Liftathon: The Football Fundraiser That Builds Strength and Raises Money

So You Want to Run a Liftathon…

You want to run a liftathon for your football team—but every option you’ve found is either too expensive or too involved.

Enter Teamfi.

Teamfi’s Liftathon software was designed with football coaches in mind. It’s no wonder so many coaches love it.

You don’t have to take it from us, either. Hear from real high school football coaches on how they’ve raised thousands of dollars, even five figures, using liftathons.

Hartland High School - $22,153 Raised

"I loved being able to see which players were participating and how much money we had raised in real-time." — Thomas Stevenson, Head Coach, Hartland High School (MI)

In the Detroit suburbs lies Hartland, Michigan. Once a small rural community, Hartland is one of the bustling suburbs on the Detroit outskirts with natural rivalries with neighboring Brighton and Howell.

The Eagles were looking to raise money for new equipment, uniforms, and to offset program costs using Teamfi’s free and automated liftathon software.

Thanks to Teamfi’s live tracking dashboard and automated pledge collection, donations poured in from donors like parents, grandparents, family friends, and alumni. By the end of lift day the Eagles had comfortably surpassed their target. Buoyed by the outpouring of support, Coach Stevenson’s squad is already mapping out their next campaign to keep Hartland football soaring.

How did Teamfi help Hartland do this?

Teamfi automates the entire process:

• Build your fundraiser in minutes
• Add your athletes and let them invite donors
• Track progress with a real-time dashboard
• Automatically collect pledges and donations
• Receive a check or set up direct deposit for instantaneous donation collection following your liftathon (Teamfi takes $0)

What Is a Liftathon?

Not quite sure how a liftathon works? No worries, we have you covered. A liftathon is a football fundraiser where players perform strength lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, etc.), and supporters pledge donations based on the total weight lifted. Donors may pledge $0.25, $0.50, or even $1.00 per pound lifted—or give a flat amount.

Read More: The Top Questions We Get About Liftathons

Liftathons are ideal for football teams looking to raise money while encouraging strength training which as we all know, matters in football!

Digital vs. Pen and Paper: Which is Right For Me?

Digitally-based fundraisers are our thing, there’s no doubt about that – just ask Hartland Football! However, one great benefit of leaning on Teamfi is that we always provide multiple free options for each fundraiser type depending on the fundraiser organizer’s preference.

On that note, Teamfi offers two great ways to run a liftathon football fundraiser. A pen and paper football fundraising liftathon template in addition to the aforementioned digital version – both are 100% free.

Reeths-Puffer High School Liftathon - $9,703 Raised

"The highlight of the product is giving athletes the opportunity to reach out to people many miles away, ask them to pledge money to their estimated amount lifted, do their personal best on the day of the event, and then have the Teamfi product recover the amount owed. Incredibly user-friendly and I would use it again!" — Cody Kater, Head Coach, Reeths-Puffer High School (MI)

Year after year, the Reeths-Puffer Rockets are faced with a gauntlet of a schedule. Football on the Lake Michigan lakeshore is no joke. That’s why physical conditioning is so important to Reeths-Puffer.

When Coach Kater saw a need to raise money, they thought a Liftathon would be perfect for them. So the Rockets went to work with a Teamfi liftathon and after getting their contacts in and projected pledges, it was lift day!

The fundraiser raised nearly $10,000 and the Rockets broke some PR’s along the way.

Thanks to Teamfi’s automated pledge tracking and collection, the coaches spent their time coaching instead of chasing payments. Fired up by the results, the Rockets are already planning next year’s Liftathon—aiming to top both their fundraising total and their new PRs.

How to Run a Football Liftathon Using Teamfi

Below we’ll walk you through, step-by-step, how to use Teamfi’s free liftathon software from start to finish.

Step 1: Launch – Following a short 10-minute demo, you can launch your liftathon.

Once you’ve created your liftathon, Teamfi creates a specific sign-up link just for you. You can copy and paste this link into your team’s communication channel, and it will allow all of your athletes a seamless joining process.

After signing up, your players will be prompted to enter a profile photo for their donation page, as well as their projected pounds lifted for the liftathon. This projection will be used to collect pledges for them in the next step.

Additionally, players will be prompted to add the contacts of those who might support them.

Step 2: Monitor Your Team’s Onboarding Progress

While your players are joining and adding their contacts, you will have 100% transparency via the Teamfi Coach Dashboard. Here, you will see your entire team and the number of contacts they’ve added.

In the “How Ready Are You to Activate” section, you’ll see a live projection of how much you could raise if you activate the fundraiser immediately. This tool helps you decide when to go live.

Step 3: Activate Your Liftathon

You’ve made it this far, and now you’re ready to go! Just click the “Activate” button, and Teamfi will take care of the rest.

Teamfi’s automatic text outreach will contact each of your players’ contacts with your team’s customized donation page, where donors can pledge per pound or give a flat donation.

Step 4: The Day of the Liftathon

When it’s time to lift, all you need to do is update the player table with actual liftathon results. Once you do, Teamfi will send each donor a customized link to fulfill their pledge based on actual weight lifted.

Step 5: Receive Your Check

That’s it! Once your fundraiser closes, Teamfi will overnight a check to your door if you haven't previously set up direct deposit. Since there are 0% platform fees, the only deduction is the Stripe processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) which goes to Stripe, not Teamfi.

Want to learn more? Check out our full guide to running a digital liftathon.

Lexington Christian Football - $27,819 Raised

Liftathons aren’t the only way to raise money for your football program of course. Nobody does fundraising better than Kentucky’s Lexington Christian High School.

The Eagles football program raised over $27,000 this spring for their football program using a traditional team branded crowdfunding campaign.

Players blasted the campaign link across social media and group texts, quickly drawing support from alumni and distant relatives. Because Teamfi handles pledge reminders and secure payment processing, coaches could stay locked in on spring practice instead of chasing donations.

Prefer Pen & Paper?

We get it. Some coaches still prefer the old-school method. If that’s you, Teamfi offers a free printable Liftathon template to help keep things simple.

But once you try the full digital liftathon, you may never go back

Download the free, ready to print paper liftathon template here!

Let’s Get Started On Your Liftathon

The Teamfi liftathon is both a rewarding fundraiser for your football team, and we make it easy for you as a coach to make it happen.

If you’re looking for other fundraiser opportunities consider a traditional crowdfunding football fundraiser or our football pick a date calendar fundraisers. Two great alternatives if you’re not ready to do a liftathon or can’t get the team together.

The best part? Teamfi is coach approved, whether you want to run a liftathon, digital calendar fundraiser, or a traditional crowdfunding football fundraiser.

• Teamfi offers both a digital version or a pen and paper template if digital isn’t right for you.
• By booking a demo, you can see exactly how a liftathon would look for your team.
• Teamfi is a fundraising platform that is 100% free to use.
• Have more questions? We can help here, or email Kanon@teamfi.works.