Volleyball fundraising ideas: 10 that work for teams and clubs
The short answer
Good volleyball fundraising ideas start with a concrete goal and an amount. Then you pick an activity that matches the number of volunteers: a product sale or raffle takes little organizing, a tournament or sponsored run more. Agree in advance who manages the money and where the proceeds go.
Volleyball fundraising ideas work best with a clear goal behind them: new balls, a tournament abroad, a youth camp. Here you find ten options, ranked by the work they take, a way to work out the return in advance, and the agreements that prevent arguments about money.
Start with the goal, not the activity
"We need to do something about money" rarely gets anywhere. "Before the summer we want twenty new balls and a ball cart for the youth teams" does. A concrete goal tells buyers and donors where their money goes, it tells volunteers when they are done, and it makes it easy afterwards to show what happened. Put three things on paper before you choose an activity:
- What for. One goal, concrete enough for an outsider to understand.
- How much and by when. The amount you need and the date it has to be in.
- Whose money it is. If one team is raising money, agree in advance whether it goes into the club's account earmarked for that team, and what happens if the team stops existing or there is money left over.
An activity on behalf of the club goes through the board and the treasurer. Rules for raffles, door-to-door collections, selling food and tax on proceeds differ by country and sometimes by city or state: follow your club's bylaws and the law of your own country, and if in doubt, check with your local authority or your federation. Money from businesses in return for something, such as a banner in the gym, is sponsorship and needs a different approach, see finding a sponsor for your sports club.
Ten ways to raise money, from little to a lot of work
| Activity | Work | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Product sale | Low | Margin per item, unsold stock |
| Raffle | Low | License, donated prizes |
| Crowdfunding | Low | Concrete goal, platform fees |
| Friends of the club | Low | Asking and thanking again every year |
| Bottle drive or paper collection | Medium | Not available everywhere, storage |
| Food and drinks at a home match day | Medium | Food safety rules, who staffs the stand |
| Serve-a-thon or sponsored run | Medium | Pledge forms, collecting the money afterwards |
| Grants and foundations | Medium | Application deadlines, reporting afterwards |
| Volleyball camp or clinic | High | Insurance, rules for working with children |
| Tournament for neighbors, companies or parents | High | Gym rental, referees, concessions |
Low-effort fundraisers
- Product sale. Players sell a product to family, neighbors and coworkers: cookies, chocolate, candles, a seasonal product. Ask the supplier about the margin per item and whether you can return unsold boxes, and keep the sale to a fixed period of two to three weeks.
- Raffle. Get local shops and businesses to donate the prizes, and the ticket money is then almost entirely profit. In many countries a raffle is regulated or needs a license, especially with cash prizes or a large number of tickets. Find that out before you print tickets.
- Crowdfunding. An online page with the goal, the amount, a few photos and an end date. Works best for one concrete project, such as a tournament trip or an outdoor court. Factor in the platform fees and send donors an update along the way.
- Friends of the club. Former members, parents and neighbors pay a fixed amount per year and get their name on a board or the website. The work is in asking again every year and in saying thank you.
Fundraisers that take more organizing
- Serve-a-thon or sponsored run. Players find sponsors who pledge an amount per successful serve in an hour, per lap run or per rally the team keeps the ball up. Volleyball lends itself well to this: a serve-a-thon in your own gym is fun to watch and costs just one gym hour. Agree that sponsors set a maximum in advance, so nobody gets a shock afterwards.
- Food and drinks at a home match day. A stand with homemade cake or soup on a day with lots of matches. Mind the food and hygiene rules, and any agreements with whoever runs the concession stand.
- Collecting bottles and cans, paper or clothing. Where such schemes exist, it brings in a steady trickle for little money, but you need storage and transport.
- Grants and foundations. Local governments, sports funds, charitable foundations and corporate funds give money for a particular purpose, such as youth sport or equipment. The work is in the application and the reporting afterwards; watch the deadlines. Shops and banks also sometimes run campaigns in which customers vote for a club.
- Volleyball camp or clinic. A few days of volleyball in the school holidays for local kids, for a participation fee. It brings in money and new members, but it needs coaches, a gym, insurance and the rules that apply in your country for working with children.
