7 Easy Fundraising Ideas for Your Baseball Team

Fundraising for your child’s baseball team is a great way to save money while teaching your youngsters valuable life skills.

Shuttling kids from practice, doctors appointments, the movies and to the game while having dinner ready by 7:00 is expensive, hectic and time-consuming. We know parents of athletes coined the phrase, “There aren’t enough hours in the day.” Simple, hassle-free and lucrative fundraising can reduce the burden of team expenses and keep your ballplayer busy with fun, productive activities.

The following is a list of profitable and efficient fundraising ideas that you, your athletes and the customers will love.

Arrest a Fan

This is hilarious. The concept is perfect for high school where football, basketball and baseball games are popular with spectators. After printing out “arrest warrants” with the titles “arrester” and “arrestee,” baseball team members sell these warrants for $5 the days before and during a big game. A volunteer, off-duty policeman in uniform attends the game and arrests all the “arrestees” throughout the game placing them in a highly-visible, makeshift jail for 20 minutes. For flare, put the crime committed like “charging the mound” or “hitting the batter”. The arrestees can then pay $3 to see who had them arrested and an additional $2 to have that person arrested. Call the event the “Grand Slammer.”

Gift Wrapping

This is an awesome way to make an off-season score and is easily done at multiple locations on the same day. Usually, box stores, malls and other high-traffic areas in your town allow fundraisers on their premises. This can be any gift-giving holiday like Christmas or Valentine’s day. Purchase wrapping supplies, preferably from the business you set up in. (This will assure you are invited back.) Make sure the “wrapping technicians” are wearing their baseball uniforms for obvious advertisement. You can charge $1-5 per present or ask for donations. Either way, money rolls in quickly during the time of giving.

Baseball Movie Night

Most schools will allow students to use the auditorium free of charge for school-related projects. Sell tickets for a one-time-only screening of “Field of Dreams”, “The Sandlot” or another family-friendly baseball flick. Simple, inexpensive advertising in your local paper and school paper will generate interest and fill your auditorium to the rafters. And it’s a movie; selling popcorn and sodas are a must.

Be careful about copyright infringement. To book a film for public showing, you must contact an independent film broker who will get you the film, charge a fee for the process and report your box office receipts to the owner of the film. It’s easy and some brokers give wiggle room on fees for nonprofits.

Garage Sales

This is a multi-faceted fundraiser. Firstly, your baseball team members can host neighborhood garage sales combining goods from multiple households and hosting sales at highly visible homes. Reduce clutter for a great cause. It’s a win-win. Furthermore, invite neighbors not affiliated with your team to donate items for the sale. Make sure your newspaper advertisement states that proceeds go to your baseball team. This increases customers and reduces haggling.

The second part of this fundraiser is helping others in your town host their own garage sales. Team members can offer their help setting up and taking down garage sales not affiliated with your baseball team. Ask for a donation, a fee or a percentage of profit.

Combining these two methods is the most lucrative. During popular weekends for garage sales in your town, host sales and help others with their sales. This, in effect, creates a monopoly on the market and produces high revenue.

Windshield Cleaning

This is a spin on the carwash fundraiser. More and more these days, students are getting rides to and from school instead of taking the bus. Set up simple windshield cleaning stations at all your town’s schools in the most convenient spot: right where that after-school car queue forms. Cleaning windshields is quick compared to a carwash. And with your team in uniform and a little peer pressure from the car behind them, the cash comes in fast.

Halloween Donations

UNICEF has this market cornered. Not anymore. Your whole town opens their doors to strangers during Halloween, which lands during or just after the World Series. Let’s take advantage of the timing. Carry two buckets: one for the candy and one for donations to the baseball team. Dress up as your favorite ballplayer or in your own uniform to increase revenue.

Pitching Contest

This one is easy. Borrow a radar gun from the police department, or better yet, borrow a uniformed policeman and set up a backstop with a strike zone. Try this at a sporting event or local festival. It’s easy, cheap and gets the fans’ competitive juices flowing. $3 per toss or $5 for two tosses.

Whether your team is fast pitch, softball or little league, come to the plate with these fundraising ideas. When it comes time to managing your team’s books, let MoneyMinder do the heavy lifting. It was built for small groups like sports teams, clubs and leagues. Give it a try for 30 days!