Fundraising Ideas for Cheerleading

Cheerleading is an essential part of the excitement at many sports games around the country. Unfortunately, the cheerleading squad is not often nearly as blessed with financial resources as the team they're supporting. Here are a few fairly simple fundraising ideas for cheerleading that will help to get your squad in gear towards making the money happen!

Host a One-Day Pre-K to 5th Grade Cheerleading Camp

As complicated as this might seem, you really have pretty much everything on hand that you would need to pull off this type of fundraiser. We were just involved with putting one of these on at the local high school.

We had 14 'staff' people, consisting of cheerleaders, cheer coaches, and a few parents. We opened up registration to kids who were 'Pre-K' up to 5th Grade level. We charged $30 per child, and had 75 entrants! We later learned that there were other kids who would've entered, who just didn't know about this one-day event. This event brought in well over $2000 in revenue for our squad!

Of course, there were a few expenses, such as the $7 cost of the customized t-shirts for the entrants, which was included in their entrance fee. There was also a small expense for snacks they were given during the day. But other than that, we had free use of the air-conditioned school gym, and pretty much no other costs!

This fundraising event was conducted by using several 'stations' and the kids were grouped by age, and each group would rotate from station to station. Training topics at the stations included tumbling, jumps, cheerleading cheers, and dance routines. As a final celebration, the group who attended the camp were allowed to perform on the field at Friday night's football game!

This was fairly easy and cheap fundraiser to put on, and raised a very substantial amount of money in one day. There was a very good response to this, as so many of these kids were eager to learn from the cheerleaders they look up to.

Hold a Bake Sale for Donations

This is also a fairly low-maintenance way to raise funds for cheerleading. Have parents/grandparents/supporters bake cakes, cookies, and other items that can then be sold for donations at football games, basketball games, and other school events which the general public attends.

By not setting a price, and leaving the donation amount up to the individual, you'll very likely get a much higher sale amount per item. And other than setting up a few tables, there is very little setup/expense for the squad, as the sale items have already been prepared by the donors!

A Car Wash Can Bring In The Money

Although this one requires a little 'elbow grease', if you can get a large enough showing of people (parents can help, too!), you can go over a whole car in just a couple minutes or so. Keep it simple and quick by doing the outside of the vehicle only.

And, considering people are paying nearly $10 a piece to run through automated car washes these days (which often miss spots on the vehicle), they'd certainly pay that to get the vehicle washed, and know they're helping your squad too.

Partner With Local Fast Food Outlets

You may be surprised at the number of national fast food outlets who offer some type of fundraising opportunity. Whether it's through selling Discount Cards that your donors can use for great deals, or actually working at the restaurant for a few hours one day, these food outlets offer a number of ways to raise the money your squad needs. We even spotted a local cheer squad working a few hours at a Sonic Drive-Inn recently as part of their fundraising campaign!

Be Creative with Fundraising!

There are dozens of ways your squad can raise money... your fundraising is pretty much only limited by your imagination. Our local school has done beef roast sales that brought in a good amount of funds (can you say, 'ready-made dinner'?).

There are also t-shirt sales, dessert auctions, fundraising programs available over the internet, and many other ways meet your squad's financial needs, while having a good time together in the process. So, go on out there and get your fundraising 'game' on!

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Cheerleading Tryouts

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If you've got other cheerleading tips that could be of help, please send them to us at cheercaptain@topcheers.com . We'd love to hear from you!