Crowdfunding for Athletes: How to Raise Funds for Your Sporting Career

Maintaining a career in professional sports can be extremely labour- and cost-intensive, and limited funds and opportunities can make or break athletes before they even reach the podium or competition stage – regardless of how talented they are. Crowdfunding levels the playing field by ensuring every competitive can get the support they need to thrive and succeed, directly from the people supporting them on their journey. It’s not unrealistic to imagine a close future in which behind every athletic champion is a crowd of avid supporters, putting their money where their mouth is.

What is Crowdfunding for Athletes?

Crowdfunding is an intensely personal means of raising money, leveraging the passion of fans who want to support an athlete or organization that’s close to their heart, for whatever reason. Transparency about goals, funding and use of resources is essential for the success of each project, and online platforms typically go to great lengths to connect donors with recipients as directly as possible throughout the crowdfunding journey.

Unlike other more traditional funding models, crowdfunding can be implemented at all levels – from the grassroots stage, to higher up the chain at the organisational level, as part of a wider fund development strategy – and adapted to appeal to specific audiences.

Athletes can turn to crowdfunding platforms to enhance their profile and increase their fanbase, giving back in the form of personalised “thank you”s or even once-in-a-lifetime experiences to show their appreciation and gratitude. And their supporters can have a direct impact on their career and success, helping their favourite athletes achieve their goals and sharing in their success.

How to raise funds for your sporting career

No two crowdfunding campaigns are alike, but most follow a fairly straightforward series of steps, which we will explore in further detail below.

1/ Set Up your Crowdfunding Project

Like we said: no two athletes are alike, which gives you a real edge. Tell your story, and why you do what you do, as authentically as you can, and explain why you need to raise money in order to continue your sporting career. Use text, video, images, audio – whatever you think gets your story across most effectively. Be clear about your targets, ambitions and deadlines for contributions.

2/ Determine Rewards For Supporters

These rewards are offered to supporters in exchange for their financial contribution to your campaign, and can come in all shapes and sizes. Like your crowdfunding hook, original and unique awards will compel more people to contribute to your cause. Use your sporting talent to give back to the people supporting your career – from special training sessions to meet and greets, or even a day out with your most generous backers. Check out the rewards on other campaigns to get inspired, and use your imagination to make your donors’ contributions seem even more worthwhile – anything goes, as long as you can deliver on your promises.

3/ Launch Your Campaign

Getting your campaign off to a good start is key to a successful outcome, and starting close to home is also recommended. Start by informing your friends and close family, before spreading the word on social media, email and any other means you can think of. Remember to thank people for their contributions, and highlight the unique nature of your campaign and rewards at every opportunity.

4/ Promote Your Campaign

Keep the campaign on track by sharing with everyone you know, and getting them to share it with everyone they know. Use social media, traditional media, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, bloggers, websites – any platform that will amplify your message to the right people. Crowdfunding platforms can help too, by sharing your campaign with people who have donated to similar campaigns in the past. Remember to keep your supporters updated throughout your campaign, showing them how the money is being put to use and how key donors are being rewarded – this will keep the momentum going for further donations. Try to make sure your supporters are excited about the project as you are, and that they are contributing to something really special!

5/ Conclusion

Once your targets have been met, and deadlines have been hit, it’s time to wrap up your crowdfunding campaign by thanking all your backers for their support, fulfilling your reward promises, collecting your funds and using them to further your sporting career as best as possible.

Bear in mind that standing out in the world of crowdfunding can be hard – especially as the number of charities, organisations and individuals getting involved continues to grow every year. Ultimately you get out of a campaign exactly what you are willing to put into it, so be prepared for a challenge. Think about how you can stand out from the crowd in order to reach your goal, and make sure to organize your campaign as best as possible before it launches, because getting off on the right foot is preferable to changing your approach once support has dried up.

Now that you’ve read this step-by-step guide, if you are excited and committed to use crowdfunding as a means of funding your sporting career, then get started today, and create your first campaign.