13 Softball Fundraiser Ideas to Take Your Program to the Next Level

“Framing matters. The right messaging matters,” says New York University’s Levine Daniel, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management. So when you’re fundraising it’s critical that you tell your potential donors exactly why you’re fundraising. There’s no shortage of reasons why. When it comes to your softball program it’s always one thing or another. New bats, tournament travel, upgrading your field, renovations, new uniforms. There’s always something, and budgets are always tight. That’s why fundraising isn’t just optional, it’s essential to maintaining a healthy program.

There are so many softball fundraising ideas out there, it’s hard to keep up with which ones are the best performing, what is going to make the best use of your time? That’s why having a reliable playbook of softball fundraising ideas is essential.

One of the most important aspects of fundraising in the modern technology age, is appealing to potential donors via social media. Having a social media page is essential to sharing your fundraiser.

A 2025 study out of NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service found that social media fundraising posts that focus on an organization’s core mission outperform purely competitive appeals. For your softball program, that means a simple Instagram caption like “Help our athletes play safely with new helmets” will resonate—and convert—better than “Let’s beat last year’s total!”

When you launch any of the ideas in this guide (especially digital options like Teamfi’s calendar or crowdfunding pages), craft your posts, videos, or emails around the impact, upgraded equipment, travel scholarships, field-renovation access, rather than standard “let’s raise money”. Framing each fundraising ask as a chance to directly improve players’ experiences taps donors’ altruism and, according to the NYU research, yields the strongest returns.

In this guide, we’ve gathered the most practical, profit‑friendly tactics, from our Teamfi fundraisers to classic bake sales and raffles, so you can choose the strategies that fit your team.

For each softball fundraising idea, we’ve added a simple graphic to each to tell you the overall effectiveness, time involvement, and difficulty of each idea. These ratings are based on discussions we’ve had with softball coaches over the past two years as they tell us their fundraising stories. Let’s dive in and discover which softball fundraising ideas will take your program to the next level.

Idea 1: Teamfi Digital Calendar Fundraiser

A simple and most efficient way to raise money for your team is our calendar fundraisers.

With three simple steps, your team can be raising thousands of dollars without any cost to you as a program. Create your online calendar, have players share their personal link, and funds land in your team account automatically, no up-front costs or paperwork.

Prefer a pen and paper template? We’ve got you covered.

Calendar Fundraiser Case Study – Lowell High School Softball

Lowell is a small middle class rural town in western Michigan, a place where fundraising isn’t easy. Coach Matt Dood and the Lowell High School Softball team has done it all in the past, everything from pop can drives, other fundraising platforms that took as much as 20% of what they raised, to mattress sales. This year, they utilized our calendar fundraiser product, and came away with their highest generated revenue ever as each player raised over $300.

• Raised: $8,151
• Participants: 24‍
• Average per player: $340
• Key tactic: Leveraged Teamfi’s automatic text‑reminder feature—each player invited ~29 donors each, trimming follow‑up time to nearly zero.

Idea 2: Bake Sale

A bake sale pairs low start‑up costs with high profit margins because homemade goodies require only inexpensive ingredients yet can be sold at generous mark‑ups.

It also creates a welcoming, community‑driven atmosphere that draws supporters to mingle, spend, and feel personally invested in your team’s success.

Drawbacks: Time-intensive with no guarantee of sales.

Idea 3: Raffle or 50/50 Fundraiser

Raffles are an easy way to earn money for your program, particularly selling at sporting events. 50/50’s have been a tradition at sporting events from the high school to the professional level.

Your organization collects 50% of proceeds with the help of just a few parent volunteers and as a bonus sometimes the winnings are simply donated back to your program, but don’t bank on this.

Drawbacks: As a softball program this is much harder to do than say a football program with a larger number of players and parents.

Idea 4: Community Fundraiser With A Silent Auction

This type of fundraiser typically has a ticket for entry which includes food and drinks, with table reservations, and you can include a trivia contest.

