Hi everyone,

As some of you know, I run a free youth academy in West Los Angeles. I've always paid for everything out of my own pocket and it's starting to pack a punch. I have about 25 kids in my academy (u6 to u10) and we're going to start scrimmaging other local clubs soon. I'd like to buy all the kids uniforms. Outside of just asking the parents for money to pay for the uniforms, what types of fundraising would you suggest for us? How does one go about getting one going for a team and how do you all approach your families about it? Also, we'd like to look into finding sponsors, so any tips on that approach are welcome too.

Thanks!

My son and daughter play for Celtic Fc. Both of their teams are doing a fundraiser selling beef jerky. Here is how it works; each player is selling 3 boxes of beef jerky. each box contains 25 bags at $2 a piece. we get $1 and the distributor gets $1. In our fundraiser we stand to make close to $2,400 in about 2 1/2 weeks. The beef jerky comes in two flavors(peppered and teriyaki) and it is very easy to sell. If you are interested, contact Dave Castillo at DNC Fundraising (310-291-2219)

Thanks Mike! Do you know if there are alternatives to jerky, or is that the only product option? Thanks again for the help :)

Thanks Mike! Do you know if there are alternatives to jerky, or is that the only product option? Thanks again for the help :) I beleive that beef jerky is all that they do. Here is their website;http://dncfundraising.com/. Good Luck

Be sure to pick a product that will work. Other than the girl scouts selling thin mints, it is exhausting to react to the constant onslaught. See's candy is somewhat rich in taste and price. M&M's and Buttefiinger candy bars that are the same as in the checkout counter just don't seem the same. We got 6 Christmas wreaths now from the different fundraiser's over the years because we could not say no....and they last for years. Christmas trees fell out of favor by the local Y (http://about<b></b>:blank#) because of all the competition that sprung up during the holidays. Beef Jerky may not work for lots of folks with teeth issues...and if the family is not a beef jerky family, then there might be more no's than you would like. We got a subscription to Newsweek, and the news is always old in this digital age.

One of the south county High Schools (I forget which) sold poinsettias leading up to the Christmas Holidays. They sold them for the same price as the mass merchandisers. When the box was brought into our house, I happened to notice it was from the same nursery that Lowe's used, and in the same boxes. Poinsettias are disposable...so after the holidays, they are disposed of. If the lady of the house is going to buy them, they usually buy a bunch...we got our 6 at 6 bucks in a box still packed by the nursery.....And if you get the customer in year one, you keep the name on file and get back to them the next year. The team always got their quota, so the emotional strain from having to call relatives in a distant state was removed because it was a smart product to sell. It really is stressful on the kids and parents to sell something if the rejection rate (the number of people that say 'no') is high.

My point is, think of a product that is disposable and not necessarily edible. If people are going to buy the product, they would just as well give the money to support the local fundraising effort instead of giving the money to an out of town mass retailer when given the choice. (Perhaps toilet paper would be a good idea!) Put your entrepeneural sales hat on and think outside the box.

Also don't overlook sponsorship. Some local business may like the idea of a logo on the jersey. It is surprising more teams do not follow in the footsteps of United FC with the America's Tire Logo. I do not have knowledge of how much money this represents to the club, but for the business, it is effective advertising and for the club, it is real money. As a manager, it is also a more effective use of your time, and you control the relationship with the funding source instead of having to manage and depend on less than enthusatic team members.....so you have less stress.

Of course, you can always charge for the other team that are the visitors on your fields when they play your team to park at your facilities. That idea seems to have legs these days.

Also don't overlook sponsorship. Some local business may like the idea of a logo on the jersey. It is surprising more teams do not follow in the footsteps of United FC with the America's Tire Logo. I do not have knowledge of how much money this represents to the club, but for the business, it is effective advertising and for the club, it is real money. As a manager, it is also a more effective use of your time, and you control the relationship with the funding source instead of having to manage and depend on less than enthusatic team members.....so you have less stress.

Thanks SO much for all the tips guys, it really helps. I'm particularly interested in the above sponsorship suggestion. So do you literally start knocking on local business doors? How have you guys approached businesses? I would like to e prepared with facts showing the benefits to the company you know? Have something that proves sponsorship works. Also, what do sponsors normally pay for? We only need uniforms at this point, but do they also pay for other things, like fees? Who here has actually taken on a sponsor? Please tell me your experience, especially how you approached them initially.

Thanks again!

Sorry, I really do not know how much United FC benefits. From the outside looking in, it looks like it works for them. You might want to track club management down yourself and hear about the value directly from them..you are not in a competition with them for advertisers...so I can only expect them to be helpful.

Tripped across this reference in another thread...fyi

http://www.coastsoccer.com/CSL-Rules-2010.pdf
F. The CSL BOD must approve all advertisement (including sponsors) on uniforms.

But if United's unitform is approved, things should not be too tough.

Thanks Marty, I'll look into it. If anyone else has experience with sponsorship please share the process you went through to secure the sponsor.

Thanks!

There is another good fundraiser The Scratch card, each card has a potential of being worth $100, you pay $20 for it and make $80 profit, there are about 30 bubbles to scratch and whatever amount is revealed is the amount the person would donate its anywhere between $1-$5 . We ordered 15 and got 2 free, they will personalize for you. We were only obligated to pay $20 x 15 = $300 and with the two free made up the difference. We made $1400.00 in 2 weeks. For more information go to www.fundraisersuperstore.com (http://www.fundraisersuperstore.com) .

Thanks beach, I just sent away for one of their packages to look at.

Make sure the kids don't eat all the candy! If you can get their parents to help, I would recommend checking out an online fundraiser. Cheetahfundraising.com has a free soccer fundraising program (http://www.cheetahfundraising.com/advantages/sports-fundraiser/soccer-fundraiser/) that works by sending out emails to supporters and then they purchase a magazine subscription or simply make a donation. We used this for a lacrosse team this spring and the players made over $5 per email on average.