The Perfect Football Fundraiser. How to Raise $60,000 For Your Football Team

Raising $60,000 in a single summer might sound like an impossible goal for most high school football programs. After all, bringing in that kind of money usually means months of organizing multiple fundraisers, countless volunteer hours, and giving a significant cut away to third-party fundraising platforms halfway across the country or even overseas. 

That often leaves your team with far less than what was actually earned. How would raising $20,000 feel? Pretty awesome. Now imagine $4,000 lost, as much as 20%, due to fundraising fees. It’s like taxes coming out of your paycheck, not fun. It doesn’t have to be that way. What if your program could hit that number without burning out your boosters, athletes, or coaching staff?

That’s where Teamfi comes in. In this case study, we’ll be taking a look at Chelsea Football’s summer 2025 fundraiser that raised exactly $62,107 for their football program, allowing for the purchase of new uniforms, equipment, and a variety of other needs for a program whose goal is simple, help kids become better versions of themselves, and win football games.

Where is Chelsea, Michigan?

To raise over $60,000 you must be thinking, Chelsea must be a town of 50,000 people. Perhaps a place with tremendously high income per person? Neither of those are true. Tucked between Ann Arbor and Jackson, the small town of Chelsea, Michigan has a population of just under 5,000.

Chelsea is known for its picturesque downtown, locally owned shops, and the iconic Jiffy Mix factory that’s become a landmark of local industry. It’s the small town where the place to be on a fall Friday night is a football stadium.

Chelsea High School football is a cornerstone of the town's identity. The Bulldogs have built a reputation across Michigan as a consistent contender. 

Boasting a 482-229-15 record since 1950, well near a 70% win rate, and a recent state championship in 2021, Chelsea has a tradition of excellence in Michigan.

How Did Chelsea Execute the Perfect Football Fundraiser?

1. A Clear-Cut Goal

The first key to Chelsea’s success was clarity. It wasn’t an overwhelming number of participants. Yes, plenty of kids at Chelsea grades 7-12 play football, but the high school enrollment is only 800. We’re not talking about a mega school here. Chelsea was extremely clear about their goals.

Too many fundraisers launch with vague promises of “team needs” or “help us compete.” That’s motivation for die hard supporters and parents, but not the majority. 

Chelsea’s campaign led with a direct message and specific purpose: It was time for new uniforms. Here’s what they put in their personalized team fundraising pages which was also highlighted with the individual custom fundraising pages that each athlete had.

“Why We Need Your Support: We appreciate your support. Funds raised this year are being used for new uniforms. Every 4 years we buy new uniforms that last through a 12-year cycle. 4 years on varsity, 4 years on JV, and 4 years on 9th grade. We’re also adding to the technology needs of our middle school program.”

Supporters knew exactly where their money was going, why it mattered, and how their donation would make an impact. When you give people something real and tangible, they respond. That’s exactly what happened in Chelsea. Families, alumni, and fans rallied behind a simple but compelling goal: help give the Bulldogs a fresh look on the field and build up the next generation.

The takeaway? Transparency builds trust. The clearer your need, the more confident your donors feel that their gift will matter.

Looking for a great fall fundraiser? Here’s a few ideas to help you out.

2. Used Their Middle School Teams As Well

Another advantage Chelsea created was through alignment. They didn’t make this a “varsity-only” push. Instead, the fundraiser was built to support the entire program, from the senior starters to the seventh graders still learning the playbook.

Chelsea used simple crowdfunding, one of the many digital fundraising options out there. Teamfi elevates the crowdfunding process with a comprehensive text messaging automation that reaches out and follows up with potential donors.

Varsity, junior varsity, freshman, eighth grade, and seventh grade teams were all included. This gave the fundraiser much more power. It allowed families from multiple age groups to be involved. Why have the 7th, 8th, and high school teams all do different things?

For coaches and programs looking to raise serious money and have organization wide continuity, this is a great move. One-off fundraisers from separate teams can create confusion, fatigue, and mixed results. But one unified fundraiser creates momentum. It brings consistency to the messaging and structure, and it makes it much easier to hit a large collective goal.

3. Players Were Hitting Their Goals, so Chelsea Pushed Them Further

Chelsea set a target of $500 per player. It’s a number that sounds high at first glance, but in practice it worked perfectly.

Here’s why: it was both reasonable and motivational. For most families, $500 is too much to cover alone, but it’s an amount that can absolutely be hit when shared to extended family, neighbors, and family friends. The Teamfi platform asks you to reach out to 20 contacts, and at an ask of just $25 each, they realized that $500 wasn’t some huge mountain.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Okay, so what? Most fundraising platforms can do this. When players were hitting that $500 goal, what was the next step? $1,000. Seriously, some kids raised over $1,000 on their own. That on its own is more than a car wash fundraiser or a bake sale will ever do. It’s all thanks to the power of digital fundraising tools like what we have here at Teamfi. When you work with Teamfi, you’ve got customer support the whole way whether you’re using our calendar, lift-a-thon, or traditional crowdfunding like Chelsea did. So we were able to work with Chelsea and bump up their goals so they could keep raising money.

The psychology of fundraising matters. If you ask for too little, you leave money on the table. If you ask for too much, people check out. Chelsea hit the sweet spot. Players weren’t overwhelmed, and donors didn’t feel like they had to stretch beyond what they could give.

4. An Exemplary Use of Social Media to Funnel Donations

Social media was a tool behind Chelsea’s success. While some programs still rely on flyers or school announcements, Chelsea leaned into the power of online sharing. Players, parents, and supporters took to Facebook, Instagram, and our Teamfi text messaging software to get the word out.

Teamfi’s platform made this simple by generating personal donation pages for each athlete. These links were personalized, easy to share and mobile-friendly, meaning donors could give instantly from their phones. No printing, no mailing checks, no hassle. Two days after their fundraiser, Chelsea had their check in hand. 

This is what a modern fundraiser looks like. You don’t need door-to-door sales or a spaghetti dinner. You need the right link, a good platform (we’ll go into that next), and a community that’s ready to help.

5. A Fundraising Platform That Helped Every Step of the Way

Chelsea didn’t do this alone. Teamfi was with them from day one to the final donation. The timeline for running a fundraiser is so quick too. Easy onboarding, 2-3 weeks to run your fundraiser, then direct deposit or check to you in a couple days.

From onboarding to final payout, Teamfi helped streamline the entire process. We made it easy to track progress by team, by player, and by total goal. We helped send automated thank-you notes to donors, provided updates and coaching tips for athletes, and handled the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

That meant coaches could stay focused on football, not paperwork. It meant parents didn’t need to stress over organizing spreadsheets or reminding kids to ask for money. And it meant every dollar raised went to the program, not to processing fees or third-party cuts.

With zero upfront cost and powerful built-in tools, Teamfi gave Chelsea the infrastructure they needed to run a successful fundraiser at scale.

Want some other football fundraisers? Look no further.

A Final Look at the Perfect Football Fundraiser

The result speaks for itself. Over $60,000 raised. Uniforms funded. Middle school technology upgraded. 

Whether you’re a coach, booster, or athletic director, the formula is repeatable. Clear communication. Full program involvement. Reachable per-player goals. Smart use of digital tools. And a platform built to serve programs. Chelsea showed it can be done. Your program can be next. Sign up and let’s get to work.

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