Youth sports are a great opportunity for your kids to stay active and involved, but the costs for participation can really add up, not to mention hotel and gas budgets for traveling teams. But don’t let the price tag keep your athletes from playing their favorite sports!

Providing a boost to your team’s funding is easy when you have help from other parents who are willing to fundraise. There are many options for fundraisers, and these are just a few we think can be most effective for youth sports teams.

Throw a Fitness Fundraiser

Sports keep your kids exercising, and you can get your community in on the action too by organizing a few fitness-themed fundraisers:

• Get people moving with a fun run or walkathon. Head to the high school track or a local trail and get those legs moving! Fitness buffs will happily pay a registration fee to run for a good cause.
• Host a  tournament. When you’re fundraising for a sports team, a tournament is the perfect fit. Organize brackets and a fun prize for the winning team and invite your whole community to play.
  
• Provide yardwork services. Put your athletes to work raking leaves in the fall, and get them bundled up to shovel driveways in the winter. Charge a small fee and people will be happy to support your team while getting their chores done at the same time!

Host a Sports-Themed Auction

There’s no shortage of sports memorabilia and merchandise out there. Pull your team together and come up with a list of auction items and packages you could offer. Here are some suggestions:

• Memorabilia and autographed items from your popular local teams.
• Does someone on your team have season tickets? Ask them to pick a date and offer up their seats for a good cause.
• High-end gear and clothing items.

Start a Scrip Program

In addition to fundraising events, parents will appreciate a way to keep raising money throughout the season. This is where a scrip program comes in handy! Instead of using credit cards or cash for their everyday shopping, parents order gift cards through your team’s scrip program. They receive the full value of what they paid, and your team receives an immediate rebate percentage of what they spent.

You can split up your team’s scrip earnings so a certain amount goes to the general team fund, and the rest goes back to parents so they can earn money towards new equipment, registration fees, training, and more.

Keep Earning All Year

There are so many different fundraising options available for your team, and nobody says you have to pick just one! Sports are competitive, so encourage your team’s parents to be competitive fundraisers too. The more your team earns, the more opportunities will open up for your young athletes. Get your fundraising game on and make sure their youth sports experience is as great as it can be.