In 2013, an ESPN reporter and father documented the expenses of youth hockey as his daughter excelled at the sport through the years. From hockey sticks and ice skates to club and travel fees, the reporter estimated spending a whopping $50,000 a year on the sport.
This cost is all too familiar to parents of hockey players. The good news is, there are a number of creative hockey fundraising ideas for youth teams to help mitigate the cost of hockey.
While there are a number of offline ways to fundraise for your hockey team and connect to your community, social fundraising is removing traditional barriers to make fundraising simple, fast and effective. Here are top tips when starting a GoFundMe for your hockey team:
The campaign stories that evoke hope and a vision for a stronger team, instead of simply stating facts, stand out as campaigns that cause supporters to engage and stay invested.
Be detailed about how the money will be used and keep your donors updated with pictures and videos. Add a sense of urgency by including set dates for when the team needs to raise a certain dollar amount.
A little help from your friends can make fundraising for a cause you’re all passionate about easier, more fun, and more effective. Plus, using a GoFundMe Team campaign can add friendly competition to your fundraising efforts.
What is a better way to fundraise for hockey than with hockey? Tap into the spirit of the players, parents, and community by hosting a tournament fundraiser. In addition to charging a fee to play, you can also introduce sponsorship packages for local businesses.
Connect the community with youth hockey by reaching out to local restaurants and businesses with various sponsorship levels. In exchange, you can offer to print logos of the business on the uniforms (a little publicity can go a long way!) and host team outings at the local restaurants that sponsored you.
Get active by throwing a walk-a-thon, where the players can collect sponsors and dollars for every mile walked or ran. This is a positive way to leverage the player’s love of competition. Pro tip! Make it an annual walk-a-thon, so people have plenty of time to train, create teams, fundraise, and build awareness for the walk.
For more hockey fundraising ideas, raise money while doing something good for the environment. Did you know that in 2019, GoFundMe saw a 65% increase in campaigns mentioning ‘climate change’? Inspire the hockey community to get involved in social issues and support the sport by running a bottle drive. Keep note, that the deposit value of each bottle changes seasonally, fall is generally a great time to raise a lot of money.
Ask coaches and older players to donate their time and skills to host a youth hockey camp for kids just starting off in the sport. You can charge fees for the families of the kids and leverage your off-season to help develop a new generation of hockey players while raising money for your team.
Bake sales have long been one of the most popular ways to raise money because of how little capital they take to pull it off. Ask families to donate their time and baking skills to bake the goods. Host your bake sale at a location that is likely to see lots of traffic. Set up shop near schools or tie the bake sale to a town event that is sure to see lots of traffic.
Send a team of volunteers to approach local businesses to collect some big-ticket items for a live auction. Once you have found a great space, send out your invites and equip attendees with paddles and a list of items up for grabs. The trick is to find a fun and lively auctioneer to set the tone and incite bidding wars!
SidelineSwap notes that the average sports family has $500 worth of ‘old’ gear sitting at home. Multiply that times a roster of 20, and that is a lot of potential money that can go towards new gear, fees, and travel. Consider also hosting a gear swap for families on the team who are looking for consignment gear.
From a live auction to a social fundraising campaign, there are endless fundraising ideas for hockey teams. So set yourself up for success and crush your fundraising goals by combining an offline and online approach.
For more inspiration, check out our fundraising ideas page. And if you haven’t already started a fundraiser, create one now—you can begin withdrawing funds as soon as you start receiving donations.