Youth sports are expensive. Tournament fees, travel, hotels, ice and field time, uniforms, equipment, officials, team events. Sooner or later someone says the sentence every team parent knows: "We should do a fundraiser."
Then comes the real question: who is going to organize it? That is usually where a good idea becomes another job for the same few parents already running schedules, uniforms, tournaments, snacks and rides.
We think fundraising can work differently, and your team doesn't have to play hockey or ringette to take part.
The short answer.
Any youth team can start a free Sideline DJ fundraising page. Share the link with your sports community. When a new family buys their first Sideline DJ Pass through your page, link or team code, Sideline DJ gives your team $10. No products to stock, no orders to collect, no upfront cost to your team. Start your team's page.
The hidden cost of team fundraising.
Most fundraisers are judged by how much they raise. Few are judged by how much volunteer time they use, and parent energy is a team's scarcest resource.
| Fundraiser | Volunteer work | Upfront cost or inventory | Handling money |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product sales | Collect orders, chase payments, sort and deliver | Often: product to order, store and hand out | Cash and e-transfers from every family |
| Bottle drive | Organize pickup, sorting, trucks and returns | None, but a full day of volunteers | Deposit refunds to collect |
| Raffle | Find prizes, print and track tickets, run the draw | Prizes and tickets; usually a provincial or state gaming licence | Ticket money to collect and record |
| Silent auction | Find donors, build the auction, promote it, hand out items | Donated items to gather and store | Bids to collect |
| Sharing a Sideline DJ team link | Set up a page once, then share a link | None | None: Sideline DJ pays the team monthly |
None of the traditional options is bad. Many teams should keep doing them. But at Sideline DJ we ask one question about everything we build: does this make life easier for a volunteer parent, or create more work? Fundraising should pass the same test.
How it works.
- Start your team's page. It takes about two minutes on sidelinedj.com/teams. Add your goal and what the money is for. The page goes live straight away, with a link, a QR code and a short team code.
- Share it. Post it in the team chat and ask families to pass it on to anyone who runs music at a game.
- Families get the Pass. When a new customer buys their first Sideline DJ Pass through your page, link or code, your team earns $10.
- Get paid monthly. By Interac e-Transfer in Canada or PayPal in the United States. Amounts under $25 roll over.
You are not asking anyone to donate. You are introducing them to something that might make their game days easier. If it's useful, they buy it, and your team benefits too.
It doesn't matter which sport you play.
Sideline DJ runs game-day music for youth hockey and ringette today, and we're adding sports deliberately, one at a time. The fundraising program doesn't wait for that. A soccer team, a basketball team or a volleyball club can raise money now.
Here's why it works. The people who buy the Pass are the parents running music at hockey and ringette games. Your soccer team almost certainly knows some: the soccer parent whose son plays hockey, the baseball coach who manages a ringette team, the volleyball family with cousins in minor hockey. Youth sport isn't a set of separate boxes. It's one large, overlapping community.
So you're not advocating for a hockey app. You're advocating for making youth sport easier for the kids, parents and volunteers in it. When Sideline DJ adds your sport, we'll email you.
Your network is bigger than your roster.
A team might have 15 or 20 families. Together they know hundreds of people: other teams, past teams, coaches, tournament organizers, school communities, extended family, colleagues who are sports parents too. Your reach isn't limited by your roster. It's set by how far your team's community reaches.
And it travels. A hockey team shares its page; a parent from another team finds Sideline DJ, starts using it and starts their own team's page; someone on that team knows a ringette coach. Parents already recommend coaches, equipment, tournaments and apps to each other all the time. This works with those relationships instead of inventing new ones.
What $10 a Pass adds up to.
- 10 families: $100 for your team.
- 25 families: $250.
- 50 families: $500, the most a team can earn in a calendar year.
Most teams will land somewhere in that range in a season. It won't replace your big fundraiser, but it can cover a tournament fee or ease registration for a family, with no inventory, no order forms, no cash to collect and no delivery day.
Give it a purpose.
The strongest campaigns have a specific goal. Not "support our team" but:
- Help us get to provincials.
- Help fund our spring tournament.
- Help cover travel to the away weekend.
- Help keep registration affordable.
Your team page shows your goal and what it's for, and people share more readily when they know what they're helping with.
Ask people to share, not sell.
We don't want parents feeling like salespeople. The whole ask can be one line:
"If you know a family who runs the music at their kid's games, send them our team's link."
That's a recommendation, not a quota. A useful recommendation travels on its own.
Why we do this.
Sideline DJ started as a way to make running game-day music easier. The bigger idea has always been youth sport itself: keeping kids engaged, giving every player a moment, and letting parents help without every contribution becoming another job. If Sideline DJ grows because sports communities introduce it to each other, those communities should share in it. Sometimes the only thing between a team and another tournament is money, and we'd like to close a little of that gap.
Share something useful. Help another sports family. Raise money for your own team. Start your team's page.
Questions teams ask.
Can a team from any sport raise money with Sideline DJ?
Yes. Soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, lacrosse, football or any other youth sport can start a fundraising page. Sideline DJ runs game-day music for hockey and ringette today, so the families who buy are the ones running music at hockey and ringette games, and every sports community knows some. When Sideline DJ adds your sport, we email you.
How much does a team earn?
$10 for each new customer whose first paid Sideline DJ Pass is bought through the team's page, link or team code. Ten families is $100, twenty-five is $250. A team can earn up to $500 in a calendar year, which is fifty families.
What counts as an eligible Pass?
A new customer's first paid Sideline DJ Pass, bought while supporting your team. Renewals, Family Sharing members and refunded purchases don't count, and a refund after payment comes off the next payment.
When does the team get paid?
Monthly, for what the team earned the month before, by Interac e-Transfer in Canada or PayPal in the United States. Amounts under $25 roll over to the next month.
Does our team have to use Sideline DJ?
No. Your team earns when people you share with get the Pass. Families running music at hockey and ringette games can try it with their first game's names recorded free.
Is this a donation?
No. Nobody is asked to give money. People who find Sideline DJ useful buy it for their own team's game days, and Sideline DJ pays your team $10 as a thank-you for the introduction.
When can our team start earning?
Right away. Start your page and share it: Sideline DJ is on the App Store, and every eligible Pass bought through your page, link or code counts for your team.
Full program terms are on the team fundraising page.
