How to Raise Money for Club Sports Without Selling Candy Bars

Q: How much can an athlete realistically raise this way?

It varies with the local market and what you can produce, and there is no reliable average. One documented example produced $1,250 against a $375 requirement, from an athlete with essentially no social media audience. The outcome depends on how many businesses you approach and whether you offer something they would otherwise pay for.

Q: Do you need a social media following to fundraise this way?

No. If you are selling content that a business can use in its own marketing, the business is buying an asset rather than access to your audience. That is why an athlete with a tiny or private account can still get paid. Audience matters when selling promotion, far less when selling production.

By NIL Deal Finder Pro Editorial Team

Published: July 24, 2026 · Last updated: August 2026

Quick Answer: Most sports fundraising asks athletes to sell a low-value product to people who buy it out of politeness. A more effective approach is to sell something a local business actually wants — usually content or visibility — at a price that reflects what it's worth to them. The same effort produces substantially more money because you're selling to a marketing budget instead of to a favor.

Every season the same envelope goes home. Your player owes $375. Here's a box of candy bars, or a coupon book, or a link to a donation page to send to relatives.

The math on that is bad, and everyone involved knows it. Families end up buying their own inventory, athletes ask the same twelve relatives every year, and the amount raised is capped by how many small favors a family can spend.

There's a different way to approach it, and it starts by changing who you're asking.

Why traditional team fundraising underperforms

Because it sells a low-value product to people with no reason to buy it, out of a wallet that isn't a business budget.

The structural problems:

The product is worth less than the price. Everyone knows the candy bar isn't worth four dollars. They're buying the ask.
The buyer is a household. Household discretionary money is limited and already spoken for.
It doesn't scale. Your relatives were already going to say yes. There's no twentieth relative.
It repeats annually to the same people, so returns fall each year.
It teaches nothing. An athlete finishes having learned that raising money means asking for favors.

Meanwhile, businesses in the same town spend real money every month trying to reach the exact families sitting in the stands at that athlete's games. That budget is much larger than a household's, and it's looking for something to buy.

The shift: sell something a business actually wants

Instead of asking a business to donate, offer to produce something they'd otherwise pay a marketing budget for.

Local businesses regularly pay for:

Content — photos and video they can use in their own advertising
Local visibility — presence in front of families in their service area
Community association — being seen as a business that backs local kids
Appearances — turnout at their location or an event

Content is usually the easiest sell, because the business ends up holding an asset. A photographer or a small production company would charge them for the same material. They can evaluate that price against a number they already understand.

This is a fundraising strategy, but it's also the same skill set covered in how to get sponsored as an athlete — the difference is that the money goes toward a team requirement instead of into the athlete's pocket.

A real example: a $375 requirement, and $1,250 raised

Here's how it worked for one athlete.

Keilani is a high school sophomore who plays club and JV soccer. Her school required every player on the team to raise $375 for the season.

What she had going in, as an audience:

Two Instagram followers. Not two thousand. Two.
A private account
She dressed for one varsity game all season
She worked the scoreboard

By every metric that sponsorship advice tells athletes to care about, she had nothing to sell.

What she did instead, with coaching from her father — who does this professionally, and that part matters:

Rather than asking businesses to donate to her team, she approached them as someone who could make video content for them. The pitch wasn't "please support a local athlete." It was closer to "I can make videos for your business."

What she raised: $1,250. One thousand dollars for eight videos, and another two hundred and fifty for two more. More than three times her requirement.

Two honest caveats, because they're what make the example useful rather than inspirational:

She had a parent who already knew how to do this and walked her through which businesses to approach, what to offer, and how to position herself. Most athletes don't have that, and pretending she figured it out alone would make the story less useful, not more.

And the number isn't the point. The point is what the number came from: she wasn't paid because she was a good soccer player or because she had an audience. She was paid because she offered a business something it wanted, at a price it recognized.

How to run this yourself

1. Work out what you can actually make or provide. Video, photos, an appearance, social posts, an event. Something with a form, not "exposure."

2. List local businesses that already market to your community. Businesses with banners at fields, local ads, or a customer base that overlaps with the families at your games. Twenty to thirty names.

3. Lead with what they get, not what you need. "I can make short videos for your business" gets a different response than "my team is fundraising." One is a proposal; the other is a request.

4. Price it against what they'd pay elsewhere. What would a small production company charge for eight short videos? What does a month of their local advertising cost? Those numbers make your price legible.

5. Get the terms written down. How many pieces, by when, what they can do with them, how much, paid when. Even a short email works.

6. Deliver more than promised, then ask about next season. This is where a one-time fundraiser becomes a recurring relationship.

The one-page version of the proposal is covered in athlete sponsorship proposals.

What about the rules?

Team fundraising and NIL are different things, and it's worth knowing which one you're doing.

Money raised for a team requirement, paid to the team or program, is ordinarily fundraising and sits outside NIL rules.
Money paid to the athlete personally for their name, image, or likeness is NIL, and for a high school athlete that depends on your state's rules.

The line can blur, particularly if a business pays an athlete directly and the athlete then pays the team. Before you start, ask your athletic director how your school treats it. See NIL for high school athletes for the broader picture.

Two things hold regardless: keep school logos and uniforms out of paid content unless you have written permission, and involve a parent if you're under 18.

Key takeaways

Traditional fundraising sells a low-value product to a household wallet.
Local businesses have marketing budgets and want content and community visibility.
Followers aren't the currency — an athlete with two followers raised $1,250.
Lead with what the business gets, not what your team needs.
Price against what the work would cost them elsewhere.
Know whether you're doing fundraising or NIL, and ask your AD if unsure.

Frequently asked questions

How much can an athlete realistically raise this way? It varies with the local market and what you're able to produce, and there's no reliable average. The example on this page produced $1,250 against a $375 requirement, from an athlete with essentially no social media audience. What determines the outcome is how many businesses you approach and whether you offer something they'd otherwise pay for, rather than your athletic profile.

Do you need a social media following to fundraise this way? No. If you're selling content — video or photos a business can use in its own marketing — the business is buying an asset, not access to your audience. That's why an athlete with a tiny or private account can still get paid. Audience matters when you're selling promotion; it matters far less when you're selling production.

Is this considered an NIL deal? It depends on who gets paid and for what. Money raised for a team requirement and paid to the team is generally fundraising and sits outside NIL rules. Money paid to an athlete personally for their name, image, or likeness is NIL and depends on your state's high school rules. Ask your athletic director before starting, since schools treat this differently.

What should an athlete charge a local business for video content? Price against what the work would cost the business elsewhere — a small production company's rate for a similar number of short videos, or what a month of their local advertising costs. Those comparisons give a defensible number. Charging by what you need to raise produces a figure the business has no way to evaluate.

Can parents help with this? Yes, and for minors they need to. A parent or guardian should be involved in approaching businesses, reviewing any agreement, and handling payment. The athlete can still lead the conversation and do the work, which is where most of the value is, but an adult should be part of the arrangement.

Educational information only. Not legal, tax, or compliance advice. Fundraising and NIL rules differ by school, state, and association — confirm with your athletic director before starting.