Ideas for Fundraising and Surviving Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities can be expensive. Not only the cost of the activities, but the cost of going to the games, concessions, and other expenses that may arise.

My son has been involved in sports since he was in 1st grade. My daughter has been in ballet since she was three. He is now 13, she is 7. To be honest, the cost of these activities are very hard on our budget. Especially lately. My son this year decided to narrow his sports down to only one and focus on basketball. He was asked to play on a summer tournament team. The estimated cost is around $1000. The cost includes practice gyms, uniforms, coaching fees, tournament fees, and insurance. Hello, I lost my major source of income the minute school was out. The teacher I sit for does not bring her baby for me to watch during the summer months. Imagine that.

So rather than sell my kidneys, plasma and my children’s vital organs in order for him to live out his team’s aspiring dreams of NBA stardom. I get creative.

I created a board on Pinterest called Fundraising of course and started my research. I needed something that he and possibly even his team could get involved in. After all, if these boys want to play I think they are old enough to work along with us parents to reach that goal.

Here are a few ideas that I passed along to the team mom for possible use now and in the future.

1. Sonic Community Cards- sell for $5 each 100% profit. Each card has a minimum value of $17. 

Who needs a card or ten? These make great teacher gifts! I can mail. 

2. Little Ceasars

​3. Krispy Kreme

4. Restaurant nights. Below is a list, certainly not all inclusive. Most of these you don't have to be present for, you just make sure the word is out that your team/organization is holding the fundraiser and either send a flyer or have them mention your organization to get a percentage of the before tax ticket value. You will of course need to organize and consult with your local restaurant manager beforehand for arrangements.
Applebee’s
Arby’s
Cheesecake Factory
Chili’s
Chipotle
Fuddruckers
Outback Steakhouse
Panda Express
Panera
Red Robin
Subway
T.G.I.Friday’s
On the Border
Papa John’s

5. Banner- Sponsor banners. Get 10 logos for the banner at $100 each... Bam $1000. Get the banner company to in kind donate with their logo then you are not out of pocket any money..

6. Big item donation/raffle. ex: iPad, vehicle, Playstation, etc.

7. Host a tournament

8. Carwash

There are a lot of fantastic ideas on my Pinterest board, but probably our best resource was right under my nose. In addition to #1 above, I already crafted Spirit Flip Flops for proud sports moms and girls who play sports. So, I used my Facebook and Instagram to get the word out and my fingers got busy. See my FlipFlop board or my Facebook album for more of my work.  So far my son has raised about $200 on just FlipFlops alone. (I keep $5 of every $15 pair to reimburse myself for expenses)  Let me know if I can make you a pair or three! 

How do I keep actual game attendance costs at a minimum? Obviously, there are a few expenses that are beyond control like spectator tournament entry fees. So far these have been up to $7 per person per day- two to three day tournaments. Ouch. I can control expenses such as concessions and food. I am a sports bag Moma. Snacks and drinks are ready to go. Some of my favorite snacks to pack are pretzels, crackers, grapes, string cheese and bottled water. 

Another thing that I am preparing for are the out of town tournaments. Offers.com has excellent go to savings and rebates on hotels. I will definitely be utilizing these savings. What about gasoline? Do you have a local supermarket that partners with a fuel center to save at the pump? I do. I earn 3 points for every $50 I spend in groceries in a single or multiple transaction before tax at my local Reasors grocery store. This is a 3 cent savings per gallon at the pump, with no limit as to how much I can accumulate. The points expire after 60 days though.

These are only a few of my fundraising and money saving ideas as a sports mom. Maybe some of these ideas can help your team, club or organization out.  I would love to hear other frugal suggestions and ideas that you have tried.




Disclosure: I am not being compensated by Offers.com, Reasors or any of the restaurants mentioned in this this post. Portions of this post may appear as a guest post on the Offers.com blog at a future date.