Don’t outprice people at the door, let the tickets be very affordable to help cover just the cost of food and drink.

The silent auction with donated gifts from the community is what will bring in the most money for your program.

Drawbacks: Renting a space to hold the fundraiser, time intensive for setup and execution.

Idea 5: Car Wash

A car wash fundraiser turns simple supplies—soap, water, and your team ready to get to work—into steady cash flow because supporters happily pay for a visible, immediate service. It also puts your team curbside in the community, boosting camaraderie and local visibility while donors drive away with a sparkling reminder of their contribution.

Drawbacks: This old school fundraiser doesn’t take into account, a car wash is often not a necessity, especially in non-rural areas. Many people also pay car washes monthly for their services.

Idea 6: Incentivization

LSU-Alexandria utilized incentivization to raise almost $20,000 for their program with just 26 players. You read that right, twenty THOUSAND. How did they do it? Using Teamfi’s fundraising software, the Generals turned fundraising into a friendly contest where the top fundraiser earned a custom bat.

Switching over to Teamfi helped LSUA keep thousands of dollars that they would’ve lost under other fundraising platforms.

Incentivization Case Study – Louisiana State University – Alexandria (LSUA) Softball

A parent school of LSU, LSU-Alexandria is a school of just over 3,000 students participating in the NAIA. A small NAIA school raising nearly $20,000 for their program is almost unheard of, but thanks to Teamfi’s fundraising platform they were able to achieve this and keep their money.

• Raised: $19,790 (See how much you could be taking home)
• Participants: 26
• Average per player: $760
• Key tactic:Turned fundraising into a friendly contest—top earner won a custom bat.

Here's what the Coach had to say about running their their Teamfi Fundraiser:

“I absolutely loved everything about it and highly recommend it to everyone.” — Coach Trent Partridge

Idea 7: Discount Cards

Partnering with area businesses is both a great way to reward fans and establish relationships with potential sponsors.

Businesses agree to certain discounts, similar to coupons, that are printed onto tearable cards with other business discounts. These cards are sold to the community who can then use them at those businesses with your softball program receiving all of the proceeds from the cards.

Drawbacks: Cost of cards, time intensive to go out to area businesses.

Idea 8: Hit a thon / Home-run Derby

Just like a walkathon where fundraiser participants collect donations for each mile they walk, a hit a thon fundraiser is similar. In a hit a thon or home run derby, the fundraiser organizer sets a certain amount of pitches for each participant, and then pledges are collected by the participant leading up to the event based on how they think they will perform in that set amount of pitches (usually somewhere in the 20-25 pitch range).

For example, If in a hit a thon a participant receives a pledge for $10 per hit and then ends up getting 8 hits on the day of the event, that $10 pledge would turn into an $80 donation for your team (8 hits x $10 = $80).

In conclusion, this digital fundraiser allows for players to take pledges based on performance or a flat donation, and makes a fun community event out of your fundraiser. This is a unique way to tie performance to fundraising success.

Software not your thing? No problem, we also offer a free to use, ready-to-print paper hit a thon template.

Idea 9: Team Merchandise Sale

Selling team merchandise is a simple and effective way to fundraise. Families, athletes, and coaches all want your team’s merchandise. Think custom T‑shirts, hoodies, caps, and stickers—that amplify school spirit and raise awareness.

Partnering with a local apparel company including those that provide sublimated and screen-print products can also help offset costs.

Drawbacks: Typically very low margins for the time invested.

Idea 10: Teamfi Crowdfunding Campaign

Teamfi offers a variety of products to help your team fundraise, and we’ve gone in depth to our calendar fundraiser, but now let’s deep dive into simple and traditional crowdfunding. It operates just like a GoFundme (but you keep all the money raised). A team page is set up with all your team’s information, you write what you’re fundraising for, and you’re ready to share the link!

