Let’s be honest—your team can land a stunt pyramid, but you still can’t fund new uniforms without a bake sale and a prayer.

From car washes that ruin ponytails to handmade crafts no one wants, cheer teams have suffered through enough. So here are 10 cheerleading fundraiser ideas that are technically “fine”… but also? Kind of a nightmare. (And yes—we saved the best for last.)

1. Bake Sale

💡 Description:

Classic. Overdone. Slightly burned.

Cookies sell well—until half of them get eaten before they hit the table and your top flyer goes home with a frosting mustache. Effort-to-profit ratio: not great.

2. Car Wash

💡 Description:

Mascara runs. Spirits break. $38 is raised.

Washing minivans in the school parking lot sounds wholesome… until you realize the hose is kinked, no one brought towels, and Garret just scratched a Camry with a sponge full of gravel.

3. Team Merch

💡 Description:

Everyone loves spirit wear—until you over-order 42 youth mediums.

Selling t-shirts and hoodies with your team’s logo can be awesome. Just make sure you preorder based on interest and don’t get stuck with 19 leftover crop tops in January.

4. Spirit Week Penny Wars

💡 Description:

Because nothing unites a student body like passive-aggressively sabotaging each other’s jars.

It’s cute until someone dumps a roll of quarters into the freshman jar at the last minute, and now everyone’s fighting in the hallway. You raised $214… and created three new rivalries. Worth it?

5. 50/50 Raffle

💡 Description:

The same guy wins. Every. Single. Time.

It’s simple: sell tickets, split the pot. But once Aunt Carol wins the cash two years in a row, your donor pool suddenly gets real quiet. Plus—you guessed it—still no uniforms.

6. “Sponsor a Cheer” Campaign

💡 Description:

Let’s monetize your jump splits… one $10 Venmo at a time.

You’ll spend three hours designing a flyer on Canva, another two collecting donations, and then realize no one actually wants their name yelled during a cheer. It’s cute—but it won’t fund your travel season.

7. Local Business Shoutouts

💡 Description:

A laminated “thank you” sign at the snack shack in exchange for $50. Generous? Yes. Scalable? Not even a little.

It’s a kind gesture. But unless your town has 50 pizza joints with cash to spare, this one’s more effort than outcome.

8. Fundtool (The “Wait—Why Aren’t We Doing This?” Option)

💡 Description:

Seriously. Just skip the chaos.

Download the app. Sync your contacts. Send out one text. Then let your team do the same. Fundtool turns group fundraising into a 5-minute drill—and it actually works.

No clipboards. No money collection. No bribes for who sells the most candles. Just digital campaigns that raise real money, fast.

9. Theme Night at a Game

💡 Description:

Charge $5 for neon, and suddenly you’re the event planner, hype crew, and cleanup crew.

Sure, it’s fun. Until you’re stuck sweeping glitter out of the bleachers at 10PM wondering if the $87 was worth it. Spoiler: it wasn’t.

10. TikTok Challenge Fundraiser

💡 Description:

Because nothing says “high-impact fundraising” like begging your team to go viral.

You’ll film 27 takes, forget to tag the sponsor, and raise $11 and a pulled hamstring. Meanwhile, Fundtool’s over here generating $2,500 in 3 days with a group text. Just sayin’.

🎁 Raise More. Sweat Less. Fundtool.

Start your campaign now, rally your team in minutes, and we’ll send you our Cheer Fundraising Launch Guide for free.

→ Start My Fundtool

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