If you are the parent of a track athlete or a track athlete yourself, you’ve likely pondered how the team will raise the money that it needs to compete. Most school track teams are woefully underfunded. It takes a good amount of money to buy the equipment, pay the coaches and cover travel costs. Let’s take a look at a few ideas that will raise the necessary funds.
One of the best ways to raise funds for your track and field team is to sell spirit items like decals, magnets, yard signs and other sundries. If you provide something useful, people will be more likely to donate. Focus on creating functional spirit items like magnets or even food. Don’t let the cheerleaders hold the only bake sale in town. Specifically, cookie dough sales have had remarkable success for track and field squads. There are actually companies who sell an array of different flavors and varieties of packaged cookie dough directly to fundraising groups. Rely on a professional organization to supply the product and no customer will question its integrity.
Head on out to the businesses in your area, talk up your fundraiser and ask for donations. Many companies will gladly donate coupons or gift cards/certificates for a fraction of their cost or possibly even free. The track team can then raffle these items off and use the proceeds to fund their travel and equipment costs. Coupons, gift certificates and gift cards will not be a challenge to sell so do your best to convince local business owners and managers to be a part of your fundraiser. It provides their business with valuable publicity, gets their name out in the community and the donations are going to a good cause.
Another great idea is the sale of the Entertainment Book. The books don’t actually require money up front. They are shipped to fundraisers at no charge. The track team then pays for only the books that it sells and takes a nice cut off of the top to put towards the team’s expenses. Although you don’t hear about Entertainment Books that often in the media, they are actually popular. All it will take is the sale of one or two books by each member and the team will be on its way toward raising hundreds of dollars.