team up to create something larger, like a streaming marathon where multiple creators work together? With a bit of imagination and collaboration, creating something a bit different can be exciting for the creators you work with.

  1. Add value:

Always remember that your partnership with these creators and brands is exactly that: a partnership. How is your charity adding value to this relationship? Can you demonstrate the impact the audience’s involvement will have on your mission? Particularly for grassroots content creators, spotlighting them on your website and social channels can be really meaningful. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone as well. Jump on livestreams with creators who fundraise for you and thank them and their community for their support. You don’t necessarily have to play the game they’re playing, but just appear as a guest for 10-20 minutes and show how much they are appreciated. The same can be said for any brands you partner with. Treat them in the same way you would any traditional corporate partner and build that value together.

  1. Be where they are:

A part of finding the expertise to navigate the gaming space is understanding where and how to communicate with gamers and content creators. You’ll likely have a difficult time gaining support by focusing on social ads, cold emails and phone calls. Instead, look to where the gaming audience is highly engaged. X/Twitter and TikTok are both platforms content creators use to speak directly to their own communities, so try casually sliding into their DM’s there. Try not to be too heavy-handed in your initial approach either; they don’t need the full pitch upfront. Ask if they’ve fundraised for a charity before and if they’d be open to working together. If you have the capacity and resource, taking the time to get to know streamers when and where they stream can be hugely beneficial. Tune into their streams and pop in their live chat to say hello. This can make it much easier to then send a message to them after the stream to introduce yourself more formally.

  1. Leverage a connected community:

One thing that is definitely true about content creators in the streaming space and people who work for big gaming brands is that everyone is connected. When you chat with a brand manager at Nintendo, it’s likely they know the local team at PlayStation or an agency who works for Twitch. Similarly, the content creators you chat with likely have creator friends, are involved in a community of streamers who play together, or know creators who have had success supporting charitiesin the past. Even if someone is unable to support you directly, they will likely know someone else who can, so always ask for those introductions or to be pointed in the right direction.

  1. Don’t forget the basics:

It’s important to remember that gaming brands and content creators you partner with are not dissimilar to other corporate partners or P2P fundraisers. Everyone who supports your organisation wants to do a good job, so be sure to make it as easy as possible for them to find success. Equip them with all the usual fundraising tools who would your traditional partners and fundraisers. For content creators, it’s worth taking the time to create assets suitable for their streams as well. Being a good partner and empowering your supporters to do the best job they can will maximise the chance that they’ll come back and support you again.

 

 

 

Fundraising Ideas for American Football Teams

Posted on by Dan Rohn

If there’s one sport for spectators to rally around and support it is football. The nation’s favorite sport and a significant part of our sporting culture. From the NFL Super Bowl through to High School Varsity. Supporters come flooding to cheer on their local team, but that doesn’t mean teams go without typical financial struggles. If your football team is in need of new pads, helmets or some cleats, take a look at some of our fundraising ideas for American football.

Taster days and training events

This idea works particularly well for High School teams looking to get some extra funding. All you need is a coach and a couple of star players from the current team. Host a tester or training day for other high schoolers or even those in middle school. Show them what they need to do in order to make it onto the team or what sort of talent they need to out-perform. Those who are hungry to succeed in the sport will happily pay for such a day.

A key feature for why you should raise funds this way is because there is a huge amount of profit to be made. Setting up the day is the same as setting up a training session. All the equipment is already purchased and your coach is the only other essential attendee. Charge each of those in attendance $30 and imagine the number of funds you could raise. There’s even the chance to break the day down into a morning and afternoon session so you can double the profits.

The 312 challenge

Did you know that the average game of football lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes? So why not have your team raise some funds by doing something else for that duration? In fact, why not invite spectators and team family members to join in. Each individual could decide what it is they want to do. It might be rowing or running for 3 hours and 12 minutes, or they could do 312 push-ups. Anything that involves the 312 number.