Thanks to our personalized dashboard, you’re always in the loop with over 10 metrics to help you keep track of your fundraiser’s progress and donations. Here’s how Suffolk University nearly raised five figures using crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding Case Study – Suffolk University Softball

An NCAA Division III program, the Suffolk University Rams softball team delivered over $8,000 with their 19 fundraiser participants. Coach Cook and the team opted for a traditional crowdfunding fundraiser where they had their own team page that was shared out to supporters.

• Raised: $8,481
• Participants: 19
• Average per player: $446‍
• Key tactic: Straightforward crowdfunding—Suffolk utilized a Teamfi fundraising page to collect donations which was shared on social media and through email and text.

Here's what the Coach had to say about running their Teamfi Crowdfunding Campaign:

More money & more donors than we’ve ever received! Thank you!” — Coach Megan Cook

Idea 11: Golf Outing

A great way to raise money and have fun, golf outings have been a staple of high school fundraisers for decades.

With the ability to fit as many as 80 people on a traditional 18-hole course, golf outings can be a tremendous revenue generator especially when paired with other traditional fundraisers like 50/50 and silent auctions.

Drawbacks: Must find balance between raising money and getting teams in the door, so for example if the golf course charges $40 for 18 with cart, you have to have a registration fee of say $65 a person to balance affordability and getting people in the door with revenue-generation.

Idea 12: Skills Clinic Fundraiser

Hosting a skills clinic as a varsity softball team can be a great way to not only raise money for your program, but give players valuable experience as leaders, and improve the skill set of area youth investing in your program for years to come.

Take maybe 2-3 of your program's leaders who are willing to teach youth during off-season skills clinics. Money from the skills clinics can go both to the players for their time, and to the program.

Drawbacks: Balancing offseason schedules and significant promotion of skills clinic.

Idea 13: Restaurant Dine-Out Night

Partnering with a local restaurant to bring in a large group of people in exchange for 15-20% of sales is an effective way to generate funds for your program.

For example, your softball team has a fundraising night at a local barbeque joint where 15% of sales go directly back to your program.

“Single-day events such as pancake or spaghetti dinners, golf tournaments, road races, flea or craft markets, youth tournaments and auctions represent additional possibilities and should not be overlooked. Why? In addition to generating extra funds, they can also serve to connect and involve the community,” says Dr. David Hoch, writing for the National Federation of High Schools. Other options similar to a restaurant dine-out night that the NFHS states are great fundraising opportunities include; Pancake dinners, Spaghetti dinners, Road races, flea markets, craft fairs, youth tournaments, golf outings, and auctions because they bring the community together.

A real world example of this involves the use of a spaghetti dinner hosted by Great Falls High School in Montana, when the Great Falls High School Baseball team needed to raise money, they turned to a classic spaghetti dinner fundraiser. When pairing the spaghetti dinner with a couple of other fundraisers, they were able to raise over $6,000 for their program.

Drawbacks: Risky in that if the weather is bad, or other community events are going on, it can be challenging to make this worthwhile.

So, What’s the Right Softball Fundraising Idea For You?

That’s for you to decide! While we know that there are many fundraising opportunities, only you know what’s best for your program. It’s also very dependent on where you’re at with your season. Heading into summer? Maybe a golf outing is right for you. In your season? Perhaps a bake sale.

Whether you’re leading a varsity powerhouse, small college team, a travel team, or a small‑town JV roster, the right softball fundraising ideas do more than pad the program’s bottom line, they build fan engagement, elevate team spirit, and showcase your program to future sponsors. We’ll spotlight real‑world success stories that have fundraised with us, like Lowell High School’s record‑setting Teamfi calendar fundraiser, and LSUA’s incentive‑driven Teamfi crowdfunding page, proving that when creativity meets the right platform, five‑figure results are totally within reach.

Ready to put one of these great softball fundraising ideas in play? Whether you’re hosting a pancake dinner, want to grab our free printable calendar template—or, if you’d rather see the digital version in action, book a quick 10-minute walkthrough with a Teamfi specialist. Either way, you’ll walk away with a concrete plan to start raising money this week.