Best Softball Fundraising Ideas
Softball is one of the most popular sports. Not only are there plenty of school softball teams, fastpitch teams, summer leagues, and traveling teams, but there are also co-ed softball teams and even softball teams that cater to retired baseball players. Regardless of what type of softball league you belong to, the sport can be expensive. There are fees for team uniforms, new equipment, training tools, umpire fees, travel expenses, and tournament entry fees. Many softball teams look for softball fundraisers to earn extra money to support their sport.
Looking for softball fundraising ideas? There are many types of fundraising campaigns to consider. Softball fundraising ideas that are fun for the players to participate in and cater to a specific need will work best. Make sure to explain the cause of the fundraiser, as people are more willing to contribute if they understand how their money will be used.
We’ve compiled some of the most successful softball fundraisers for teams.
Our #1 Softball Fundraising Idea: Organize a Hit-A-Thon or Pitch-a-Thon
A fun fundraising event for softball teams is a hit-a-thon or pitch-a-thon. This type of peer-to-peer fundraiser works just like a walk-a-thon in terms of fundraising potential. Players ask relatives, friends, and neighbors to show their support through a pledge or donation – covering tournament fees and travel expenses, paying for new uniforms, and the like. Pledge amounts can be calculated per foot that the ball is hit or the speed of a pitch. A pitch-a-thon may work best for a fast-pitch team. Contributors can also choose to donate a fixed amount.
A great way to obtain donations easily is through a crowdfunding software platform. Players create personal fundraising pages where they upload photos, explain their mission, and have people make secure donations online. Participants can send an email donation request letter with a link to the online donation page. Softball leagues can even do this together, and you can encourage fundraising by awarding the top team fundraisers.
DoJiggy makes planning fundraising events easy,
and your softball team will raise more money online.
More Great Softball Fundraisers for the Team
Community Fundraising Events
Why not organize a fun social event to raise money for your softball team? Team members will have fun with the planning and work together with family, friends, community members, and businesses, and strengthen their commitment to the team. With our fundraising event software, collecting donations and managing all the event details couldn’t be easier! Events can be virtually anything… from an afternoon picnic at the park to a large gala event with catered food and a silent auction. It all depends on your resources, budget, and what interests your team members.
Here are some ideas for your team fundraisers:
- Plan a dinner and a movie fundraising event. Partner with a local theater to see if they can donate a cinema for your fundraiser, and ask the local pizza shop to donate $5 pizzas.
- If you belong to an adult softball league, you may want to consider a fundraising event that appeals to an older crowd, such as a charity poker tournament.
- Host a BBQ or spaghetti dinner fundraiser on team picture day, when parents and players gather together to take team and individual photos for the season.
- Add a fundraising raffle or silent auction to virtually any event for even more revenue. Contact local businesses to donate prizes and gift certificates to raffle off at your event.
- Be sure to visit our creative fundraising event ideas page for even more ideas.
Team Yard Sales
Whether you play for a community league or a school, there’s a good chance that your team members are part of the same community. Perhaps 
you’d be interested in hosting a fundraising community yard sale or similar community-based fundraiser? Summer is prime-time softball season, which is the best time for yard sales. People often dedicate days to driving around, specifically looking for yard sales to hit up for great deals. Take advantage of this opportunity and organize a community yard sale to raise funds for your softball team. Encourage team members to clean out closets and garages for items they want to pass along. Ask friends and neighbors to contribute as well. Often, people have things they’d like to donate because they don’t have the time or energy to organize their own garage sale.
Look into a popular community spot to host your events, such as a community recreation center or school gymnasium. Promote the event: share on Social media sites, put up flyers on popular bulletin boards around the community, post ads on Craigslist, and encourage team members to spread the word. Engage team members and their families to work at the garage sale. You’ll need people to set up, tear down, manage money, label tables, and price items. Make it fun! Play music at the event and sell lemonade and snacks for additional revenue.
Softball Team Sponsorships
Team sponsorships can bring in money for your softball team expenses. Players, coaches, and parents can identify and contact local businesses to ask for sponsorship donations. Your softball team will want to establish various sponsorship levels and outline the benefits sponsors receive at each level before requesting donations. Businesses will be more likely to support the team, knowing they will receive something in exchange for their donation. Benefits could include the company logo on team uniforms, links and advertisements from the team website, and recognition on team trophies and plaques. If a local restaurant comes on board as a sponsor, offer to host team parties at their establishment. This is a great benefit for restaurant owners as you’ll introduce parents and community members to their restaurant, who will hopefully become regular customers. Don’t forget to ask sponsors permission to set up a donation jar at their establishment. You may be able to bring in some extra revenue from customers willing to throw in a few extra bucks.
Be sure to thank sponsors for their contributions. Sending a thank you letter at the end of the season, recognizing sponsor contributions on a team website or newsletter, and inviting sponsors to team parties are all great ways to show appreciation and possibly bring them back again in future years.
Color Run Fundraisers
A Color Run fundraiser is a non-competitive Fun Run or running event where participants and observers throw brightly colored paint on the runners. All participants wear white to make the most of the colorful splashes. Kids love color run fundraisers and by using non-toxic paint, everyone can participate. A color run fundraiser is organized similarly to a walkathon fundraiser in which your participants collect donations and pledges to raise money for your softball team. Include an after-party and sell refreshments, fundraising raffle tickets, and more.
Chocolate Sales and More Sales Fundraisers
There are a lot of excellent fundraising sales opportunities for softball teams. One of the most popular is the classic $1 or $2 chocolate bar fundraiser. These fundraisers typically involve players selling chocolate bars right out of the box to family, friends, and community members. Games provide another opportunity for chocolate bar sales.
More popular sales ideas for softball teams include:
- team spirit wear and custom team merchandise
- flower bulbs to kick off spring
- wrapping paper and cookie dough during the holiday season
- discount cards
More Softball Fundraising Ideas
Still looking for software fundraising ideas? We offer fundraising ideas for baseball teams, high school fundraising ideas, the 40 best fundraisers for schools, and elementary school fundraisers. Also, there are plenty of alternative sports fundraising ideas that can be applied to a softball or baseball team, so take a moment to read through the various pages until you find the right fundraiser for your softball team. For more information about hosting an “a-thon” fundraising event, including sample pledge forms, fundraising event budget, forms, and “how-to” planning guidelines, visit our walk-a-thon resources. Whatever your team chooses, we can help with free fundraising software.
