Fundraising Strategies for Wrestling Programs

There is one thing every wrestling program needs. Well, in addition to coaches, wrestlers, volunteers, and community support.

Money.

While wrestling may not have the overhead of other sports, it still costs money to run a program. And where does most of that money come from for some programs?

Through fundraising.

“Fundraising is important in any sports program,” says Keith Donnelly, Cadet Director for Iowa USA Wrestling and an assistant coach at Independence (IA) High School. “You have to have support financially to get the opportunity to get some of the things you feel are needed to put your team and athletes in the best position to improve and accomplish their goals.”

What programs need money for varies each year and for each program. New uniforms or team apparel, new mats, travel expenses, paying assistant coaches — the list goes on.

How programs raise money, however, varies. Drastically.

Minnesota’s Holdingford High School runs a slowpitch softball tournament during Holdingford Daze (annual town celebration), with proceeds from the tournament going to the wrestling program. Parents also sell soup/chili, raffle tickets and give away door prizes with all proceeds benefitting the program. A group of 51 wrestlers recently raised $1,900 for Minnesota’s St. Paul Central High School wrestling program through the inaugural Central Old Timers tournament in early May. Kearney High School (Kearney, NE), runs a preseason takedown tournament, and solicits sponsors for a team poster.

One of the newest and often most profitable options for teams to raise money is “crowdfunding,” or raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, usually using an online platform. Because platforms are specialized for teams and pull in contributions from people all over the country, they can be a great complement to local fundraising efforts like golf tournaments, discount card sales, and other traditional fundraising methods.

“Crowdfunding campaigns are highly profitable for us,” said Bill Swertfager, head wrestling coach at John Jay HS in Cross River, NY, “because every wrestler can easily generate hundreds of dollars, which adds up to thousands for our team. Plus, the vast majority of our supporters come from out of town, so we’re not eating into our local revenues.”

John Jay HS wrestling raised over $8,000 using an online crowdfunding platform. Other high school and college athletic programs have used crowdfunding to raise $10,000, $15,000, and more.

When considering which crowdfunding platform to use as a wrestling coach, it’s important to look for ease-of-use and automated messaging as much as it is for best price and value.

Many coaches and parents associate fundraising with stress and frustration. It’s hard to get student-athletes to knock on doors and parents are often stuck buying what their children don’t sell.

Justin DeCoteau, Kids Director for North Dakota USA Wrestling, sees a lot of different fundraising methods throughout North Dakota, including traditional methods such as selling cookies or pizza, or via selling hot dogs/soda from a stand at a local grocery store. North Dakota national team members have an option of selling raffle tickets to reduce the cost of events or trips as part of the national team. North Dakota USA Wrestling uses fundraising earnings to help pay for busses, food, clothing/gear, travel, and clinicians for national team training camps. Some clubs in North Dakota raise money to offer scholarship/tuition opportunities, provide singlets, shoes, headgear, and help with travel expenses.

“It’s important to fundraise to help keep your club/organization viable for the future,” DeCoteau says. “You never know what kind of costs you can incur.”

Independence, Iowa is a small town of just over 5,600 people in northeast Iowa, so they can’t tap a large population of potential supporters, many who also are asked to donate to other sports programs fundraising campaigns. So they have tried outside the box ideas, like hiring dueling piano players to play at the Independence school auditorium.

“This event is somewhat expensive, so it’s important you get good entertainment,” Donnelly says. “That being said, with good entertainment, people are willing to pay a little more for a ticket.”

The fundraiser also raised awareness for the Independence wrestling program, as it “attracted many different people in the community and neighboring communities who might not even know anything about the sport of wrestling simply because the event is dueling pianos, which attracts an audience of people who like music and entertainment,” Donnelly says.

It was a little risky, Donnelly admitted, “but if run properly and promoted effectively, is a good way to sell out your auditorium and provide some fun entertainment while raising money.”

The bottom line is, every sport needs money, wrestling included, and there are traditional methods and new methods that can both work.  

“If you want to promote or market your club, you will need some money,” DeCoteau says. “A little cash in the bank can possibly take your club to the next level.”