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Posts Tagged ‘fundraising’

In today’s economic recession, sports programs are being slashed from coast to coast. In order for your program to survive, you will need to take proactive measures to ensure your league’s future. Sports are very important in the development of our kids because of the lessons that are conveyed – sportsmanship, teamwork, selflessness and the concept of working in cooperation with others toward a common goal. 

The ability to conduct successful youth softball fundraising activity can substantially change the number of people who can participate in your league and the quality of their experience. Here are five factors that can positively affect the outcome of your youth softball fundraising efforts:

 • Collaborative Involvement – Fundraising for youth leagues and youth sports must involve all participants, namely, players, coaches, parents, league hierarchy and the community. Fundraising should never be a one-horse show, and it is advisable to have an adult presence at all times. For example, if your youth softball fundraising endeavor is a car wash, players should be prepared to participate in representative uniforms, while coaches and parents can talk to the drivers about the purpose of the fundraising event and the necessity for it. 

• Advertise Your Event – It is a difficult task to run a successful fundraising effort for youth softball if nobody knows about it. Send a fundraising announcement to players’ families, and exhort their assistance through volunteerism. Post flyers in neighborhood shops and stores, and contact your local radio stations and newspapers for free community announcements regarding your event. 

• Contact Your Local Representative – Politics is a way of the world, and you’ll need to play the game to have ultimate success in youth softball fundraising. It is advisable to have one of your league board members involved in local community development meetings. Do not hesitate to make a presentation at one of these meetings to explain your need and enlist support. 

• Contact a Grantwriter – You’d be surprised at how helpful professional grantwriters can be in helping your youth softball fundraising efforts. Grantwriters match donors with worthwhile community efforts, and a good grantwriter could very well put you in contact with a foundation that will help you out with money and equipment.

 • Leverage the Internet – National politics may have shined a light on the power of the Internet, but you might be surprised how having a team Internet presence can affect your efforts. Showcase your photos, videos, teammates and parents to give your promotion a face and leverage any Internet fundraising tools you have available. 

In today’s economic climate, you may have to look “outside the box” to develop fundraising ideas and funding sources. These five factors can help you create a positive outcome for your youth softball fundraising program.

Copyright (c) 2009 AIM Fundraising

When I was in elementary school I never looked forward to the team fundraising drive that always kicked off the Little League season. We were expected to go out and sell candy bars, nuts, wreaths or any number of other items every year. Believe me, it was complete drudgery and I looked forward to it about as much as getting into a fight with my big brother.

Our coach would get us all huddled up and hand us the sales packets and say something like “Go out there and sell lots of stuff.” Off we would trudge and try to hawk our wares completely unprepared for our foray into sales. But what if we had been coached on how to sell and how to present ourselves? It would have been a whole lot easier.

Teach your kids how to sell. Prepare a script for them to learn and rehearse it with them until they are comfortable. It is very hard to sell something with little or no preparation. This will go a very long way toward promoting sales and boosting the confidence of your sales people.

Reward your students for their effort. This can be as simple as posting a list of sales leaders at every practice. This will promote an atmosphere of competition and is something that they are already accustomed to if they are actively participating in a sport.

Set mini goal points and when one of them is reached surprise the leaders with a fun activity. Perhaps you might contact their parents and organize a father/son, mother/daughter, or any combination day out. Go bowling, get pizza, take in a movie as a group. That would be fun. This reinforces the ethics of working hard to achieve a goal an being rewarded is associated with accomplishment.

Once the final goal is reached you might reward the entire team for their effort. You might take one practice period and let your team have a night of fun. Forget all the drills, forget the calisthenics. Just an evening of fun play the game. You might prefer to have no interruption of practice and call a special practice instead.

Another idea that would appeal to many of your athletes is a game where everyone gets to play. Pick 2 team captains and let them choose their team members and then play against each other. Perhaps you could set up a real game complete with cheerleaders and allow the public to attend. The whole idea behind it is to reward their accomplishment as a team. Just make it fun.

If you spend a little time developing the sales person in your kids, and rewarding them for their effort you will find that your fundraiser profits will rise along with the sprit and enjoyment of your sales force.

Sports Briefs: North Tahoe Little League sign-ups next week
North Tahoe Little League sign-ups North Tahoe Little League will have sign-ups on the following dates: Tuesday, March 2 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at North Tahoe Middle School and from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Incline Village Recreation Center; Wednesday, March 3 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club in Kings Beach; and Thursday, March 4 from 3-5 p.m. at Tahoe Lake Elementary School and from 5 …

Read more on North Lake Tahoe Bonanza

Changes coming to Atlantic Little League
As registration for Atlantic Little League nears, organizers want to announce some changes coming to the program.

Read more on Atlantic News Telegraph

DAILY SPORTS BUZZ/Canal Little League holding one more registration
If you live in the boundaries of Canal Little League in the Newark/Bear/Glasgow area and thought it was too late to sign up for baseball, think again.

Read more on The Newark Post

Little League rejects group fundraiser
Sparks flew Monday night at a Georgetown Township board meeting. Little League representatives are angry with a group they say is raising money on the league’s behalf, without its prior knowledge or permission.

Read more on WOOD TV 8 Grand Rapids

Georgetown Little League questions surprise fundraising campaign
Georgetown Little League officials say they want nothing to do with a fundraising campaign announced Monday by the Georgetown Community Foundation to raise $1 million to help the league improve its Jenison-area ball fields.

Read more on The Grand Rapids Press