Fundraising Ideas for Ice Hockey Teams

Posted by Dan Rohn on 20 May 2022

It’s a common misconception that only Canadians and the Northern States enjoy ice hockey. While it may not be as popular in the heat of Louisianna, there are still plenty of teams out there. This means that there are plenty of people looking for fundraising ideas for ice hockey teams. If you’re one of those people, look no further, we have ideas that will suit you no matter where you are in the US, no matter how warm the temperatures are. Take a look and see what suits you – we look forward to hearing about your fundraising success.

Shootouts with the pros

This one will require a little sweet-talking to your local professional goalie. We suggest speaking to the local pro team and talking about your needs for funds, requesting a special visit at halftime from a professional goalie to see if they’ll take part in a shoot out. You’ll be surprised by the positive response you get. You could have easily asked the team for money – but you didn’t – showing that you understand the spirit of fundraising and that you’re a cause worth supporting. 

On the day of the event, it’s all about selling tickets to your penalty shootout. Now, you might host it at halftime as we mentioned, but it could also be after the game for all the players to take part in also. Publicise the shootout beforehand so that anybody can bring down their skates, buy a ticket for $5 and shoot a few pucks to see if they can score against the pros. The best part about this fundraising idea is that you don’t need to hand out a prize for this competition, the prize is quite literally scoring against the pro. They might even get a couple of photo opportunities – priceless memories. 

Trick shot challenges

If there’s one thing we ice hockey fanatics love it’s a trick shot. Moving the puck across the ice, flipping it with the stick, there are plenty of trick shots that have gone down in history. So why not raise funds with trickshot challenges. There are a few ways to go about doing this but we must admit, both will require some social media knowledge. Getting people to submit their entities via social media is a great way to create buzz around the challenge in your community and it also removes any barriers to attending events (including the cost of hiring the rink for the day).

So, what’s the most important thing for setting up a trick shot challenge? A catchy hashtag. It might be the name of the trickshot or the name of your team followed by the word ‘challenge’ or ‘fundraiser’ – just try to make it something easy to remember. Then, it’s simple. 

People raise awareness by sharing their trickshot recording on social media and they enter it into the competition by donating. It’s then about getting the most amount of votes. Now, you can do this with people simply commenting/liking the post or by getting people to donate in dollars. They can donate to the cause, leaving the name of their favourite trickshot in the comment area and the trickshot which raises the most funds – wins. 

A trick shot challenge doesn’t have to be boring and it certainly doesn’t have to be over in one afternoon. Think outside the box for how to raise as much funding as possible.

Chuck a puck

This one is a favourite even among the professional teams. It’s simple, people buy a puck, write their name on it and then at halftime, chuck it onto the ice. The person who is closest to the centre spot is the winner. It’s a simple game and it’s up to you what the winner wins. We suggest it’s a cash prize as it makes the process simple but be careful not to offer up too much. Charge $5 for a puck or however much the puck costs you to purchase – this way if people decide to keep theirs and not throw it, you won’t lose any money. You can decide how much you profit from the event by deciding how much to offer as prize money.

Quick and easy fundraising ideas

Of course, if you’re looking for more generics ways to raise funds you can always go with the classics. Create a bunch of team merchandise to sell at events, print t-shirts, phone cases, caps, sweatshirts and even stickers with the team’s logo and make a profit on them. You could also host quiz nights, raffles, bake sales, and perhaps even put a few buckets at the cash register of your local sports store. No idea is too small when it comes to fundraising.

No matter what fundraising ideas for ice hockey you choose to go with for your team. You’re guaranteed to make some profit so don’t hesitate and deliberate on what to do for too long. Get motivated, get stuck in and start raising funds today.

If you’re interested in further fundraising ideas for sports we have other articles including soccer and basketball. 

Need help running your ice hockey fundraising event?

Don’t forget, if you’re hosting any live fundraising event, check our Givergy as we have a bunch of great features to help run your event and maximise your raise including evening ticketing, silent auctions, prize draws and online donations. 

Run an auction

Either before a specific game or at the actual game itself, gather up a number of great prizes supporters could offer up, and run a mobile bidding auction. These could range from memorabilia of the actual team to local restaurant vouchers and vacations. You could display prizes at the game or simply run the whole thing online, with easy check out options to pay. You could even show a countdown timer at the game on the big screens, adding some excitement and energy to the end of the auction!

Set up a donation drive

If you have a specific cause or reason to raise money, setting up an online donation page for supporters is a great way to achieve your fundraising goal. Very shareable, so easy to create a network effect of online support, you can give details of what the money will be used for, different options to donate, and the option for donors to leave messages. Payments can be collected online too, so it is easy to get the money in the bank!

Dan Rohn

Vice President of Sales

Dan has served in the fundraising space for over a decade, consulting and assisting non-profits all over the world to become more effective and efficient by implementation of interactive digital solutions.