This type of challenge is an ideal way to raise funds because it removes the responsibility and hardship of fundraising from the committee. Instead, each individual signs up to their challenge and is in charge of raising funds and gaining support. They can do this through friends and family but they can also use their social media to raise money. If only 10 people sign up to take part in a 312 challenge and only get $50 in support – you’re still looking at a $500 profit. Not exactly chump change!

A quiz night

If there’s one thing a true football fan loves, it’s testing their knowledge. Whether it’s spouting the incredible achievements of their beloved English Patriots or their detailed knowledge about Tom Brady’s early days – if there’s a chance for a football fan to talk about their team they’ll do it.

This is why themed quiz nights are complete sellouts in the footballing world – especially fundraisers. Announce to your neighborhood that you’re raising funds for the team through a quiz night and you’re guaranteed to sell tickets. A little tip from us – hosting a quiz near the Superbowl is always a selling point. Make the theme about the two teams in the final or about the history of the Super Bowl itself. Your questions will quite literally write themselves and plenty of people will revel in the annual celebration of the sport.

Capturing game day traffic

It doesn’t matter what the idea is for raising funds, but you need to make sure you’re capturing your game day traffic. Each week you’ll have plenty of people show their support for the team – and your opposition. So think of how you can grab a few extra dollars from these people while you have their attendance.

For the home crowd, it might be selling branded merchandise. Phone cases, caps, foam fingers, t-shirts, stickers. It can quite literally be anything, just make sure there’s a profit. For the away fans, think more along the lines of what they might want. It could be drinks, popcorn, hotdogs, even cake. A bake sale is always popular among Americans so why not bring the bake sale to game day and make a few extra bucks in the process.

Keeping it simple – bucket style fundraising

If you’re short on time, creativity and let’s face it – effort – then there are other fundraising ideas you can try. Going into local businesses and asking to pop a bucket at their register so that people can donate their loose change can help raise funds while you focus on the real challenge – winning games. There isn’t much else to it. The more buckets you get out there, the more you can raise without even lifting a finger.

Thankfully, you don’t need many fundraising ideas for American Football in order to make money. It’s one of the most-watched sports in the country and best-supported events across all ages. Take any of these ideas and put them into practice, you’re almost guaranteed to make a profit. 

If you’re interested in further fundraising ideas for sports we have other articles including soccer, ice hockey, basketball and baseball. 

Need help running your American Football fundraising event?

Don’t forget, if you’re hosting any live fundraising event, check our Givergy as we have a bunch of great features to help run your event and maximize your raise including evening ticketing, silent auctions, prize draws and online donations. 

Run an auction

Either before a specific game or at the actual game itself, gather up a number of great prizes supporters could offer up, and run a mobile bidding auction. These could range from memorabilia of the actual team to local restaurant vouchers and vacations. You could display prizes at the game or simply run the whole thing online, with easy check out options to pay. You could even show a countdown timer at the game on the big screens, adding some excitement and energy to the end of the auction!

Set up a donation drive

If you have a specific cause or reason to raise money, setting up an online donation page for supporters is a great way to achieve your fundraising goal. Very shareable, so easy to create a network effect of online support, you can give details of what the money will be used for, different options to donate, and the option for donors to leave messages. Payments can be collected online too, so it is easy to get the money in the bank!

Fundraising Ideas for Baseball Teams

Posted on by Dan Rohn

Is your baseball team in need of a severe cash injection? No matter what age the athletes are at, funding a sport can be incredibly difficult. On an individual level there are uniforms and subscriptions to pay for then when it comes to the team there are competitions to enter (and the travel expenses for them). It’s not an easy task and it’s not simple, however, there are plenty of ways to raise funds. Check out a few of our favorites and see how much you can raise

Hold player sponsorships

Getting a local business to sponsor the team is relatively easy, but why not ask them to sponsor a player instead? You may not know this, but many businesses have a charity pot that they put funds into each year, waiting to be put towards a good cause. Ask around and see how many businesses you can find to sponsor players.

You can create sponsorship packages that fund a player’s kit, travel, and competition entry and in return, businesses receive advertising. It might be on social media platforms, the team’s website, or it could be on the lineup sheet – you could even include a platinum sponsorship package for all of these things. There’s even the potential to have the player’s sponsor on the sleeve of their kit. Opportunities are huge with local businesses, think beyond team sponsorship and look into player sponsors.

