The Ultimate List of Tennis Club Fundraising Ideas

Posted by Emily Clare on 23 May 2023

Combine the excitement of a thrilling match of tennis with fun and unique fundraising efforts, to create an unforgettable fundraiser for your charity or organization. 

In this article we share some truly brilliant tennis-themed fundraising ideas, from tennis-esque fashion shows to court-theme raffles. Keep reading for inspiration.

What is a tennis fundraiser?

A tennis fundraiser is a great example of how you can bring people together, support a worthy cause, and enjoy a sport that so many people love.

Tennis fundraisers can take many forms, from small-scale community events to large-scale national or international campaigns. They may involve tournaments, exhibitions, raffles, auctions, or other activities related to tennis.

The goal of a tennis fundraiser is to raise funds for a charity or nonprofit organization and create a positive impact in the community. And the funds raised may be used to support various initiatives, such as research, education, advocacy, or community service.

Top tennis club fundraising ideas

Here’s a breakdown of our favorite tennis fundraising ideas, to inspire donations and create lasting memories for all those involved. Discover some truly unique and fun tennis club fundraising ideas below.

1) Create a charity championship

The most obvious place to start is of course playing the game itself! Get competitive with this fun and fast-paced fundraiser, creating a fun tennis championship event that your community can attend, play and enjoy. 

When it comes to finding players for your tennis championship fundraiser, you could make it exclusively for members of tennis clubs only to ensure the game is played at a higher level (and therefore more interesting to attendees). Alternatively, you could put it out to the general public, splitting it up by age groups and playing levels. 

A championship is a great way to gather donations, not only by asking participants to hit a minimum sponsorship target to play, but also by charging tickets for those interested in watching the games. 

Interested? Use our handy fundraising checklist below, for planning for next charity championship event:

• Find a venue that can accommodate multiple tennis courts, spectator seating, and other amenities.
• Decide how you’ll structure your championship and who you’ll allow to play.
• Decide on the ticket prices and sponsorship targets for players.
• Source volunteers for the day or use Givergy’s event staffing solutions to ensure it runs smoothly.
• Find players for your tennis championship. 
• Source a brilliant prize for the winner, ideally gifted from a local or relevant tennis business. 
• Find food and drink vendors for the event.
• Promote your event through flyers, social media, radio etc.

2) Host a tennis fashion show

Who doesn’t love tennis attire? Create a tennis-themed fashion show for your community, featuring a mix of traditional tennis attire, such as white polo shirts and tennis skirts, as well as modern, tennis-inspired clothing. You could even partner with a sports brand that has a tennis range, offering attendees discounts on their products.

Additionally, consider auctioning off tennis-related items, such as autographed tennis balls or rackets, or even some of the clothes modeled during the show, to raise additional funds for your cause.

Ready to get planning? Here’s a handy tennis fashion show fundraiser checklist:

• Organize a playlist with upbeat music to create an energetic atmosphere. 
• Find models of different ages and sizes to walk the runway.
• Find a location (your tennis club if it’s big enough) with space for a runway – you could even organize it on a tennis court to really make it authentic. 
• Organize the different outfits using a variety of classics mixed with modern trends. 
• Set a price for tickets. 
• Organize items to auction off after the fashion show.
• Promote your event through the tennis club, online groups and social media.

3) Host a talk from a tennis legend

Convince a tennis legend to do a talk at your local tennis club and a Q&A afterwards, to attract tennis and sports enthusiasts alike. 

Create a motivating experience where your audience hears from someone who has competed at a professional level, detailing how they achieved this, the challenges they faced along the way, and other interesting topics from their experience.

Of course, you’re unlikely to get Serena Williams popping by for your community event, but, there will be plenty of local professional tennis players who are likely to be proud of what they’ve achieved and will enjoy talking about it.

Set your ticket prices depending on the level of the player (or players if you can convince a few to talk!) to generate funds for your cause or charity. You can do this easily with Givergy’s ticketing services by selling them online via a custom website. 

Your tennis legend event checklist:

• Brainstorm some different players to approach (both retired and current).
• Write your letter or email detailing why you’d love them to do a talk and how it will raise money, plus any incentives you can offer. 
• Once your speaker is confirmed, find a suitable location for your event.
• Set your ticket prices and attendee capacity. 
• Find sponsorship opportunities with local businesses to help support your fundraising efforts.
• Promote your event through social media, flyers, and even ask your speaker if they’d share it with their own followers.
• Organize volunteers for the event, from handling tickets to showing guests to their seats.

4) Create a tennis-themed raffle

A tennis-themed raffle is another fun and exciting way to raise vital funds for your charity or organization. 

From eye-catching tennis clothes to free tennis lessons for beginners – choose prizes that are relevant to the tennis theme but that also appeal to a broad audience, to increase your chances of making it a sell-out event (and raising as much money as possible!)

You should also consider partnering with local businesses or tennis clubs to source prizes and promote the raffle.

The tennis-themed raffle checklist:

• Source your prizes! Remember: variety is key.
• Determine a ticket price that is affordable for most people whilst generating significant revenue.
• Organize a viewing party ahead of the event to build excitement – this can be done via social media to reach more people.
• Decide on the venue for your raffle – either online or in-person.
• Organize your volunteers. 
• Promote your event.
• Publically thank any sponsors and prize donors after your event.

5) Host an all-day tennis-a-thon

Something to really drive sponsorships; convince your tennis club players or anyone interested in your community to take part in an all-day, tennis-a-thon. This unique and often grueling challenge involves playing the game continuously for as long as possible (bathroom breaks permitting!). It makes for an interesting watch for spectators and the challenging aspect means more people will be willing to sponsor your players to take part. 

You’ll likely want to split up your tennis-a-thon by different ages and player abilities, in order to make it both fair and also more fun to watch! 

Funds can be raised both from sponsorship of the players and of course ticket sales to watch your grand event. 

Interested? Here’s a quick checklist to help you to get planning:

• Find a suitable venue that has multiple tennis courts and other amenities, such as spectator seating and refreshments.
• Encourage tennis enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels to sign up for your tennis-a-thon.
• Develop a schedule for the day, including match times, breaks, and awards ceremonies.
• Consider organizing a social event after the tennis-a-thon to celebrate the achievements of participants and encourage additional donations.
• Promote the event through local media outlets, social media, and flyers.

6) Organize a tennis camp

If you really want to pay homage to the sport, then why not create a summer tennis camp for young people, to encourage them to take up tennis.

Your camp could be over a weekend, or over several weeks, and should involve a mixture of free play, tutored sessions, fun games and even a tournament to ensure an engaging event for your attendees.

Ask local coaches and players to contribute to the sessions and consider asking local businesses to donate prizes to make the challenges more interesting.

You could host your event out of your community as a trip, or just run the sessions through the day during the weekends or school holidays.

Here’s an initial checklist to help you plan your tennis camp:

• Create a name for your camp.
• Find volunteers for your tennis camp, ensuring all adults are screened for safeguarding purposes. 
• Decide when you will host your camp – aiming for good weather (but not too hot!)
• Find a venue, either locally or outside of your community. 
• Create a day-by-day plan for your summer camp – making time for both activities, downtime, food and refreshments. 
• Promote your event through tennis clubs, local media, Facebook groups and other social media channels.

Emily Clare

Campaign Success Team Manager – North America

Emily is an experienced and passionate fundraising and events consultant, working with and supporting clients on their special events and fundraising campaigns all over the world.