This page covers what a travel sports team actually needs to fund, the constraints that shape how you can raise it, and which event formats fit. If you want the general guide first, start with fundraising by group.
What a travel sports team is usually funding
- tournament entry fees
- hotel and travel costs
- uniforms and equipment
- coaching and trainer costs
- scholarships so travel cost does not decide the roster
What makes this group different
These are the constraints that decide whether a fundraiser works here, and they are the reason generic advice underperforms.
- Travel costs are the largest line and the least negotiable
- Families self-selected into an expensive commitment and are already paying it
- The season is long and consumes most weekends
- Rosters are small, typically ten to eighteen families
Why an event-based fundraiser fits
Travel teams have the highest costs and the smallest family base of any group here. Reach is not one option among several — it is the only structure that closes the gap.
What is realistic to raise
Highest costs, smallest family base. Fifteen families cannot fund a season of tournament travel and hotels, and pretending otherwise produces a scholarship gap that quietly decides the roster. Reach is not one option among several; it is the only structure that closes it.
A working timeline
The dates that matter here are set by this group’s own calendar, not by a generic fundraising season.
- Off-season: launch, before the tournament calendar consumes every weekend
- Players share outward — extended family is the actual donor base
- Mid-season event tied to an existing tournament weekend
- Report against travel, entry fees and the assistance line
What goes wrong
- Sizing the goal to the roster rather than to the roster's networks
- Fundraising in-season, when every weekend is already committed
- Leaving assistance unfunded, so cost selects the team
Formats that suit a travel sports team
You are not doing this alone
Every Get Movin' group is paired with a Personal Event Coach — a former PTO/PTA volunteer who has run this before. Get Movin's company president and all of its fundraising coaches are former PTO/PTA members, teachers and volunteers. For a travel sports team, that means someone who has already helped other groups like yours through exactly this.
Your coach:
- strategizes your budget goal with you
- brainstorms incentives that actually motivate your participants
- advises on promotion and timing
- steers you away from the pitfalls they have already watched other groups hit
You also get the FundHub Event Toolbox — 100+ guides, templates, playlists and printables. Meet the coaches.
The platform behind a travel sports team fundraiser
FundHub is Get Movin's online donation platform, built specifically for schools, teams and community groups by former PTO/PTA leaders. It carries 35+ tools. These are the ones that matter most here:
- Personalized student webpages. A parent sets one up in about five minutes, and each page raises an average of $140.
- One-click sharing to social, email and text, plus a sharing report showing how many parents are actually using it.
- Sponsor Showcase, with pre-built outreach templates and a section on your webpage for local sponsor names and logos.
- Employer Match Identifier, which finds donors whose employers will match their gift. It located over $1.4 million in matching donations in its first year.
- Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
See the full platform on the FundHub page, or book a walkthrough with a coach.
How Get Movin’ runs your travel sports team fundraiser
- Book a call or a FundHub demo and get matched with your Personal Event Coach.
- Your coach helps you set the goal, pick the date and choose incentives.
- Your group page and student pages go live; parents set theirs up in about five minutes.
- Families share by text, email and social; the coach checks in through the campaign.
- Event day, with volunteers organized through FundHub.
- Funds arrive by automatic ACH transfer after the event.
What it costs and what you keep
Get Movin’ groups keep 95-97% of every dollar raised. Donors pay however they want — cash, check, credit or debit, PayPal, Venmo, or Apple and Google Wallet. Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
Full detail on the pricing page.
Next steps
See what a travel sports team fundraiser costs on our pricing page, or browse free templates including printable pledge sheets.
Common questions
How does a fifteen-family team fund a season of travel?
Not from fifteen families. Each player's extended network is the actual donor base, and the campaign should be designed and measured on how many people it reaches, not on how much each family contributes.
Start your travel sports team fundraiser
Get Movin’ has powered 10,000+ events and raised more than $200 million for groups like yours since 2007, with 1,300+ five-star Google reviews.
Take a FundHub tour with a coach, or book your event. Questions first? Contact us or call 248-895-0206. Also useful: the free school grant guide, the parent and donor FAQ, and our fundraising webinars.