- Tournament. A recreational tournament for neighbors, companies or parents with an entry fee and a concession stand that runs all day. How to organize courts, schedule and volunteers is covered in organizing a volleyball tournament.
What does a fundraiser bring in? Count in volunteer hours
The proceeds say little without the work next to them. So work out in advance what an activity brings in per hour that volunteers put into it. Say 12 players each sell 20 raffle tickets and all the prizes are donated. Then you have 240 tickets sold, for about ten hours of work by two organizers together plus an hour per player: about 22 hours, so just over ten tickets per volunteer hour. A tournament with ten volunteers working an eight-hour day costs 80 hours. To bring in as much per hour, that tournament has to raise almost four times as much as the raffle.
Two things count that aren't in the sum. An activity that also brings in members or visibility, such as a camp or a neighborhood tournament, is worth more than its proceeds. And an activity that comes back every year takes much less work the second year, because the plan, the suppliers and the volunteers are already there.
Pick one fundraiser per season and do it well. Three at once ask the same parents and the same neighbors three times. One activity with a clear goal, an end date and a thank-you afterwards usually raises more, and you can repeat it next year.
Ground rules that prevent arguments about money
- One account, the club's. Money never goes into a coach's or parent's personal account. Cash is always counted by two people together, and they write down the amount.
- Taking part is voluntary. No quota per player, and never any link to playing time or the lineup. Not every family can or wants to sell, and nobody needs to know.
- No sellers' leaderboard. You can thank those who sold a lot; a list of who sold little goes nowhere, not even in the group chat.
- Kids going door to door: with agreements. With the parents' permission, in pairs, in daylight, in an agreed neighborhood, and never going inside. Check whether a door-to-door collection needs a permit where you live.
- Show what happened. After the fundraiser: what came in, what it cost, and a photo of the new balls or the camp. Donors who see that will join in again next year.
Money the team raises itself for an outing or tournament follows the same agreements as the team's kitty; those are in running a team fund.
Keeping track of who has paid in
With a product sale or raffle the money comes in per player, and after three weeks nobody remembers who has already transferred their ticket money. Asking about it in the group chat tells the whole group straight away who hasn't paid yet. You don't want that, and it is also one of the reasons a team's WhatsApp group gets stuck.
A club on the Club plan has the Fees section in the club dashboard, for the club admin and the treasurer. Create a fee for the fundraiser proceeds, with the amount per player and a date, and use Add a whole team to put a whole team on the list in one go. For each person you set the status to Open, Paid or Waived. Players and parents see their own open fee on their dashboard, and nobody sees what someone else still owes. Koach doesn't process payments itself; you can add a payment link as text.
You announce the fundraiser to all members with one message from the club, see sending an email to all members. What else the club section includes and how to request it is on the page for clubs; there is no trial period on Club. What the plans cost is on the pricing page.
14 days free, no credit card. Start with your own team; Fees and the rest of the club dashboard come with the Club plan.
Try Koach with your teamFrequently asked questions
How do you raise money quickly for a sports club?
It goes fastest with an activity that takes little organizing: a two- to three-week product sale, a raffle with donated prizes or a crowdfunding page for one concrete goal. Make sure you have a clear goal and amount, an end date and one person who keeps track. Activities such as a tournament or camp often bring in more, but take months of preparation.
Can a sports club hold a raffle?
That depends on the country and sometimes on the city or state. In many countries a raffle is regulated or needs a license, especially with cash prizes, a large number of tickets or tickets sold outside the club. A small raffle on a club day sometimes falls under lighter rules. Check with your local authority or the regulator in your country before you print tickets.
Does a club have to pay tax on fundraising proceeds?
That differs by country and depends on the kind of activity and its size. A product sale, a donation and sponsorship with something in return are often treated differently. Check with your treasurer or a tax adviser, and never promise donors or buyers a tax benefit yourself.
Can youth players go door to door to sell something?
Yes, with the parents' permission and clear agreements: in pairs, in daylight, in an agreed neighborhood and never going into anyone's home. Only let young children go with an adult. Also check whether selling or collecting door to door needs a permit where you live.
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