Basketball is a popular professional, college, and local school sport. While it’s more affordable than most, basketball team membership can cost more than students and parents expect. Fundraising campaigns and events can help cover these costs. Read on to learn how much your basketball team may need to raise and check out seven successful fundraising tips to help you get started.
Basketball is a popular and accessible sport but the costs can quickly creep up when you’re not just playing for fun. This is why many basketball leagues recommend that groups take part in basketball fundraising activities to cover their expenses.
To get the most from your basketball fundraising, think about how much money you need to raise and how you’ll do it.
Some of the questions to ask can include:
Pro tip: With your fundraising goal in place, you can work out how much each player needs to raise. This can get them motivated to hit individual targets. Breaking the overall total into individual targets can make your fundraising efforts seem more manageable—particularly if you’re looking to raise a big amount.
Not sure what type of fundraiser you can hold? To boost your basketball fundraising efforts, you can try these ideas:
You can sell tickets to fans and allow the winner to come down on the court for a free throw. If they make the basket, they win a prize.
Pro tip: Ask local businesses to donate a prize in exchange for sponsorship.
Hosting a basketball competition is one of the best ways to get your local community invested in your basketball group.
You can give people the chance to play alongside your basketball group or you can create teams from the community.
Charge teams an affordable entry fee to get involved in your competition. You can also include branded merchandise as a memento of the event.
Encourage the teams that have entered to promote the competition to their family and friends. This can help spread the word beyond your channels.
Set up a Facebook event for your basketball competition too. This makes it easy for people to invite their friends and gain organic promotion.
Get the local newspaper and radio station to promote your competition. They may also be interested in interviewing members of your basketball group or participants.
If the competition is a success, it could become an annual basketball fundraiser.
Pro tip #1: Ask local businesses if they’ll sponsor your competition. This can be great advertising for them, particularly if you can get a good turnout from the local community for taking part and spectating. You can also get businesses to donate prizes.
Pro tip #2: Sell foods and drinks during the competition to raise more funds.
Your basketball group can sell branded merchandise that supporters can wear when they watch you play.
Family and friends of your basketball group will often be interested in buying these types of mementos. T-shirts and baseball caps can work well for this. You can even offer personalized mobile phone cases.
You can also take photos of your basketball group in action and use them to create a basketball-themed calendar.
You can use online publishers that will produce and print your calendars. The costs are often cheaper if you’re ordering in bulk.
Pro tip #1: Encourage your basketball group to sell calendars to their family and friends to raise more funds. You can also sell them at games.
Pro tip #2: You can sell branded merchandise at games or during fundraising activities.
Basketball scratch cards are similar to lottery scratchcards but there’s a twist involved.
Donors scratch 2 of the 50 dots and donate the amount that’s revealed. In exchange for their donation, they’ll often get something in return. Coupons for popular retailers are a common example.
Most basketball groups can expect to make a 70% profit—sometimes more!
You can purchase basketball-themed scratch cards so it’s obvious that you’re raising funds for your basketball group.
Pro tip: Give each member of your basketball group at least one card. You can encourage each group member to offer their card to 25 people to maximize donations.
Selling popular snacks and candies is an easy option for raising funds.
Lollipops can be a good choice. They can be sold in the school gym or yard, for example.
Cookies and cakes are also likely to be popular. You can even bake them or decorate them with basketball themes.
Pro tip: See if you can partner with a local confectionery manufacturer or bakery to create basketball-themed candies, cakes, or cookies.
Restaurant nights
Team up with a local restaurant for a basketball night. Usually, they’ll donate a percentage of the profits to your basketball group.
Once you’ve confirmed the date and time of your fundraising night, you can promote it on social media.
Your basketball group can host classes to help people in the local community improve their fitness. You can hold a basketball training session to stay on the theme – this way, your basketball group can also show off their skills!
Pro tip: Charge a small entry fee for people to take part in your basketball-themed fitness classes.
Offering to wash cars in the community can be a great way to raise funds. It can also build stronger relationships between your basketball group and the local community. This can be crucial for raising more funds.
You’ll need some buckets, sponges, soap, and towels. See if you can get these items donated to keep costs down and maximize donations.
Promote your car washing services on social media and put posters up.
You can also extend this idea to any odd jobs in the neighborhood. Your basketball group can be “on hire” for mowing lawns, doing yard work, or walking dogs, for example.
Hopefully, these basketball fundraising ideas will get your team excited to see how much you can raise.
These can range from small fundraising activities to much bigger ones. You can do anything from baking cookies to sell at games to hosting a basketball competition, for example.
A lot will depend on how much your basketball needs to raise. The costs can be higher if your basketball group travels for matches or you need to hire an indoor venue, for example.
For more tips on fundraising, check out the articles on our nonprofit blog.
Sally Aquire is a copywriter with a background in crafting communications and fundraising for a women's center. She writes about fundraising, nonprofit management, and wellness initiatives.
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Sally Aquire