39 Creative Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas (That Actually Work in 2025)
- Stadium Sports Apparel
- Jul 9
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 11
At Stadium Sports Apparel, we know fundraising isn’t just about covering costs—it’s about building team spirit, loyalty, and pride. Whether you need money for new uniforms, travel tournaments, or equipment, the right fundraiser can unite your athletes, families, and community.
To help, we’ve put together 39 youth sports fundraising ideas that are fun, effective, and proven to work. From team spirit wear fundraisers to creative community events, you’ll find plenty of ways to raise money while showing off your team pride.
Spirit Wear Fundraisers & Custom Gear (High-Profit Ideas)
If you want fundraising ideas that raise money fast and build team pride, nothing beats custom gear. These sports team fundraisers work because families and fans love showing support.
Team Spirit Wear Sales – Selling T-shirts, hoodies, and hats with your logo is one of the most popular fundraising ideas for sports teams. Everyone wants to show support of the team AND get something fun to wear in exchange. You can take pre-orders or capitalize on impulse buys and cold nights by selling items at the concession stand or field. Contact us to get your design started.
“We’ve Got Your Back” Shirt Campaign – Highlight players’ names and numbers while raising money through shirt sales.
One team made $600 selling sponsorships on the backs of the shirts. Friends, out of town family members, and businesses all paid to get their names on the back of players' shirts.
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Highlight sponsors or family members who have supported the team with these "We've got your back" shirt Online Team Stores – Launch a free online store with Stadium Sports Apparel so parents and fans can shop without coaches managing orders. Just let us know you want it to be a fundraiser store!
Sponsor-Logo Shirts – Give local businesses exposure while helping your team raise funds. Sell companies spots on the back of a shirt. Send us your logos for the front and the business logos for the back and then your players will have a shirt they can wear out in town or to practice.
Fan Gear Bundles – Package a shirt, hat, and tumbler for the ultimate supporter pack.
Seasonal Spirit Wear – Limited-edition holiday or awareness gear (pink shirts, Christmas hoodies) creates urgency and excitement. Also can double as tournament uniforms!
Community Fundraisers for Sports Teams
Community events raise money while strengthening relationships. These are great fundraising ideas for baseball, softball, and youth football teams because they bring fans and families together.
Car Wash – A hands-on classic that gets players involved. Establish your car wash in a bustling location and start working hard. Requesting donations instead of a fixed fee per car often results in earning more money than just charging for the wash itself!
Hit-a-Thon / Shoot-a-Thon – Pledges per hit, basket, or free throw make this fun and profitable.
Fun Run or 5K – Charge an entry fee and sell custom event shirts.
Restaurant Night – Partner with a local restaurant to donate a portion of sales.
Movie Night – Host a community screening with concession sales.
Youth Sports Clinics – Players or coaches run a clinic for younger athletes.
Tailgate Party – Food, games, and fan gear before the big game.
Trivia Night – Community teams compete while raising funds for yours. Charge an entrance fee to play trivia. Have a prize for the winning team. Make a night of it and sell food and drink.
Egg My Yard – Around Easter time you can sell your services hiding pre-filled eggs in people's yard. One team listed 30 eggs for $20, 50 eggs for $35 and 100 eggs for $60.
Cornhole tournament – Set up a game of bags and charge an entry fee to play. Winners take a cut of the money.
Bingo Night - Set up a bingo tournament charge a set amount per card. Have prizes donated. Play 5 in a row, but also you can do all around the outside, or a just the corners.
Poker Tournament - Have a certain donation to buy-in initially, and then allow rebuys. Play poker until one person wins!
Golf Tournament - Rent a golf course and host a tournament. Have an entry fee and teams of 4 or 5. Have fun things at the holes including a yard of string for putting, hitting with a wiffle ball, hitting off of a toilet--all available for an additional fee.
Easy Fundraising Ideas (Low-Cost, High Return)
Looking for easy fundraising ideas for youth sports teams? These quick wins are simple to organize and still effective.
Bake Sale – Get some delicious goodies cooking and sell them and local events or games.
Concessions Stand – Consistent profits during games and tournaments.
Snack & Beverage Sales – Quick setup with great margins.
Popcorn or Candy Sales – A favorite for schools and travel teams. This company allows you to sell popcorn as a fundraiser https://www.doublegood.com/home/
Spirit Night at Local Shops – Partner with retailers for shared sales.
Calendar or Pick a Date Fundraiser – Post a calendar online, allow family and friends to pick a date. For the date they pick they pay that amount. If you fill the calendar, each player earns nearly $500!
