Fundraising Ideas for Baseball Teams

Posted by Dan Rohn on 18 May 2022

Is your baseball team in need of a severe cash injection? No matter what age the athletes are at, funding a sport can be incredibly difficult. On an individual level there are uniforms and subscriptions to pay for then when it comes to the team there are competitions to enter (and the travel expenses for them). It’s not an easy task and it’s not simple, however, there are plenty of ways to raise funds. Check out a few of our favorites and see how much you can raise

Hold player sponsorships

Getting a local business to sponsor the team is relatively easy, but why not ask them to sponsor a player instead? You may not know this, but many businesses have a charity pot that they put funds into each year, waiting to be put towards a good cause. Ask around and see how many businesses you can find to sponsor players.

You can create sponsorship packages that fund a player’s kit, travel, and competition entry and in return, businesses receive advertising. It might be on social media platforms, the team’s website, or it could be on the lineup sheet – you could even include a platinum sponsorship package for all of these things. There’s even the potential to have the player’s sponsor on the sleeve of their kit. Opportunities are huge with local businesses, think beyond team sponsorship and look into player sponsors.

Host a hit-a-thon

Baseball is a family sport, which means there are plenty of ways to raise funds with family events. Is there anything more enjoyable than a day out at the ballpark? A hit-a-thon for professional players involves a lot of funds being donated per hit per player, but we like to bring this idea down to the little leagues so that everyone can get involved.

A family day out. How many hits can you make in the day? Pay for 3 balls and see who can hit the most home runs or run the furthest. All you need to do is add up all the participant’s efforts and provide a prize for whoever scores the highest. How many tickets you sell before the event tells you how much money you can put towards the prize. Alternatively, if you know you have an active fanbase and tickets will sell like hot cakes, put the money up front regardless of entries. You just have to be sure you’ll make your money back.

Host a charity game

Spectators love the sport, that or they’re just dedicated parents. Either way, if there’s a chance to get involved by way of a charity game where funds are raised for the team, you can be sure everyone is getting involved. Have adults vs the kids, mix the teams, pull names from a hat, there are many ways to do it, but make it a fun event. 

Playing a game of baseball is just one part of the day. You can also include a family bbq, team highlights of the season film or a pre-season bonding day. Don’t limit your charity game to a short afternoon, maximize your potential and create a big day where everyone has plenty of opportunity to spend their money.

Sell team merchandise

If there’s one thing we do well in the USA it’s wearing our team’s colors with pride. So why not start selling your team’s shirts, caps, accessories and other items. You can brand pretty much any item through online companies these days, all your need is a digital logo. You can purchase them in anticipation of mass takeup or create a small online shop where people can place their orders in advance. A branded phone case might cost you $5 to make but people would be willing to pay $15 for it. Giving you immediate profit.

Host an end of season awards

One of the most successful ways to raise funds is to host an awards evening at the end of the season. You can get players to purchase tickets and businesses to sponsor the awards, meaning most of the funds required to host the event itself are already available. Then, you can add on a multitude of additional fundraising ideas to help boost profits. Think of activities like raffles and auctions for the night. You can put up prizes from the previous season such as the winning ball in a crucial game. Minimal expenditure, maximum gain.

Traditional fundraising ideas for baseball

While all of these are unique to baseball there are plenty of other, more traditional ideas, out there that you can use to raise funds. Think about every fundraising event you’ve ever been to, what was it? Did you take part in a bake sale at a local school? Enjoy a carnival day. Attend a dance or a ball. You may have even put cash in a pot at a store to help out a local team – simple fundraising. 

There is the chance to get creative with your fundraising ideas, but let’s not forget the simple ones that have created fundraising success for decades.

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

Need help running your Baseball 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 maximize 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.