Best Fundraisers for High School Sports Teams

Fundraising is a word that any parent, coach, or young member of an organization would know. Since a young age, whether you’re playing basketball, in the cub scouts, just starting to play an instrument, or going on a youth group trip, fundraising is a word that’s been engrained into your brain?

Why? Fundraising has become a necessity for almost every youth group, high school sports team, PTA or PTO, or other non-profit organization. Shrinking school budgets along with the rising costs of tangibles like equipment, have really made fundraising, and yes, high school sports team fundraising, even more essential than even 10 or 20 years ago.

When it comes to sports teams specifically, you have to deal with travel, equipment, uniforms rising pay to play fees, along with dozens of other sport specific expenses. Boosters have to do more than ever for high school fundraising, and now it’s up to individual teams to provide for their needs. It’s hard to come up with new sports fundraising ideas, but we’ve got a few that have been consistent winners and digital fundraisers are an important part of that.

In this guide we’re going to go into both traditional proven high school sports fundraisers that have been around for decades and modern digital alternatives like Teamfi’s completely free-to-use a-thons, calendar fundraisers, and crowdfunding campaigns.

What Makes a Fundraiser Work for High School Sports? 

There are five significant factors that determine fundraising success in the world of high school sports specifically.

1. Participation rate (athletes vs parents vs community)

How many of your kids are fundraising? It should be all of them. In a perfect world, every one of your kids would fundraise and do it well, but we all know that’s not realistic. Maximizing participation rate the best you can is step one.

2. Seasonality (in-season vs off-season)

When you’re in-season or just before your season, it’s going to be easier to fundraise. Fundraising outside of your season often means conflicts with other sports, lack of interest in your sport, and competing fundraisers.

3. Average donation size vs volume

While many fundraisers make it hard to control donation size, there are some, namely calendars, that push donors to donate specific amounts of money. Another great example of this is “fill my” fundraisers which ask donors to donate specific amounts and fill an object like a football.

4. Compliance & admin simplicity (district rules, cash handling)

Within some athletic departments are designated rules about fundraisers. This is not common, most athletic departments freely allow you to choose what fundraisers you want to do.

Best Traditional Fundraisers for High School Sports Teams

While traditional fundraisers still play a role, many teams are shifting toward digital options that scale faster and require less effort. Here are some of the best year in and year out.

1. Team Discount Cards

Discount cards are cards sold by your student-athletes with tearaway coupons to area businesses. Great for forging connections within your communities, absolutely adored by businesses, and decent fundraisers.

Extremely popular with teams like football, these team discount cards are a great fundraiser, but are only useful to people within your community. So if you’re from a small town, or just a town with a select few consumer based businesses, this will be a tough one to run.

2. Team Merchandise

Team merchandise fundraisers revolve around selling branded apparel or gear like hoodies, hats, shirts, and spirit wear. They’re great for building team identity and school pride, and they give supporters something tangible to wear on game day.

That said, margins can be thin once production costs, sizing issues, and unsold inventory are factored in. These fundraisers tend to work best for programs with strong school support or established booster clubs, but they can stall if demand is overestimated.

3. Car Washes

Car washes are one of the most recognizable high school sports fundraisers out there. They’re simple to organize, highly visible in the community, and rely more on effort than upfront cost. For teams with motivated athletes and supportive parents, they can bring in quick cash.

The downside is scalability. Car washes are weather dependent, labor intensive, and capped by how many cars you can realistically clean in a day. They also demand significant time from athletes during already packed seasons.

4. Raffles and Prize Drawings

Raffles and prize drawings allow teams to sell tickets for a chance to win donated items, gift cards, or larger prizes. When prizes are compelling, these fundraisers can generate excitement and strong short-term sales with relatively low overhead.

However, raffles come with legal considerations that vary by state and district, and sales often rely heavily on a small group of motivated sellers. If prizes aren’t appealing or rules aren’t clearly communicated, participation can drop off quickly.

Best Digital Fundraisers for High School Sports Teams 

In the world of digital fundraising for high school sports teams, there’s three consistent winning formulas. Those are calendar fundraisers, crowdfunding, and performance-based a-thons. 

1. Online Team Fundraisers (Crowdfunding)

Crowdfunding is the model made popular by websites like GoFundMe, and while these are effective, it is imperative that you choose crowdfunding platforms that are built for high school sports teams and understand the nuances of coaches, boosters, and athletic departments.

Using a platform like Teamfi allows you to fundraise for specific purposes, have each individual athlete have their own page, and get paid out quickly.

It is important that these styles of fundraiser also have places for each individual athlete to have their own page. Why? Parents, relatives, and donors want to support the individual athlete AND the team. If they can see a loved one have their money raised marker go up along with the teams, it’s even more incentive to donate.

2. Calendar Fundraisers

The breakout star of the 2020’s, calendar fundraisers went from broad templates that had been floating around to one unified product that has become a staple of the fundraising world.

Why? They’re visually appealing. Easy to understand. Raise $496 for every calendar you fill out. 

This achievable goal gives fundraiser participants an easy way to get donations in the door, while it applies to their name.

3. A-Thons (Lift-a-thon, Shoot-a-thon, Hit-a-thon)

A-thon fundraisers take the concept that we’ve presented with digital fundraising where each team has their own unique page, player pages, and a dashboard for live tracking, and adds on one more element.

That element is an activity. That’s because an a-thon is an activity based fundraiser. These fundraisers are digital, but the actual activity can be done in person, combining a community event with a digital fundraiser.

Curious about running an a-thon fundraiser, but not quite sure which a-thon would be a good fit for your team? We wrote a full a-thon fundraiser guide to help you out!