Host a hit-a-thon

Baseball is a family sport, which means there are plenty of ways to raise funds with family events. Is there anything more enjoyable than a day out at the ballpark? A hit-a-thon for professional players involves a lot of funds being donated per hit per player, but we like to bring this idea down to the little leagues so that everyone can get involved.

A family day out. How many hits can you make in the day? Pay for 3 balls and see who can hit the most home runs or run the furthest. All you need to do is add up all the participant’s efforts and provide a prize for whoever scores the highest. How many tickets you sell before the event tells you how much money you can put towards the prize. Alternatively, if you know you have an active fanbase and tickets will sell like hot cakes, put the money up front regardless of entries. You just have to be sure you’ll make your money back.

Host a charity game

Spectators love the sport, that or they’re just dedicated parents. Either way, if there’s a chance to get involved by way of a charity game where funds are raised for the team, you can be sure everyone is getting involved. Have adults vs the kids, mix the teams, pull names from a hat, there are many ways to do it, but make it a fun event. 

Playing a game of baseball is just one part of the day. You can also include a family bbq, team highlights of the season film or a pre-season bonding day. Don’t limit your charity game to a short afternoon, maximize your potential and create a big day where everyone has plenty of opportunity to spend their money.

Sell team merchandise

If there’s one thing we do well in the USA it’s wearing our team’s colors with pride. So why not start selling your team’s shirts, caps, accessories and other items. You can brand pretty much any item through online companies these days, all your need is a digital logo. You can purchase them in anticipation of mass takeup or create a small online shop where people can place their orders in advance. A branded phone case might cost you $5 to make but people would be willing to pay $15 for it. Giving you immediate profit.

Host an end of season awards

One of the most successful ways to raise funds is to host an awards evening at the end of the season. You can get players to purchase tickets and businesses to sponsor the awards, meaning most of the funds required to host the event itself are already available. Then, you can add on a multitude of additional fundraising ideas to help boost profits. Think of activities like raffles and auctions for the night. You can put up prizes from the previous season such as the winning ball in a crucial game. Minimal expenditure, maximum gain.

Traditional fundraising ideas for baseball

While all of these are unique to baseball there are plenty of other, more traditional ideas, out there that you can use to raise funds. Think about every fundraising event you’ve ever been to, what was it? Did you take part in a bake sale at a local school? Enjoy a carnival day. Attend a dance or a ball. You may have even put cash in a pot at a store to help out a local team – simple fundraising. 

There is the chance to get creative with your fundraising ideas, but let’s not forget the simple ones that have created fundraising success for decades.

If you’re interested in further fundraising ideas for sports we have other articles including soccer, football, basketball and ice hockey. 

Need help running your Baseball fundraising event?

Don’t forget, if you’re hosting any live fundraising event, check our Givergy as we have a bunch of great features to help run your event and maximize your raise including evening ticketing, silent auctions, prize draws and online donations. 

Run an auction

Either before a specific game or at the actual game itself, gather up a number of great prizes supporters could offer up, and run a mobile bidding auction. These could range from memorabilia of the actual team to local restaurant vouchers and vacations. You could display prizes at the game or simply run the whole thing online, with easy check out options to pay. You could even show a countdown timer at the game on the big screens, adding some excitement and energy to the end of the auction!

Set up a donation drive

If you have a specific cause or reason to raise money, setting up an online donation page for supporters is a great way to achieve your fundraising goal. Very shareable, so easy to create a network effect of online support, you can give details of what the money will be used for, different options to donate, and the option for donors to leave messages. Payments can be collected online too, so it is easy to get the money in the bank!

Marathon Fundraising Tips For Individuals

Posted on by Ben Crook

Most people think that training is the most difficult hurdle individuals face in the lead up to the marathon, but actually meeting a fundraising sponsorship goal is the biggest challenge. Once you have your financial goal, you should consider these 4 tips to maximise donations.

Continue reading “Marathon Fundraising Tips For Individuals”