Softball Tips - A Great Fundraising Technique

Last week, I was talking on the phone with Mike, one of my customers whose 16 years old daughter plays short stop  on a very competitive travel team.

Just like many young softball players, she eats, sleeps  and breath's softball and her dream is to play college ball. Her dad totally supports her and is very proud of her (I  could tell listening to him!).

During our conversation, I almost fell off my chair when  he told me how much money he will spend this year just  on softball.

A little over $6000.00!!! Wow! That's a lot of moolah…

That includes team fees, tournaments and travel expenses,  his own hotel and gas (gas alone is getting pretty expensive),  uniform, high-tech bat, cleats, hitting lessons, training  facilities fees, etc. When you add things up, that's one  heck of a bill to play softball which is suppose to be a  highly accessible sport.

Not anymore I guess.

So, I asked him if the team did any king of fundraising or  had sponsors to help off-set the cost of the season.

He said that with a 16U team, most parents are really tired  of fundraising as they have done a lot over the years and  that most fundraising initiatives are time-consuming and  don't give a great return on investment. As for the sponsors, they have a few but they are harder and harder to come around.

I told him that I totally understand since I've been through  this as well as a coach.

However, he told that last year, they did one fundraiser that  worked very well and they are doing it again this year. They  sell subscriptions to Softball Today Magazine to other softball
players, coaches, and parents and the magazine gives them a  50% commission on every sale. They sell subscriptions to Softball Today Magazine to other softball players, coaches, and parents and the magazine gives them a 50% commission on every sale.

What I found interesting from what he said is that unlike other types of fundraising, you don't feel like you are "bugging" people. You just have to seek out fellow softball enthusiasts (Fast pitch or Slow pitch) in your area and in most cases; it's a very easy sell.

I immediately told myself I should tell my subscribers about this since it's always hard to find fundraising techniques that work well and are easy to do.

So today, I gave a call to Robert Campbell, the publisher of Softball Today Magazine and asked him more details about it. I happen to know him since I write columns for the magazine on a regular basis.

He told me that the fundraiser works for both fast pitch or slow pitch teams, and rec. leagues as well (just so you know - Softball Today deals with both fast pitch and slow pitch. It really is a great magazine and it's totally worth the subscription by the way).

Like my customer Mike told me, they give you 50% for each yearly subscription that you sell. You can even win the chance of having your team sponsored by DeMarini. There is no minimums and you get paid immediately when you send in the subscriptions that you sold. You can even make an extra profit if you get another team to register to the fundraiser.

I definitely think that you should check it out especially considering how terribly expensive softball can get. Isn't it crazy?

Fore more information about the fundraiser and the magazine:

Softball Today Magazine