Getting More Out of Fundraising Events

By Shelley Crawford, CSEE – Regional Director at Fuel Sports

Fundraising for minor sports as you know is an important way to generate revenue. If you have had a child in sports or know family members that are involved with any teams or clubs, you likely have seen a few different fundraising events in the past.  With all that has happened with COVID-19 we now have to review these different ideas and realign with the new times. Creativity and making the events fun will be key to attract more people.

Some fundraising activities will produce more revenue than others.  The key is to be organized and to get the word out in different ways through word of mouth, email, text messages, Instagram, facebook, twitter etc. Frequency and being creative and organized are important.   Some of these ideas will seem old but combing ideas will allow you to get more out of the fundraising event. If you are like me, you may have spent too much time fundraising in the past and made little money for the team. If you make it fun, you will be successful on all levels. Combine the fundraising with the parents and the players if possible.

1. Bingo Bowl (Glow in the dark bowling) – Adult only or add the kids as well
   • Entry fee (discount for 2,3 or 4 ppl)
   • Prices for winning team
   • 50/50 draw (apply for municipality licence for total prize value under $50,000) – check requirements https://www.agco.ca/lottery-and-gaming/raffle-licensing-overview
   • 52 Card Poster Board - $20 per card (bigger prizes for top 2 or 3 winners – professional sport tickets or $100 to $200 restaurant gift card
   • Work out a rebate compensation based on amount of Food & Beverage sales
   • Jersey Keno - $20 per jersey number (use home and away) – buy back # for $15 (big prize for the winner)
   • Silent Auction – Every player to donate 1 – 2 prizes each with a minimum $50 value (buy $100 item on sale or find stores to donate items – keep to items of interest based on your groups interest)
2. Bus to local Casino – Adult only - transportation ticket fee $20 / person or $20 for 2 people - (typically fee if you guarantee a certain amount of people) – Run event Saturday afternoon with returning people just after dinner (this attracts groups of men or groups of women for an afternoon of fun)
   • While on the bus run a 50/50 draw
   • Jersey Keno – using the players #’s for both home and away jersey’s
3. Sell Gift Cards over the course of a season – receive a % profit from every gift card sold – Each player’s family can get grocery and gas cards to use for their everyday purchases or buy gift cards for stores they would be purchasing Christmas gifts at or simply buy or sell gift cards to friends to use.  No extra charges are put on the sale of the gift cards.  $25 gift card to buy = $25 gift card to redeem. https://www.fundscrip.com/how-it-works
4. Pizza Kit Fundraiser - https://www.pizzakit.ca/how-it-works
5. Golf Tournament – 9 or 18 holes for a foursome with cart / dinner + awards or Dinner + awards only (add 50/50 draw, Booze Gift Basket Draw, silent auction and/or jersey keno to the event)
6. Halloween Dance / Caribbean/Hawaii Dance Party – Couple ticket for dance / 12 midnight snack (add 50/50 draw/ Toonie Toss/Closest to the bottle (60 oz bottle) plus Jersey Keno)
7. Frozen Meat Orders - https://www.macgregors.com/  https://northcountrymeatandseafood.com/get-started.html
8. Cookie Dough Fundraisers: https://www.fundraising.com/canada  https://www.macmillans.ca/fundraising/
9. Oranges/Grapefruit Orders: http://www.orangeaide.ca/eg/
10. Custom Labels – Oliver’s  Labels  https://www.oliverslabels.com/en-ca/fundraising/login Mabel’s Labels https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/info
11. Live Auctions – need to start at reasonable amounts for Banquets/Galas – Good fi you have hotel/travel packages or professional sport tickets
12. Learn to Curl Events – with a chance for parents to get involved, have fun and help raise some funds – Add 50/50 draw and Jersey Keno to add to the night of fun
13. Bottle Drive – getting the players out in the local community for a Saturday morning – reach out ahead of time through Social Media channels to let people know you are going to be in the area or you can pick up in advance  - “Save your Bottles” “ Clean up the Community” – helps the kids use their own voices to help raise money for their team

There are lots of different ideas out there and these are just a few. The main thing is to communicate the information internally to your team or club and divide out the responsibilities.  Ask everyone to pitch in with donations and/or work at the event. There is something for everyone; with all pitching in it will be a win/win for everyone.  Have all families reach out to their family and friends individually using the same fundraiser information.  Have fun with it and it will not be a chore, it will be fun!

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