Fundraising 101: Sporting Events for Breast Cancer Awareness

Even if you aren’t a big fan, you just have to admit that there is something electrifying about watching sports.  You don’t even have to understand the game to appreciate it; you only need to look at the players’ determined faces to feel their hunger to win.  Another thing to love about sports is that it doesn’t matter which religion, race or country you come from; people will look beyond these boundaries to come together for their favorite teams. Sporting events are all about rallying behind a team, showing support of their teamwork and great play. This is also what makes sports a great platform to raise awareness about any cause you may feel passionate about – because like sports, advocacies need a passionate group of people to rally behind them as well.

The people from the PLAY for P.I.N.K foundation appreciate the connection between advocacies and sporting events. Unlike other breast cancer charities that host a multiple fundraising events, Play for PINK focuses on sports. What they do is that they help people plan their fund raisers and connect them to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.   They believe that by empowering every day people with the right tools and resources, more money can be raised in the name of breast cancer through sports.

Setting the date and time, booking a location, looking for volunteers, inviting people to the event, etc. can be too daunting for a one-person team. Play for PINK will help you through the entire process and will make sure you cover all the ends for a successful event. You can even get in on how other advocates managed their events – from how they raised the funds to what drove them to support the cause. Here are some of our favorites:

Andrea Baevsky’s Tennis Tournament

Instead of an ordinary tournament, Ms. Baevsky and her friends also added card games, mahjong and invited vendors to their Play for PINK event. This gave the event more versatility and more opportunities to raise money!

Jenny Hobgood and S. Granville High School Vikings Football Team

Jenny used the popularity of their local football team to get the whole neighborhood behind their fundraising event aptly named the ‘All Pink Kick Cancer Football Game’. They raised money by selling t-shirts, getting local businesses and groups to donate, holding a silent auction and inviting vendors. Our favorite part is that they also invited a local mammography center to the event and encouraged women to get their mammograms scheduled! How awesome is that idea?

Play for P.I.N.K makes it easier for anyone to help raise money and awareness to finally put an end to this devastating disease. You can visit their website for more ideas!