There’s no real need to list down all the reasons why baseball fundraising is necessary. Then fact remains that amateur baseball teams need money, and schools and parents don’t have the budget for the various expenses.
You’ll need to come up with ideas to raise funds in your neighborhood so that the community can help support the team as well.
But what kind of baseball fundraising ideas are actually good ideas?
Which ideas will bring enough money for baseball uniforms, bats, helmets and travel expenses?
There are different types of definitions for what a “good fundraising” idea really is.
Of course, it has to make money.
It shouldn’t take too much of an effort to set up. It also shouldn’t require a large initial investment, since you may end up losing money in the end.
So what we did is to compile a long list of fundraising ideas for baseball team managers and parents to set up. Some are simple, while others are quite creative.
It may involve offering services or selling stuff. We’ve included fun new tactics and proven fundraiser classics as well.
Take a look and check out which ideas appeal to the players, to the managers and parents, and to the community as well.
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#1. Set Up a Donation Table
This is perhaps among the easiest ways you can raise funds.
It cuts to the quick: if your team needs money, why not start by asking for it directly from people?
First, you need a place such as a local supermarket where you’ve got lots of customers passing by.
Then talk to management and see if you can get permission for the team to set up a donation table in front of the place.
Usually, this permission is forthcoming as long as some rules of behavior are observed.
The management may require that there’s no harassment of the customers, and that there’s no loud obnoxious music blaring from portable stereos.
Here’s How To Set Up This Particular Fundraiser Ideas
Setting up this donation table is actually easy. You can get a card table and a few chairs, and it can be festooned by posters of the team.
If the team has won Of course, you need donation cans, with other posters suggesting that people throw in loose change.
Then you have some of the team players holding up posters while they’re wearing their team jerseys.
This is one of the most effective youth baseball fundraising ideas around, even though it seems too simple.
You’ll be amazed at how endearing these young kids can be for adult shoppers when they’re wearing their jerseys.
It doesn’t need a lot of investment, and there’s not too much effort required.
Over a weekend, the team may be able to raise hundreds of dollars with just this technique.
#2. Hold a Massive Yard Sale
How many players are there on the team? Then add the managers, friends, and other supporters.
All these people can probably ransack their garages, attics, and closets for some stuff to sell.
They can donate all the good stuff to the team, and the proceeds go to the team as well.
This doesn’t have to cost too much at all. You do need a good location, and then you have to hold the yard sale on a Saturday.
Then you can post some signs all over town, and talk up the event on social media.
The team players can help collect items from homes, and then organize and arrange the sale items. Call it a team-building exercise.
The grownups can handle the pricing and the haggling with the buyers.
After a purchase, the team players can then haul the items to the cars of the customers.
This is a plan that can get the whole town involved. Lots of people have stuff that they can get rid of, even though they’re still viable.
Lots of people also like to look at all this stuff, especially when they can get a bargain.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
#3. Restaurant Date
Many of the most successful fundraising ideas for baseball teams are the ones where no one really gives up anything and yet somehow everyone gains something.
Here you setup a fundraiser in cooperation with a local restaurant. The restaurant donates a percentage of the total sales for the night to the team.
In return, the restaurant gains a lot of goodwill by being known as a loyal supporter of local baseball teams. The team can also handle the promotion for the big night, and that means going on social media.
These efforts can substantially increase the number of patrons for the restaurant for that night, which means they don’t end up losing too much money on the deal. They compensate by getting a larger volume of customers.
When To Do This
This is such a winning strategy for the team and for the restaurants that plenty of chain restaurants are offering this opportunity for various teams.
You can do this on a weeknight, so that traditionally slow nights can result in a lot more customers. Customers love this because they can support the team even though they’re not really giving up money for nothing.
You may want to keep the restaurant staff from being overwhelmed, by doing this on consecutive nights for a particular restaurant.
It may even be possible for the team players to act as food servers and busboys, and they may even keep the tips for the team funds.
This can be a regular occurrence, and you can hold it every month but for different restaurants. This can keep the customers coming, so that you can offer different types of food for the patrons.
You may want to keep it to once or twice every month. That’s to keep the interest going because it’s not too common an occurrence.
Just hold it on a night when there’s no big test for the next day, since the kids still have to study.
#4. Sell Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
There’s probably some person out there who doesn’t like doughnuts. But seriously, who doesn’t like doughnuts?
Especially when they’re Krispy Kreme doughnuts? These fabled glazed doughnuts are so beloved by loyalists that sometimes lines of buyers can be rather long
Krispy Kreme has a website for fundraising, but they’ve been involved with fundraising since 1955.
The site even has a nifty guide on how many each person has to sell to achieve the fundraising goal.
You want to raise $1,000 with just 20 sellers? Then each one has to sell 13 dozens of donuts.
That’s easy to do these days—just sell them to your coworkers and neighbors, and you’re done. The team can also sell them at your local police station (it’s a cliché for a reason).
This one fundraiser can bring you enough money for a ton of equipment to make your team get better such as a pitching machine.
#5. Sell Other Stuff
Of course, selling other items is a time-honored tradition for sports teams. The trick is choosing what items to sell.
It can’t be just candy these days. It has to be something new and fun. Here are a few items you may want to consider selling, instead of just candy:
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Scented candles. Sell them to couples and to parents, and they also make for wonderful home décor items.
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Customized phone cases. Everyone has a smartphone these days, so you have a ready-made consumer base to cater to.
There’s also a need for it, since many people (especially teens) want their smartphones to look unique.
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Temporary tattoos. You can sell them at games or in school, and lots of teens will like them too. They help make kids stand out and look “cool”, which is a big deal at this age.
Besides, they’re not permanent so parents won’t have to freak out.
They’re also very affordable (you can sell them for a dollar each) so you can sell lots of them. Some people even like to collect them.
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Discount cards. This is one fundraiser idea that lots of adults look forward to.
After all, they can help support a local baseball team, and then they also get a chance for discounts from local retailers and restaurants.
It’s easy enough for buyers to compute how much they can actually save in the long run when they use the cards.
The restaurants and retailers in turn get lot of publicity, both for supporting the local teams and for offering discounts to the local residents.
The profit margin is also huge, as you can sell then for about $15 or more and at least half of that money goes to the team.
#6. Concession Stands
At practices and games, you can sell all the fundraiser items at your concession stands, and you only need a table.
You can set this up at practices and games, and sell candy, gum, lollypops, sodas, and bottled water too.
Parents and other volunteers can take turns manning the stands.
Summary of This Top 6 List of Baseball Fundraising Ideas
Just make sure that you have a good idea of how much you’ll be earning at the end of the fundraiser.
Nothing’s more demoralizing that not earning much, or worse even losing money on the deal.
Make sure everything’s legal and safe, and you’re good to go.
Don’t limit yourself to just one of these baseball fundraising ideas.
You can do them all—when it comes to baseball fundraising, it really never ends until the season’s over!
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