Fund Raising

  The most difficult part of running a softball team is raising money. Uniforms, equipment, fees and of course travel are very expensive. It is nothing for most teams to have to raise $30,000 to $50,000 for the season. What are the best ways to raise money? How much will we need? How much should the parents and kids get involved? These are just a few of the questions that we as softball must coaches must ask our selves each year.

Like any thing else the more organized you are the better.

First you must answer a few more questions. How many tournaments will you play locally and what are the costs. What new equipment do you need. What are the uniform needs for the year. If you are going to travel to a tournament where are you going and how much will it cost.

Once you have these basic answers, come up with a total for your yearly budget. Now you must decide how much you are going to charge each girl to play, are you going to fund raise to help the parents with the cost, or are you going to charge them a smaller amount and then fund raise the rest.

My theory is to have the yearly fee for the girls cover the basic cost of this year's local tournaments, equipment, and uniforms. Then do fund-raising for any additional cost such as a travel tournament, National etc.

Here are a few hints to help you save a few dollars. We all know how nice it is to have several uniforms for the girls to wear, but they don't all have to be new. Save a set from last year and after three years or so retire a se each year and buy one set new. Get the most out of your travel dollar, let an expert in youth sports travel take care of all you travel needs. They can take away the hassles and save you some big bucks. My choice is always softballtravel.com A.K.A Ridgecrest Travel out of California. Lola is an expert on girl's softball travel and helps thousands every year get where they are going. Make plans well in advance that is how you can get the best prices. Lola is great at finding hotels that offer a free breakfast, this can help cut costs.

Parent involvement is very important. I have found it is helpful to seek their thoughts on where you will do travel tournaments. If it is some where that they are excited about then they will be more willing to help spend the time to raise funds. After all would you rather spend a week in some place you have never heard of or Las Vegas, Colorado or Hawaii. Or course I have to admit I am biased, but that doesn't change the facts that some place are more attractive than others are. A trip to an exotic location is also a great way to recruit good players. Which team would you rather play for, a team going to Kansas of Kauai.

Now that you have a budget and know how much you have to raise. All you need to do is decide on how you will raise the funds. I have attached a few, please fill free to send in any ideas your team has found to work well and I will put them in next months news letter.

Casino Buses

Many states now have casino gambling. As a rule these casinos will reserve a large bus for you to fill with adults that want to come to their casino.

There is usually no charge for the bus as long as you can fill it, (about40 people).

You can charge about $20 per person. The casino will give them $20 dollars worth of freebies when they get there, so the cost for them is really nothing.

Your team will make the profit of $800 per bus. One team raised over $35,000 last year. Call the casino and tell them you are a non-profit organization. Shop around, some of the casinos offer better deals than others.

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Working Concession Stand

If you have pro or college teams in your area most are looking for help at the concession stand. They will pay you an hourly wage for every Volunteer that you bring. The average work night is 5 hour by the time you set up and clean up. The average pay is about $6 per hour. We were usually able to get about 30 volunteers a night and raised an average of about $900 per night.

Bingo

We are all probably familiar with Bingo- if not call your local bingo hall and they will help you. First Aid Kits we were able to buy small travel first aid kits the kind that are perfect for the house, car, boat or motor home. We paid about $3.50 a piece and charged $8.50 .

All our girls sold well over 100 units, with one girl selling 450 this alone could raise enough money to send each girl to Hawaii.

Grocery Coupons

Everyone has to buy groceries, we were able to get a coupon that sold in $25 increments from the local store. They are like a gift certificate. The grocery store pays you 5% on all you sell, Think how much money that is if just your teams families use them to shop all year.

Expand the idea to grandparents and other family, neighbor's etc.

Community Discount Card

The cards are already made for you for your city. You sell them at $10.00 and make $5.00 on each card. On the back they have listed several offers from local businesses giving the holder of the card discounts 2 for 1s etc. If you buy 500 or more cards, they will even make them in your team colors and name. But you can buy as little as 50. They cost you about $5 and you can sell them for $10 or $15. They allow you to return what you don't sell. For more information call: Call (800) 974-6275

Christmas Tree Lot

You will find in your community Christmas tree wholesalers. Buy 100-150 trees at a time (they will usually deliver more as you need them) The rule of thumb is to mark them up 100%. Procure a lot on a fairly good traffic site (I was always able to talk someone into donating the lot at no cost for youth sport Ask you team insurance to add this place to your insurance. Have a travel trailer for an office and place to stay warm during slow periods.

You will need a generator and some large lights, I was able to borrow these from rental companies. A small stereo to play Christmas music is nice. Open your business the weekend after thanksgiving or soon they’re after. You will need more help on nights and weekends than during weekdays. Make a large sign advertising your trees and letting people know that the proceeds go to youth sports.( WE were able to do the same thing with fire works on the fourth of July)

Please send your favorite fundraisers to lola@rctravel.com and we will post them at this web site.
Here is a web site that is only fundraiser www.fundraising-ideas.com

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Last Updated: 10/23/2007

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