How to Run a Baseball Hit-a-Thon Fundraiser
Baseball hit-a-thons make great fundraisers. They’re fun and effective, allowing participants to raise money for their school, extra-curricular program, or club.
This page outlines the A-Z of baseball hit-a-thons, including planning, tracking donations, and tips for organizing and promoting the fundraiser.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Guide
Table of Contents
Baseball Hit-a-Thon 101
A quick introduction to what a baseball hit-a-thon is and how it works.
What is an "A-Thon" & How Does it Work?
An “a-thon” can be a powerful fundraising tool (and a lot of fun, too!)
What Do You Need to Run a Baseball Hit-a-Thon?
Learn what it takes to run a successful baseball hit-a-thon.
Using a Baseball Hit-a-Thon to Fundraise
How to raise money with baseball hit-a-thons.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Templates, Tools, & Resources
See how FutureFund makes managing baseball hit-a-thon pledges effortless.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Theme Ideas
Feel inspired with our baseball hit-a-thon theme examples.
Start Your Baseball Hit-a-Thon With FutureFund
Our integrated pledge campaign fundraising tool allows you to collect donations (via cash, debit, or credit) and easily manage fundraising progress. Get started for free.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon 101: A Quick Guide
What is a Baseball Hit-a-Thon?
A baseball hit-a-thon is essentially turning a baseball tournament into a fundraiser. Similar to other a-thons, like read-a-thons or walk-a-thons, baseball hit-a-thons use a peer-to-peer fundraising model.
People sign up as baseball teams and then ask their friends, family, and coworkers to support them through pledges. This allows you to reach a much larger donor pool.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon FAQ
How does a baseball hit-a-thon work?
Participants register as teams, anywhere from 9 to 26 players. Each team pays a registration fee, which helps cover the costs of the tournament. Then, the teams collect pledges from family, friends, and coworkers.
After each team has a few weeks to fundraise, the baseball tournament is held. The teams play one another until there is a winner. Typically, there is a prize for the winners to help inspire some friendly competition.
Where should you host your baseball hit-a-thon?
Baseball hit-a-thons are fairly easy to plan. The main thing you’ll have to plan is finding a baseball diamond.
Any community field should work, ideally close to your school. Just make sure you book it well in advance, so you’re not struggling to find a venue come baseball season.
When should you hold a baseball hit-a-thon?
Baseball hit-a-thons can only be held outdoors, meaning you should plan them when the weather is warm. For most schools, this means scheduling your baseball hit-a-thon for September, May, or June.
How should participants form teams?
Before players make teams, you should create some ground rules around the following:
- Number of players
- Age
- Gender
For example, if students are participating, you’ll want to make sure each team has a similar number of children. So you could make a rule saying each team needs at least 3 kids under 12.
Are baseball hit-a-thons good fundraisers?
Baseball hit-a-thons are tons of fun, especially if families in your area are big baseball fans. They’re easy to participate in, plus participants get the support of their teammates when fundraising.
What is an "A Thon"?
A Thon's Are Fun & Effective Event-Based Fundraisers
An “a-thon” is a peer-to-peer style fundraiser that involves participating in a certain activity and gathering donations for participating in said activity.
The activity can be almost anything, from reading to running to bowling. No matter what activity you choose, the premise is the same. Participants commit to doing the activity (reading a certain amount of books, running a certain distance) and ask their friends, family, and coworkers to support them.
A-thons work great because you reach a huge donor pool through peer-to-peer fundraising. People are also more likely to donate since participants are “working” in return for the donations.
What Do You Need to Run a Baseball Hit-a-Thon?
Use FutureFund to Power It
FutureFund’s built-in pledge campaigns allow you to easily collect money and keep donations organized. Since parents cover payment processing fees, 100% of the funds raised go to your school!
Easy for Everyone
Any good fundraiser needs to be easy to plan, participate in, and most importantly, get donations. FutureFund makes planning and running a baseball hit-a-thon as easy as possible.
Donate Online
Instead of dealing with paper pledge forms and cash and cheques, take the process online. Donors can donate instantly online with their credit or debit cards.
All-in-One
Always know how the fundraiser is going. Easily view how much money has been raised and more with detailed reporting.
Using a Baseball Hit-a-Thon for Fundraising
Managing & Organizing Pledges
Each student will sign up as a participant in the fundraiser. Then, they can collect pledges individually by credit or debit card. These pledges will be recorded in FutureFund and will count towards the student’s total and the grand total for the fundraiser.
Paperwork & Donor Payment Management
It’s easy for students to sign up, especially if their information is already in the system. You can bulk sign up entire grades or classes.
All donor payments are automatically entered into the system, so you can instantly see each student’s total and the grand total.
