Fundraising Ideas For Baseball Teams

New uniforms?  Tournament funding? Equipment for new players?  Every team is looking for ways to raise money to supplement their accounts. 

We saved for two years as an organization to send our team to Cooperstown New York for the 12 year old baseball tournament two years ago. (One of the teams Son #1 played for had the costs covered by the annual fees we paid to be on the team plus the corporate sponsorships they secured as an organization...NICE! The other local team he played for relied completely on fundraising by parents.)

Now that my second son is getting closer to the trip, we are starting fundraising for his team.  The cost of participation at Cooperstown varies based on how far you have to travel to New York, how many players you are sending, which Cooperstown facility you are attending and how much parents are going to pay out of pocket.  The costs can be cut down and even covered in total by putting out fundraisers throughout the season and throughout the year by employing some of the below ideas.   I would also LOVE to hear about your ideas for successful fundraisers.   

Bowling fundraiser at local bowling alley - they may even donate the space and shoes. 

Sell candy, soda, waters at home games (propose Doubleheaders with other teams and sell food in between games)

Do a summer brat fry or hot dog sale at the local grocery store.

Bagging for tips – Some grocery stores allow kids and adults to bag groceries for tips. This is a great way for the team members themselves to get involved instead of mom and dad doing all the work.

Car wash – have a donation only concept - that way people can pay you what they want once they hear what the car wash will benefit.  When we did this in college, we had a couple of people whose job it was to explain the concept to the people who were getting their car washed. they usually got more money because they explained what the money was going toward.

Kid sitting event where we watch little kids in the community for small donation per child on a Friday night

Look at local sports teams who may offer fundraising where portion of group ticket sales go back to your club

Provide an instruction camp to younger players put on by coaches or even older club players and charge a fee for the camp.

Invite area food truck to baseball fields on game night.  We get the word out in advance and they give us a percentage of sales.  Invite the night of registration too and let parents know in advance

Sell signs for your yard with players numbers

Have a community aluminum can or telephone recycling event

Remind parents about corporate matching programs

Have your own tournament with multiple age groups, concessions, parking and vendors

Fast Pitch Fundraiser – This is a great fundraiser for baseball teams.  Set up a radar gun to measure the speed of pitches. Whoever is the fastest in each age group wins a donated prize. Charge a participation fee to raise money.

Face painting booth. Face painting is a fun and easy fundraising idea for older youth. Set up a booth at a local festival or carnival and be sure to indicate to which charity the proceeds will be going

Bake sale - who doesn't like yummy treats??

Pizza Hut or Papa John’s buy one get one free on pizza. Both of these organizations (as well as dozens of others) provide opportunities for earning money back on purchases made by your team or group. 

Flock of Flamingos – “sell” the announcement of a birthday or something special by putting a flock of pink flamingoes in the front yard of someone.  The flock gets purchased by someone as a gift.  Its a small up front investment of the flock - I even saw them at the dollar store - then its just setting up/taking down during specified times for the recipient.

Phoneraiser.com – send in old cell phones and PDAs, laptops. Etc and earn money back for them

Presell baseball mom logo car magnets. Logomagnet.com

Presell baseball mom tshirts or bracelets and then get a cut of each unit sold