Posted on 11/13/2020 7:55:25 AM PST by RayBob
Please excuse the off-topic, personal post. I am looking for some suggestions and ideas. My son's 12U baseball team will participating (hopefully) next summer in the Cooperstown Dream Parks Baseball Tournament. For those unfamiliar with this, it is a big deal in youth travel baseball. 130 teams from all over the country (and even international teams) travel to Cooperstown, NY to play in this tournament. The kids will play in a minimum of 6 games. They live in barracks at the campus (with their coaches), and eat together, live together, etc. for the week. It is a once in a lifetime experience for these kids and very often marks their transition from childhood.
The tournament has a very large cost. The tournament fee itself is over $20,000. With all the other costs, such as uniforms, equipment bags, etc., the costs mount pretty quickly. (This is all on top of what the families will have to pay themselves for travel costs, hotel/house rental/food etc., which is not included in the team costs.) So teams hold all sorts of fundraisers to raise the money to go. Usually, it's events like cornhole tournaments, spaghetti dinners, Monte Carlo Nights, etc. Unfortunately, in this age of Covid-19 and associated restrictions, many of those options are not available, especially here in Tom Wolf's Pennsylvnaia and the very blue Allegheny County.
We are trying to fill the gap with raffles, and seeking sponsorships, but with a lot of businesses shut down or hurting, there aren't many looking to sponsor a youth baseball team and you can only hold so many raffles before people stop buying tickets. We tried a GoFundMe account, but again, people aren't as interested in helping a bunch of kids play baseball when the competition for their dollars is the 3 year old who needs a transplant, etc.
There are 12 kids on the team. A couple of the families can afford to kick in a few grand to cover their kid's share of the cost, but the rest of the families are not able. Some are struggling and are going to have problems covering their own travel costs, let alone kick in funds for the team expenses.
So I am looking for some suggestions for things that we could do to fundraise in a world where we can't have gatherings of more than 50 people. Hopefully someone here has been through a similar situation and may have some potential solutions that we have not thought of at this point. I would appreciate any (serious) suggestions. Thanks.
Democrap math? more like $300
We’ve sold gaiters as a fundraiser. We got them at $3.50 each and sold them for $10. We had a baseball design and one with the logo and mascot of our school district. They were decent sellers and we made a profit, but we are still sitting on about 100 of them.
Maybe a local fire hall will help you host a spaghetti and meatball supper or a pancake and sausage breakfast. Make it all to go if you have to - drive up and grab your grub.
How about social distancing hoops for your fundraiser? I think we used to call them Hula-hoops (in sweet days gone by.)
The dems should absolutely go wild over them. /s
We play in about 6-8 tournaments a season, plus spring and fall travel leagues. We play primarily in local tournaments sponsored by community leagues and end up with a trophy more times than not, but also play in open tournaments with AAU teams. We hold our own and have even taken second in open tournaments. We give the kids a chance to play baseball all summer long. It keeps them active and they have fun. Will any of these kids have a future in baseball? Who knows. Some will play in high school and college. A couple may go on to do more... or maybe not. These boys just enjoy the game and the core of the team has been together since they were 7. Hopefully, they will continue to play and have fun.
Yep. I can’t even count the zeros......
Your team’s mistake is evident when you write — “you can only hold so many raffles before people stop buying tickets.”
Because that is true, you need a $100 per ticket raffle. Advertise that you will sell a maximum of 300 tickets and that the only prizes are: (1) $10000 (in small print “or 50%, if less than 200 tickets are sold”); and (2) 5 x $100. Advertise that “Covid-permitting, the drawings will be held on April 1, 2021 (MLB opening day) at a baseball themed event (with peanuts, cracker-jacks, hot dogs and beer).”
If you don’t live in a community that can support this type of raffle, the kids should probably not be going to a $20K baseball tournament.
Just for the record, given your response, we sold “meat tickets”, a raffle where we sold 1,000 tickets for $10 each, with the winner based on the PA daily number drawing. The prize was about 200lbs of fresh from the butcher beef, chicken and pork, plus a freezer chest to keep it in. We did a couple tip board raffles, selling $10 chances with a maximum of 100 tips, for a Yeti Cooler and cups, and a second with a $400 gift card for the liquor store. We are currently selling $20 tickets, with a maximum of 500 tickets for a $1,800 Prada purse. The problem with the raffles is that keeping track of it all, especially the tip boards which are done on social media with a live drawing, is a bit of a PITA to administer. We are going to be selling $10 tickets that will pay between $25-$200/day for a month based on the daily number, and another round of hoagie sales. We are doing a lot of raffles and they are generating significant funds, but we need ideas for other fundraisers. We have had events cancelled because of Covid rules and restrictions. We are just looking for some new ideas.
Go for the gold. Contact the sporting goods manufacturers’ corporate PR offices. Rawlings, Easton, Wilson (now owns LouisvilleSlugger), Adidas, Victus, etc. They all have funds set aside for promotional donations. You may not get one to pick up the entire tab remaining, but if you can get two or three donations it could make a huge difference.
My H.S. made bank running card game fundraisers - Euchre tournaments where 50% went to the school, and the rest to the H.S...
I like your idea - I’m in for two tickets...
Umm... sale of 100 is a $300 margin not $3000.
Yep, need to go back to school and take math again. But at my age it
would be a waste of time as you all pointed out. Have a good one.
I don’t know if this is helpful, but the team’s around our town do plate suppers, sell pork roasts, & maybe hams with Easter coming up.
Good luck!!
Teams
Chico’s Bail Bonds?
As some have already suggested...go big or go home.
It is going to be the big box retailers who might be more willing to sponsor the home team.
Second use social media to your advantage. Does the team have a Facebook Page or Instagram account. Start by creating content posts telling their story. 12 kids? That’s a lot of content to post and then link it back to your Go Fund Me page. You might need parental permission but have the kids video themselves talking about what it means to go to this game. Video of them practicing. Video of you saying why these kids are heroes for looking forward, examples of courage, highlight what each kid does best for the team. Again, link that story back to your Go Fund Me page. Post it to the team feed and then hashtag it for your community, the community stores, shops, and big box locals. Maybe see if a local social media marketing company is willing to manage your campaign as a donation of time?
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