4. Hybrid Models (Digital + Community)

If you have digital fundraising going, these can be amplified by community events. Events that drive online giving include things like banquet nights where QR codes are on tables for last-minute fundraising pushes for the season, rivalry games where you and another school try to out-fundraise the other, and a spaghetti dinner hosted by say a basketball team, where it’s a donation of $10 to get dinner.

Sport-Specific Fundraising Considerations

When it comes to choosing what fundraiser is best for you, there are a number of things to consider. The first to consider is that most teams find success when they’re able to diversify fundraising efforts throughout the year.

You should absolutely run a digital fundraiser, especially to reach extended family and friends who want to support your high school sports team beyond your community. When running a digital fundraiser, you will certainly want to be aware of fees. If possible, you will want to choose a 100% free fundraising platform to keep more money in your program. Additionally, keep in mind reviews of the platform your choose – be on the lookout for a coach-approved fundraising platform.

You should also run a traditional fundraiser, especially one that brings your community together around your cause. A couple really popular options for this are a golf outing fundraiser or a bake sale fundraiser.

Roster size is a significant consideration to take into account. A golf coach or a bowling coach is going to fundraise differently than a football coach.

Larger rosters aren’t limited by scalability. The bigger your roster, the more you can do if you have a big enough town. Smaller rosters, on the other hand, often benefit from fundraisers that maximize reach rather than foot traffic or in-person sales.

That’s where pairing fundraisers together becomes important. Digital fundraisers allow every athlete to reach well beyond local supporters, while traditional fundraisers thrive on visibility and community involvement. When used together, they create a balanced approach that reduces burnout and increases overall fundraising potential.

• Digital fundraisers work well for teams of all sizes, but they’re especially valuable for smaller rosters or programs with supporters spread across the country. These fundraisers are easy to share, require less time from athletes, and scale without adding extra work.
• Discount cards are a strong option for large roster teams with a tight knit community. When many athletes are selling locally, these cards can move quickly and bring in reliable revenue, particularly in towns with plenty of participating businesses.
• Merchandise fundraisers sit somewhere in the middle. They work best for teams with strong school pride and repeat buyers, but they do require more planning and realistic expectations around demand.
• Product fundraisers like food or novelty items can be effective for programs with a broad local audience. However, they often require significant coordination, upfront costs, and storage, making them better suited for teams with strong parent support.
• Raffles can generate excitement and fast results, but they rely heavily on prize appeal and compliance with local regulations. They’re best used as a supplement rather than a standalone fundraising strategy.

Ultimately, the best fundraiser for your high school sports team is one that fits your roster size, community, and time constraints. Teams that combine digital reach with community-driven efforts consistently see the strongest results over the course of a season.

Common Fundraising Mistakes High School Teams Make

Choosing fundraisers that don’t scale

If you’re a football team in a town of 500 people with two restaurants, a Dollar General, and a small butcher shop, a business card fundraiser isn’t going to go well. Same concept in a small town with 500 people and three car washes that have subscription based services — probably going to be a tough fundraiser. Don’t pick a fundraiser that will significantly limit how much money can realistically be raised. Scalable fundraisers allow every athlete to contribute without creating bottlenecks.

Overloading athletes during the season

You need to win on the field, court, mat, wherever, and in fundraising. Those things go hand in hand. Don’t overburden your athlete during the season. Asking athletes to juggle practices, games, schoolwork, and time-intensive fundraisers often leads to burnout and inconsistent participation. The most effective fundraisers fit naturally into an athlete’s schedule are digital fundraisers, because of how efficient they are time-wise, continue to be favorites year-round.

Underestimating administrative effort

If you’ve never run a fundraiser before, especially a traditional one, it’s easy to underestimate the background work going on. Managing money, tracking progress, distributing products, and communication all add up quickly. Have a parent or group of parents you can rely on to help you. Fundraisers that minimize administrative work are easier to repeat and scale year after year.

How to Choose the Best Fundraiser for Your Team

When deciding which fundraiser to run, it helps to evaluate your program honestly and to consider all possible fundraising solutions. The best option is the one that fits your team’s structure, not the one that worked for another school.

Roster size

Larger rosters benefit from fundraisers that allow many athletes to participate simultaneously, while smaller teams often need fundraisers that maximize reach beyond the local community.

Community size

Teams in larger towns have more opportunities for in person sales and events. Smaller communities may see stronger results from fundraisers that don’t rely solely on local support, like a calendar fundraiser.

Time available

How much time do you have? Got a week? You might need a short term alternative. Got a month? Most digital fundraisers can do that comfortably, especially with direct deposit payouts. Planning ahead is always a great idea.

Fundraising goal

Your target amount matters. Smaller goals can be met with simpler fundraisers, while larger goals often require a combination of digital and traditional efforts. You also need to be smart about picking a fundraising goal, don’t make it insurmountable, but don’t limit yourself either.

Willingness to use digital tools

Teams that adapt and use digital tools raise more money. There is a lot of truth to that. Pen and paper fundraisers work. We’ve all done them. They can all be done better with live tracking, custom pages, and the ability to reach beyond your town.

High School Sports Fundraising Made Easy

The most successful high school sports teams don’t rely on a single fundraiser or a single group of athletes. 

They build a balanced approach that combines digital reach with community involvement, choosing fundraisers that scale, save time, and keep athletes focused on their sport. When fundraising works with your program instead of against it, everyone benefits. Teams that succeed long-term approach fundraising as a system, not a one-time event.

Want to start your high school fundraising journey with a free-to-use fundraising platform? Click below to kick-off your first fundraiser with Teamfi.