Alcohol Fundraiser – Get each family to donate a bottle and then sell raffle tickets and one lucky supporter walks away with it all.
Superbowl Squares Fundraiser - Put an 100 square grid (10 by 10) up, sell squares. Draw numbers 0 through 9 at random and place them along the grid. At the end of each quarter the person who has the square, wins part of the pot. At the end of the game, the person who wins gets a little more. If you charge $10 per square and pay out $25 at quarters 1-3 and $50 at the end, you can make $875!
Creative Sports Fundraising Ideas (Fun & Unique)
Sometimes the most memorable fundraisers are the most creative. Try these unique sports team fundraising ideas to stand out in your community.
Recycling Drive – Turn cans and bottles into cash. This is easiest if you live somewhere that has a bottle deposit.
Auction, Silent or Out Loud – Collect donations from local businesses and sell raffle tickets. Suggestions include personal training, private lessons from local baseball training facilities, cycle bar, tennis lessons, restaurant gift cards.
Raffle – Always a crowd favorite at games. Ask local businesses for items to raffle off.
Yard Sale – Have all team members go through their house and find items they no longer want. Have a yard sale and sell it off for some quick cash.
Penny Wars – Fun, competitive, and works well for schools or leagues with multiple teams. Participants earn points for their team by adding pennies and subtract points by adding silver coins and bills to their own or other teams' containers.
Team Calendar Sales – Sell calendars with team photos and schedules.
50/50 Raffle – Easy, high-energy fundraiser for game days. The idea behind this fundraiser is that one lucky winner also gets cash! Sell as many tickets as you can. Some do a flat dollar amount per ticket, others give more chances to win with higher amounts. For example, $2 a ticket, or 3 tickets for $5. Or even $5 a ticket and $20 for 5 tickets. A winning ticket is drawn and that person wins half the pot. If you sell $100 in tickets, the winner gets $50, and so does your team.
Helmet Shakes or Bucket Donation at a Local Store – Ask a store if you can set up outside with a donation jar. Have the kids dance, or do pushups, or anything to squeeze some extra donations out.
Lottery Scratch Off Board – Purchase a bunch of lottery tickets. Resell them 1 for $10, 3 for $25. Winners collect their lottery tickets. Hopefully when they win the grand prize they'll give you a cut too!
Sweat Equity – See if there is a job that they can do for a business or school that will earn them some quick cash. Ask local neighbors if they need lawns mowed or raked. Ask schools if they need bleachers cleaned.
Hit Pledges – Collect pledges that people will pay per type of hit, $1 for single, $2 for double. Each person gets 5 pitches and swing for the fences!
Home Run Fundraiser – Have participants pay a fee to enter the home run competition. Whoever hits the most home runs wins. Players may enter multiple times. The winner can win half the pot, a certificate, or just bragging rights!
Scratch Off Card Fundraisers – This is a slightly different take from the calendar fundraiser. You purchase a card and each card has 50 dots ranging from $0.50 to $3. The person scratches off 2-3 spots and donates the amount shown. Each card nets $100. https://easy-fundraising-ideas.com/products/scratch-card-fundraisers/
Someone said they made their own by using a laminated card and white out.
Gift Card Boards – Have each family turn in a $10 (or more!) gift card or get them donated. Then create bundles of four to six cards. Sell raffle tickets to win each bundle.
Dunk Tank – Rent a dunk tank sell 3 balls for $5 and have the kids or mom dunk coaches and dads.
Trash Bag Fundraiser – Everyone uses trash bags...why not have them purchase them from you? This company sells them in bright colors as a reminder of your team. TrashBagFundraiser.com
Pay to change the walk up song – Pay $5 or $10 to change the song to a song of your choice. Just make sure the kids are aware that their song may change or it may throw them off their game!
Smoke Boston Butts - Charge $30 to $40 have a person who loves to smoke cook them all for you. We've found dividing them up into 2 lb and 4 lb packages really helps prevent the two person family from ending up with too much and the 5 person family with not having enough.
Final Thoughts on Fundraising for Sports Teams
Every one of these sports team fundraising ideas does more than raise money—it builds pride, loyalty, and community. From custom spirit wear to youth sports clinics, your team can find the right fundraiser to reach your goals.
At Stadium Sports Apparel, we’re more than just a uniform provider—we’re sports parents ourselves. That’s why we make it easy to launch your own team store fundraiser or design custom gear that gets fans excited.
Ready to raise money and build team pride? Launch your team store today or design custom uniforms with Stadium Sports Apparel.
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