Cheerleading in the U.S is serious business and fundraising for the cheer squad is taken seriously too. Cheerleaders and cheer coaches should ideally go in for fundraisers that can keep the cheer troupe interested; basically fun ideas that will get the audience to participate and reach out for their purses.

Ask questions to the cheerleaders as well as those whom you consider prospective customers. Find out what they like. Look back on successful fund raisers in the past, see what worked. At any given fundraiser try to focus the energies on a single objective, preferably one that cheerleaders are passionate about. This could mean a fundraiser for their uniforms or to raise funds for a long-distance trip.

You can tap into local businesses for fundraising collaborations. For example, you can hold small competitions for kids where the winner gets garments donated by local stores as prizes. If you wish you can charge a small entry fee. Or you can hold a bottle drive in your community. Inform community members in advance that the cheerleaders will be coming on a given date to collect bottles as a part of a fundraising program.

Cheerleading fundraisers can also tap into the school spirit of students; cheerleaders can make badges with the school colors and sell them to the students for a dollar or two.
There are many products tailored to suit the fundraising needs of cheerleaders. So you have candy-filled poms that you can sell at your fundraising drive. You can also sell used cheerleading uniforms and other cheerleading accessories.

The internet has opened up a whole new avenue for obtaining information. You can research online on cheerleading fundraiser ideas that will get the buyers enthused and also get you good margins on the sales. A good thing to remember is that every sale opportunity can be made to yield better returns if you combine the principles of up-selling and cross-selling to it. So, if you plan to sell posters of sportspersons you can also include posters of the school football team. A person purchasing a pizza can be expected to purchase a soft drink with it. So stock stuff that you can promote in a seamless manner.

If you are looking for some ideas for a cheerleader fundraiser then you came to the right place. We’ll take a look at some of the latest innovative fundraising ideas that are out today, specifically recycling printer ink cartridges and donation scratch cards. The new trend in recycling printer ink cartridges is a real hit because there is such little effort involved for people to hold the fundraiser and participate. To hold it all you need to do is get the word out that you are collecting old ink cartridges for a good cause and watch them pour in. The participants only need to bring in the cartridges that they were planning on throwing out anyway – how easy is that? No selling, no collecting, nothing to stock, no melting chocolate bars etc. Another of my favorite fundraisers is a scratch card fundraiser. This is when you get cards printed from any fundraising site that has little scratch off areas on it covering up dollar amounts that range for $.05 - $2. Have a donor scratch a spot, and simply donate the amount that they scratched. This is great because again, no selling is involved. When I have used this fundraiser I found it worked much better than selling anything because there is much more profit. Another thing I loved was that the donor would usually round up to the dollar. This is much easier than just asking for a dollar donation because the donor feels that they took part in the process.

Each year cheerleaders lead their schools in raising the school spirit. The cheerleaders are seen at football and basketball games, performing gymnastic-like turns and flips, all with a great big smile! Cheerleading, like any school sport, has funding needs.

Many cheerleaders sell spirit items for their fundraiser. Now you may have heard of a few of school spirit ideas, but I bet there are some that are new. Take a look:

Traditional Spirit Items

The best way to raise funds for your cheerleaders is to create a fundraiser that centers on what they do best: cheering for the school’s team! There are several tried and true spirit items that fans always love:

• Team apparel - t-shirts, baseball caps
• Noisemakers - cow bells and whistles
• Waveables - spirit sticks and signs
• Game gear - stadium seats, coolers, blankets

Cheerleaders can sell spirit or mascot items before, during and/or after the games.

Special Homecoming Items

Many school sports have a homecoming game. Many alumni return to the school for this special night, and the school elects the homecoming king and queen. Your cheerleading squad can hold special events and sales for the homecoming day or week.

• Raffle off the honor of riding in the car in the parade with the homecoming queen
• Some high school girls wear “mums” on homecoming day, this could be a good fundraiser for your squad if your squad takes orders and the cheer boosters or a hobby store or florist creates the mums
• Special t-shirts just for homecoming. These can be sold to students, parents and alums.

Mascot Related Items

Your cheerleading team can sell an item that is somehow related to your school mascot. If your mascot is the tiger, the cheerleaders could sell stuffed animal tigers. Grizzly Bears? How about a build-a-bear type workshop?

• Mascot stuffed animals
• Mascot antenna balls for students’ cars

Events & Contests

• Greatest Roar Contest. Students each pay $5 for the chance to be the “King Tiger” and get a cool prize. (Of course names can be changed depending on what your mascot is! Do this in several rounds, a few during lunchtime each day and on the day of the pep rally is the finals.
• Raffle off the privilege of running onto the field with the football team or presiding over a coin toss.
• There are many half-time contests that you could do.

So you can see spirit fundraisers for your cheerleading squad is more than just a lot of noise! Take one of these ideas and see where your cheerleading squad can go with it.