Start a GoFundMe Sign In

Football Fundraising in the Time of Social Distancing: Ideas to Kick Off Your Efforts

2020 has been a rollercoaster and every facet of our lives has been affected. But even in these times when social distancing is the norm, the love of sports has been a uniting factor for most Americans. As ‘bubbles’ and online streaming portals become more integrated into our lives, sports as we know it is slowly coming back and giving us a sense of normalcy. 

Now that we are in the middle of the football season, it is the perfect time to think about football fundraising. Because most teams do not have access to the sort of funding and resources the National Football League (NFL) and other bigger professional leagues have, we have put together a list of football fundraiser ideas that smaller teams can use to fund their activities.

Start a GoFundMe

Football player about to throw the ball

Football fundraising: how it helps teams

Football fundraising is used to raise money to cover various team expenses such as travel, field upgrades, venue costs, equipment, scholarships, and other essential requirements that make the game more enjoyable and safer. Football fundraisers also have the benefit of increasing the teams’ networks and visibility outside their communities. In addition to this, fundraisers generally increase the community’s ties to the team because of the level of involvement required to sustain a team’s activities successfully and continuously.

Youth football fundraisers also serve as a talent nurturing system because if junior and smaller teams had no means to sustain themselves, the national leagues would not have a talent pool to draw from. For the players, fundraising for football teams increases their level of responsibility to the game and their teammates because, at its very core, fundraising is about doing something for and within a wider community to achieve a particular goal. In addition to this, youth football fundraising enables players to raise their skill levels because they can access better equipment, training facilities and keep up to date with new training techniques and trends.

Fundraising ideas for football teams

There are many fundraising ideas football teams can choose from, but with the pandemic, some of these have had to be creatively re-worked. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of 10 football fundraising ideas we think will be useful in this new normal and even beyond.

  • 1. Grocery delivery

    The players can partner with a local grocery store to make door deliveries of grocery orders to members of the community.

  • 2. Game night

    These can be held online and offline and the team can charge for the event, or charge per the use of a game.

  • 3. Sponsorship

    The players can partner with an equipment or apparel company that is willing to sponsor them. In return, the team can promote the brand on their social media pages, website, or alternatively, have a photoshoot for player cards or calendars where the sponsor’s merchandise is prominently featured.

  • 4. Venue and facilities rentals

    If the team has access to indoor facilities, they can rent these out either to other teams or community events.

  • 5. Selling branded merchandise

    This can include branded hand sanitizer, t-shirts, or team decals.

  • 6. Ticket sales to games

    These can be both online and in-person.

  • 7. Local tournament:

    The players can organize a tournament and charge participating teams for their involvement as well as sell tickets to the event.

  • 8. Crowdfunding

    The team can organize an online donation drive and handle the collection through an online crowdfunding site like GoFundMe.

  • 9. Charity auctions

    These involve getting local businesses to donate auction items at little or and then using the money from auction items to fund the team.

  • 10. Online games

    Challenge members of a rival team to a fundraising online football game. Just make sure to put your best virtual players on the team!

Fundraising ideas for youth football

Start raising money for your football team

All in all, there is no shortage of community goodwill for football fundraising. And because a good partner is an essential part of any fundraiser, make sure to check out GoFundMe’s fundraising options. As one of the best crowdfunding sites, we make it easy to set up your account and start raising money for your team today. 

Start a football fundraiser