“Hey Mom, I have a fundraiser for…”
This sentence often leaves parents bracing for the impact of what is coming next.
Fundraisers are a necessary evil. Almost no youth sports organization is immune to needing them.
But not all of them are created equal for sure.
If you search for fundraising ideas, you’ll get dozens and dozens of ideas, many of which are just as rough on families as the next. From 5ks to color runs, from Dude Perfect to selling candy bars, the vast majority amount to what is effectively a thinly veiled telethon.
But What if Fundraising Could Make Profit and Meaning at the Same Time?
While phone banking could result in thousands of dollars for your organization, it doesn’t really come with much of an upside for the buyer. With most of the buyers being friends and family of the participant, we are often returning to the same well again and again for money. That means the same people are donating without really getting much other than the satisfaction of supporting their loved ones.
Our kiddos last fundraising event got me to thinking. How could we make a fundraiser that benefits the club while also providing something really cool for the families that are donating to it?
Then it dawned on me.
TEAM TRADING CARDS!
Our kids are growing so fast it’s hard to keep up. And while we could order school photos in the spring and the fall, they don’t showcase as much about our children as a trading card could.
We could add anything to the back of them. We don’t have to limit ourselves to what is currently being made for professional ball players.
The fundraiser could become a time capsule piece that players and their families look back on for years to come. One that showcases how they grew as players and people beyond their beautiful smiles.
We could remember what they loved most to eat, their favorite song listed as their walkup song, their favorite thing to do outside of sports, their favorite subject that year, or even what they want to be when they grow up.
The Only Constant is Change
Not to get too misty-eyed here, but there will come a day when our kids play their last games. For many, it will be their senior years. Some of us will get lucky enough to watch our kids play some college or even semi-pro games. The rarest among us get to see our kids all the way to The Big Show.
To me, that means, that I am allowed to treasure every minute that my kids play. To soak up who they are and celebrate all they have learned. To get teary when I think of them walking off the field for the last time.
Trading cards are one of the best ways that I can think of to pay tribute to the hard work they are putting into their craft year after year while also capturing some of the fun they had too. I can’t think of anything cooler to be showing my future grandkids someday either.
It’s Not Just About Our Kids Though
Whether you are a coach or family member who comes to every game, you end up cheering for the whole team. You are just as excited when a struggling player gets a break as their family is.
That’s why, to me, it makes sense to have the whole team represented in the pack.
Besides, years from now, they could be a great way of remembering “that one kid with the cannon” without having to rack your brain too hard.
Celebrating the Whole Team
Every now and again, there will be a team that everyone is excited for. The one that makes the run at the state level or even wins their biggest trophy yet. It’s easy to want to celebrate that team a little extra.
Selling card packs with that whole team would be a great way to use their success to sow the seeds for the next generation through additional revenue to the team.
But even the team that goes 0 for in the season is worth remembering. Those kids showed up every day. Those coaches took time out of their busy lives to do the best they could. They planned and practiced. Even if nothing went their way, those kids are worth celebrating too.
Who knows, maybe seeing themselves on a trading card helps them to see themselves as ball players for the first time? Maybe that’s all they needed to start taking themselves more seriously? Or maybe it pulls a mental block that they had prior that no one would have otherwise noticed?
Maybe none of those things happen, but the organization raises some easy money for themselves and hires an additional coach for the next year or gets some early reps in a training facility instead of just in the gym, or even pays for their next tournament without asking parents for it. That’s not a bad worst-case scenario, in my not-so-humble opinion.
So, We Made It
I’m not the type to suffer from the “what-ifs”. I like to do. So, I found some wonderful print partners and got started building out what the process would look like.
That brings us to the official launch of Strike Sports Fundraising. A simple and fun fundraiser for your program. It might not earn you $20k. But it should offset the cost of balls for next year or help you sponsor a player or two that cannot afford to work with you that you otherwise would have to turn away.
Who’s it for:
- School Sports Teams
- Travel Sports Teams
- Band/Choir/Plays
- Halls of Fame
- Adult leagues
- … and more!
This works just as well for the kid who spent their whole middle school career in the pit orchestra as it does for the ones on the field or stage. I can’t wait to see all of the different organization types that we get to work with over time. Of course, we’ll gladly share that with you all too.
How does it work:
- We meet with coaches, booster club representatives, or other representatives for the school. Phone, virtual, in person, whatever works for you.
- You choose what questions to add to the backs of your cards.
- We make a custom Etsy listing just for your school and open it for up to 2 weeks and add it to your marketing materials.
- We send you a marketing kid including:
- A template to email out to parents – we’re not trying to get email lists here.
- A flyer to post in the halls for other students/faculty to purchase if interested
- Social media posts if you have internal social channels (ie. Facebook group or school messaging app)
- Parents upload player photos to a private Drobox link and answer your selected questions in a form. They also fill out consent and waiver.
- Family and friends order their card packs from the custom Etsy link.
- We close your order and get to making packs of cards.
- Within 2 weeks of closing your orders, we deliver your card packs with an order spreadsheet for distribution and a bank check for your profit share.
- You distribute packs to those who ordered them and enjoy!
Our goal is to make this the easiest money your organization has ever made while also making it the most enjoyable fundraiser you have ever done.
We believe that delivering your money has to come with the orders. No chasing or hassle.
How Much Can You Expect to Earn?
We’ll keep updating this as we see trends start to form, but our best guess is that you will likely sell about 2 packs per player. So, for a team of 16, that might be about 35 packs. That would yield you roughly $750 plus a free coach’s pack.
With packs listed at $40 (for 16 or fewer cards in the pack), 35 packs of cards would cost $1,400 before tax.
That means that more than 50% of the purchase price goes back to the program.
Put another way, more than 70% of profits go to your program from our fundraiser.
Either way you slice it, you’re looking at a great fundraiser that also provides keepsakes to the whole team.
What Does the Money We Make Go Toward?
I’m so glad you asked. We’re working on a dream right now (cue the Springsteen). We have our hearts set on building out a training facility that is unlike anything that exists today. With a primary focus on baseball, we want to create a place where the whole family can come and play and train. Regardless of age or gender.
We want to make fitness more fun for adults. Lifting is boring. But getting stronger so you can make that throw from home to 2nd again is way more motivating if you ask us! You can learn more about our mission by exploring our blog, but I would recommend you start here.
We’re coaches, parents, and players, just like you and we look forward to finding new ways to serve more groups as this project expands and grows.
This fundraiser is just the tip of the iceberg.
If it sounds values aligned, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email to fundraising@strikesportsllc.com to schedule a chat and see samples of our trading cards today!
Until then,
Good luck with your next fundraiser!
