How Crowdfunding for Athletes Can Help Fund Your Sporting Dream
As sporting superstars continue to break records and push the boundaries of athletic excellence, we seldom stop to think about the sacrifices they made, or the challenges they had to overcome to reach greatness – let alone the similar sacrifices and struggles faced by their competitors, and the countless athletes from all backgrounds and nations who make up the global sporting ecosystem.
To reach this rarefied sphere of athletic performance, gruelling training sessions and personal dedication are often not sufficient. A lack of resources and funding can thwart an aspiring athlete before they even begin, and many a generational talent has no doubt been wasted due to a lack of proper training infrastructure, coaching, equipment or sporting gear.
Thankfully things have changed, and today’s athletes are no longer wholly reliant on individual benefactors or intermittent government funding to achieve their goals. Sporting fans can pool their resources to empower the athletes they believe in, providing vital resources and support on their road to success. Sports crowdfunding campaigns are now a key component in the development of individual athletes and sporting organizations that, in earlier times, would have had to give up on their dreams due to a lack of funding.
What is crowdfunding for athletes?
As the name suggests, crowdfunding refers to the practice of collecting financial contributions from a “crowd” of individuals, and pledging the total amount towards a stated goal. The practice became increasingly commonplace with the rise of the internet and social media, which enabled the sharing of such campaigns among like-minded donors, and grew significantly as an accepted fundraising method during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the make-or-break atmosphere of the competitive sporting world, many athletes lack access to necessities, including equipment, facilities, coaches and training opportunities. Pursuing a career in sports is usually time-consuming and expensive, with little opportunity for revenue in its early stages. So disadvantaged athletes have typically turned to outside funding to achieve their sporting dreams, including government loans, sporting events and scholarships.
But these opportunities, as welcome as they are, are finite and often rely on the largesse of a handful of decision-makers. Until recently, the true cost of athletic talent which went unrealized due to a lack of funding could only be imagined. Nowadays, however, crowdfunding websites offer another, much more democratic way for world-class athletes to tell their story and get the funds they so desperately need to thrive.
Sports crowdfunding platforms let the athletes, or their supporters, tell their story and explain the need for funding, so they can continue to compete on an even playing field – from training, to buying sports equipment, to any other form of support that can help these athletes reach their true potential. The more detail, the better, and the greater the chances of securing donations – from posting updates on the athletes’ training routine to keeping donors updated on their achievements in competitions.
How does it work?
Each crowdfunding campaign is different, but here are some of the key steps which most of them share:
1) Share your story
This is essential for persuading your followers to contribute financially. Fortunately, online crowdfunding platforms make it easy to convey an athlete’s story to potential fans and supporters via social media and email, all the while explaining the need for funding to achieve their goals, and keeping supporters updated throughout the campaign.
2) Grow your supporter base
To ensure a campaign’s long-term success, it’s important to spread your message beyond one’s close circle of family and friends. This potentially daunting task is made easier thanks to the marketing tools provided by online crowdfunding platforms, allowing athletes to create a community of contributors who are all rooting for their success.
3) Raise funds
Crowdfunding platforms allow athletes to track contributions and funding in real time, and even send rewards and messages of thanks to contributors, while keeping them updated on your progress. Funds can be easily withdrawn to your personal bank account at any time, and used to fulfil your sporting ambitions.
Today, sports crowdfunding is a real option to help fund athletes’ development and create the sporting champions of the future. Contributions from well-wishers can buy athletes the equipment they need to excel, or the education and housing required to succeed against the odds.
As social media continues to grow in importance, creating a sports crowdfunding campaign has never been easier, or more likely to succeed. It has arguably overtaken private or governmental funding as the optimal method for maximising an athlete’s reach and resources. Sourcing small but vital contributions from a crowd of supportive followers empowers aspiring young athletes to perfect their craft, take part in competitions, eat, drink and rest properly, and train in a secure environment, without the threat of financial precarity weighing on their mind and holding them back.
Crowdfunding for athletes is a perfect example of regular people coming together and doing what they can to change the world, one athlete at a time. The more widespread this practice becomes, the more sporting talents can be nurtured to their full potential, resulting in greater competition and entertainment for the rest of us.
Why not start a sports crowdfunding campaign today, and help an aspiring athlete or sporting organization achieve greatness?
