How to Run a Baseball Hit-a-Thon Fundraiser

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.

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.

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.

When creating your baseball hit-a-thon, make sure you include the following in your planning:

1. Before you start advertising your baseball hit-a-thon, you should know the following:

• The venue
• The date
• The fundraising goal
• The team restrictions
• The theme

1. Start telling families about the baseball hit-a-thon at least 2 to 4 weeks days before the event. 
2. Participants should be signed up in your fundraising system and gathering donations for at least 2 weeks before the baseball hit-a-thon.
3. On the day of the baseball hit-a-thon, be sure to re-explain the rules and encourage participants to continue fundraising.
4. At the end of the fundraiser, give an update on the fundraising goal and thank all of the participants.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FutureFund makes running a baseball hit-a-thon easy for everyone. Easier for PTAs to run, for students and parents to participate, and for donors to donate.

Instead of dealing with paper pledge forms and cash and cheques, FutureFund takes the process online. Donors can donate instantly online with their credit or debit cards.

FutureFund makes it easy to track how the fundraiser is going. Easily view how much money has been raised and more with detailed reporting.

Each student will sign up as a participant in the fundraiser. Then, they can collect pledges individually by credit or debit card. You can also accept cash pledges, but be mindful of properly storing and tracking cash you collect.

If you are using FutureFund, you can record these pledges and they will automatically count towards the student’s total and the grand total for the fundraiser.

Before launching your fundraiser, confirm what records you need to collect from donors.

If you are using FutureFund, 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.

Fundraising campaigns that accept online donations perform much better than fundraisers that only accept cash or check.

If you are using FutureFund, you can accept payments online. Donors are given a donation link and can pay by credit or debit card. Any cash donations can also be noted in the system to be collected later.

These rules are a great starting point for organizing your baseball hit-a-thon.

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o 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].

Unsure of where to start? Use this sample student and parent messaging to get the ball rolling!

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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!

Let parents and supporters donate online with FutureFund’s online pledges. Try it out for free!

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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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.