Why fundraise for your basketball team?

Fundraising is an essential part of running a successful and fun basketball team. The expenses involved in running a successful team can pile up quickly. Even with many volunteers working hard to make sure the team’s season is fun and successful, managing a basketball team is inevitably going to need finances.

The good news is that you don’t need to shoulder the cost. Basketball teams are a social and community project, with many people willing to contribute.

Following these fun and easy fundraising ideas will help make it easy and fun for people to contribute to your basketball team and will help them feel good about doing so.

What to know before you get started

Fundraising doesn’t have to be a difficult task—in fact, it can be fun for everyone involved. However, if you jump into it without a little planning, things can get messy, quickly.

Stay organized. Keep track of every donation your team receives. Make a fundraising goal and keep track of your progress. This will help keep the mission of fundraising in focus and help you know how close you are to achieving your goal.

When talking to people about your basketball fundraiser, always be clear about a “why.” Have a short sales pitch ready to go when talking to community members about organizing events, volunteering, or giving money. Your basketball team is doing good for the community. Be prepared to let people know about it.

All that said, setting goals, letting people know about your fundraising efforts, and keeping track of donors requires a ton of organizational acumen. Using a crowdfunding site like
GoFundMe can be a major tool in your toolbelt, as they have all the infrastructure to help you advertise, collect, and keep track of your donations, donors, and goals.
You can also find great fundraising ideas
on GoFundMe to help guide your journey.

5 Basketball fundraising ideas that work

Use these five top ideas to fundraise for your next basketball fundraiser.These can all be good ideas that can be mixed and matched. Remember to have fun, let people know the “why” behind your fundraiser, and help them feel good about contributing to a successful season for your basketball team.

1. Start a GoFundMe

Crowdfunding has taken off in recent years, and with good reason: it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to help community members contribute to your cause. GoFundMe has helped people raise more than $9 billion dollars for various causes and has a community of more than 50 million users.

Starting a GoFundMe page for your basketball page is a no-brainer. It lets people contribute easily, helps you keep track of donors and donations, and lets you easily spread the word (just share the link!) about your fundraising efforts.

2. Host a competition

One of the benefits of fundraising for a sport is that there are already people who love to watch and participate in it. That’s a valuable opportunity for fundraising. A top idea for fundraising for your basketball team involves creating some kind of competition—ideally with an inexpensive or donated prize, like a trophy or a gift certificate to a local business—that people can pay to participate in.

For basketball fundraising, competitions can include three-point shooting competitions, an amateur 3-on-3 tournament, or hosting a walkathon. Be sure to advertise during practices and games and let people know that everyone from the community is welcome to participate.

3. Provide a service

While fundraising has come a long way in the age of the internet, there’s nothing wrong with going with old-school ideas that still work. Have your team set up a car wash or hold a bake sale. Ask all your team members to bring unwanted items from their homes and hold a team yard sale.

Providing a service as a means of fundraising is a tried-and-true method that still works today. Get creative with it and use it as an opportunity for the team to come together for a common cause.

4. Sell concessions

What’s better than watching a local basketball game? Watching a local basketball game with chips, popcorn, candies, and soda. There’s a reason concessions are a major revenue maker at professional sporting events. People want to eat snacks while watching the game.

If your basketball league doesn’t already have a concessions program, consider setting one up. Let people know that all proceeds go to supporting the team and its season, which will help them feel good about forking over money for snacks. Just be sure to keep track of how much items cost, and make sure you are making enough of a profit on each sale to make the concessions program worthwhile.

5. Ask a local business to sponsor you

Depending on your league’s rules, this can be a win-win for your team and a local business. Many local businesses are happy to sponsor teams and will even sometimes pay for uniforms with branded content on it. This is good for your team and good for the business, too. They are seen as a vital and active part of the local community, and it can help them get name recognition where it’s needed most.

Be ready to approach local businesses with your sales pitch. Help them understand why sponsoring your team would be good for their business, too. This is a great way to get awareness of your team and fundraising efforts out into the local business community.

Get started today

Fundraising for your basketball team doesn’t need to be a hassle. In fact, if done correctly, it can be a fun and energizing experience for you, your team, and the community. Regardless of which ideas you decide to use, GoFundMe can help your team provide a safe, organized, and convenient way to ask community members for support. You can also learn more about GoFundMe and how it works by visiting the GoFundMe blog, where you can find more helpful information.