Using FutureFund to Accept Online Donations
Donors don’t need to have cash or a checkbook handy to donate. They can easily donate through an emailable donation link and pay by credit or debit card. Any cash donations can also be noted in the system to be collected later.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Goals & Rules
Length of Time
A baseball hit-a-thon is made up of 2 main parts: the pledge collection and the tournament. The pledge collection should be at least 2 to 4 weeks before the baseball hit-a-thon to allow teams to register and fundraise.
The baseball hit-a-thon tournament portion usually lasts 1 day, with teams playing each other on Saturday or Sunday. Depending on how many teams you have, it might need to be a 2-day event. Plan for around 2 hours per game.
Goal
The main goal for participants is to win the hit-a-thon. However, it’s also helpful to set a fundraising goal so teams have a number to keep in mind when gathering donations.
Other Considerations
Because baseball is a team sport, you should set some rules to keep everything fair. Some example rules include having a certain amount of child players, a certain amount of female players, or a certain amount of playtime for every team member.
Recommended Starting Rules
When creating your baseball hit-a-thon, make sure you include the following in your planning:
- Before you start advertising your baseball hit-a-thon, you should know the following:
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- The venue
- The date
- The fundraising goal
- The team restrictions
- The theme
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- Start telling families about the baseball hit-a-thon at least 2 to 4 weeks days before the event.
- Participants should be signed up in your fundraising system and gathering donations for at least 2 weeks before the baseball hit-a-thon.
- On the day of the baseball hit-a-thon, be sure to re-explain the rules and encourage participants to continue fundraising.
- At the end of the fundraiser, give an update on the fundraising goal and thank all of the participants.
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Templates & Resources
Sample Baseball Hit-a-Thon Rules
These rules are a great starting point for organizing your baseball hit-a-thon.
Sample Baseball Hit-a-Thon Event Description
Unsure of where to start? Use this sample student and parent messaging to get the ball rolling!
Set Up Online Pledges With FutureFund
Let parents and supporters donate online with FutureFund’s online pledges. Try it out for free!
Baseball Hit-a-Thon Theme Ideas
Olympic
In this theme, teams can represent a country, just like in the Olympics. Encourage them to wear the uniforms and flags of their chosen country.
Movie
There are so many famous baseball movies, from The Sandlot to Angels in the Outfield. For this team, get teams to dress up as the characters from their favorite baseball movie.
Vintage
Baseball brings back thoughts of the good old days, with stars like Babe Ruth. Have your teams dress up in vintage baseball uniforms to honor baseball’s roots.
Holiday
A holiday theme works for almost any a-thon, including baseball hit-a-thons. A baseball hit-a-thon in honor of Mother’s Day or Father’s Day are two spring holidays to build your event around.
Group Costume
Because baseball is a team sport, the best outfits are coordinated ones! Encourage participants to dress in group costumes like superheroes, minions, crayon packs, animals, and more.
Rainbow
You can’t go wrong with simple colors of the rainbow. Let each team choose a color, so every color of the rainbow is represented in the baseball tournament.
Find Other Fundraiser
Ideas & Guides
How To Run a Move-a-Thon Fundraiser
Move-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to be active together. See how a move-a-thon works in our fundraiser guide.
How To Run a Chess-a-Thon Fundraiser
Chess-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money & play games together. See how a chess-a-thon works in our in-depth guide.
How to Run a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Fundraiser
Volleyball serve-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money & work together while also being active. See how a serve-a-thon works in our in-depth guide.
How to Run a Jump-a-Thon Fundraiser
Jump-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also being active. See how a jump-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one in our in-depth guide.
How to Run a Spell-a-Thon Fundraiser
Spell-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also practicing academics. See how a spell-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one here.
How to Run a Math-a-Thon Fundraiser
Math-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also practicing academics. See how a math-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one in our guide.
Sample Baseball Hit-a-Thon Rules
To participate in the baseball hit-a-thon, you must register your team by [date]. Then, the baseball hit-a-thon is on [date], which means you should start fundraising right away! Make sure to tell your friends, family, and coworkers that you’re fundraising, so they can donate.
All donations will be collected through FutureFund through this link: [link].
Sample Baseball Hit-a-Thon Event Description
Hit, run, score! On [date], [school name] will be hosting a baseball hit-a-thon to help fundraise for [cause]. You can help by registering a baseball team and participating!
Each team will be collecting pledges online through FutureFund: [link], so even if you can’t participate, you can still donate!
Set Up Online Pledges With FutureFund
Make your donation easily and instantly! Click this [link] to make your donation through secure credit or debit card payment.
If you prefer to donate by cash or check, just donate directly to the student you’re supporting. Thank you for your support!