Softball Fundraising vs Fundlosing

[moneyspender]

Hey Heybucket. Why is no one taking on softball fundraising.

My DD's org just finished there fundraiser. here are the numbers. 50 girls in the org. 6500 made. that amounts to 130 per player. Money is supposed to go to be reserved for national tournaments.

Each family member must sell 4 tickets at 35 each. we all know parents buy all the tickets because all our friends kids are playing softball, basketball soccer, etc...So we as parents suck it up and by all the tickets 140.00

parents required to support gift baskets 35.00
8 drinks purchased at fundraiser for my wife and I at 5 each. 40..00
waiter tip 8.00
mileage to get to fundraiser 20.00
50/50 raffle and other donations 30.00 ( some parents donated 100 plus)
TOTAL spent at fundraiser 273.00

SO ORGS.,, Do the math. 273.00 spent per family, 130.00 earned per family. That is a loss of 143.00.

Somehow the orgs think they earned 6500. when they actually lost there parents 133.00 times 50 players 6650.00.

I guess its like most of our population believing obama care is free and social security is a benefit.

With six Fundraisers in fall and spring. And an average loss of 143.00. That.s nearly a 700.00 loss per year. When will the Org's learn that it is cheaper for the parents to pay there own way, And all fundraisers are actually fundloses..And since this Org says the money goes to nationals. Just let us pay our own way. and save us money.

I would like to hear from the bucket to see if I am the only one who understands softball economics???

[Safebyahare]

This post should be on the big screen. (fastpitch forum)
It's a great question.

[BAM2]

Good first post Moneyspender. With 2 in travel I understand. You can only ask the same people so many times, let alone the people your lives are associated with, are into sports and trying to do the same thing.
Any your right, if you can't sell It, you end up buying it anyway. It would be pretty cool to see what we could actually pay and not do fundraiser. I've been on teams where some of the parents just can't pay dues, so a lot of the fundraising was covering them. Plan ahead, raise the dues if need be, parents this is where we are traveling to, make arrangements.
By the way, I have some golf tickets, anyone interested

[izicsz]

Moneyspender,

I am totally with you on this one. This years big organizational fundraiser for my DD was brutal. 50 bucks a ticket plus drink costs! I was required to sell 8 tickets. I had to donate an item for a raffle as well. What ever happened to the spaghetti feed with food donated by your local grocery store and prepared by volunteer parents? Just needed to cover the cost of renting a space big enough for everyone to eat. Maybe a DJ or small band for entertainment. Say $20 - $25 per person.

Our biggest fundraiser this year was a tamale sale. Local Mexican bakery. Pay by the dozen and get a cut of the cost, 15 - 20 percent. It was easy except for the distribution part of it. However, it was well worth it! The use of social media really made a huge difference.

Dine and donate nights at your favorite local restaurants. Again, 20 percent of the bill donated to the team.

I am with Bam2 as well. You know what it is going to cost you to have your DD play travel ball. Pay it yourself. However, I am all about supporting girls that have the ability to play at a high level but, may not have the ability to pay the costs to play on a travel team. Certain situations need to be addressed on a case by case situation. I have helped players in the past with uniform costs, equipment costs, etc.

[fontana10!]

I am also confused about all this softball fundraising crap. Both of my son's played travel for years and I can count on 1 hand how many fundraisers we did. All were poker parties and turned out to be very nice. However, this softball fundraising is a joke. We did a fundraiser last season and after my wife and I donated $25, as well as worked the event for 5 hours, we came away with $55 towards my child. This year we are required to sell over $400 worth of tickets and in return our team will receive less than 50% of the total earned. The other portion goes to the organization's president. So with over 10 teams in the organization, that's a nice piece of change.

[off the walls]

Finally some one has said something Ive been screaming about for years. With a daughter in travel ball and a son in high school ball. It adds up quick. luckily only one fundraiser for softball this fall. Just an FYI. Boys high school ball is going the same way. The school coach decides on the fund raiser. The boys who did not sell there tickets had to leave practice and walk to the local store and stand outside to sell tickets. It is way out of control. Just tell us up front the cost and we will get it covered.

[Hurricane]

It is a racket. I know of one organization that not only makes you sell raffle tickets, but also forces you to pay a huge some into some Poker Party. I'm not sure where all the money went either. There was no accounting of the money stream. I wonder if some of this "fundraising" is legal?

[eclipse09]

Not a big fan of raffles. They only work if you can get donations from businesses and not make parents pony up a gift.

Poker tournaments are legal if you make sure the prizes are not cash.

[fontana10!]

Off the wall that is exactly what my son's baseball coach did (Redlands area). Either it's the same coach, or this is becoming more common. This travel softball thing is taking on a world of it's own. I'm amazed how many coaches are allowed to coach many of these teams from large organizations, with little or no advanced playing record of their own. It has become predominantly profit driven. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for paying coaches for their time, as I've done for both of my sons. But these coaches and organizations were upfront with their members and you knew exactly what you were paying and for what. I'm positive not all organizations are money driven, but they're definitley not the norm. When parents take their players to clinics or batting lessons with coaches who've never played at a high level, or even played ball just because they're with a large organizations, this is just one example of what's fueling the fire. So when these "experts" say we are having an organizational fundraiser most of the coaches within these organizations are afraid to stand up for the parents on their teams because they will most likely lose their position. I know for a fact, our coach was not happy with our current fundraiser and the profit margin each team was receiving. But, he didn't say a word. Many of the parents on our team were shocked that we had a fundraiser within a month of paying our $500 buy in. This is the new norm is travel softball, so I guess we need to all get used to it.

[Pale Rider]

My neighbors hide from me...figure I'm selling them something they don't want...
HS ball is the most money for nothing...had a Mom mad because they didn't buy hairbows etc...she and the Booster Prez Mom spent a BUNCH of money on a Christmas party buying present for folks who weren't even part of the softball coaching staff...

Lately Ive just been knocking off curb and liquor stores..2-3 times a week....
.less hassle than a fundraiser...lots more fun