Try a ‘Rent-an-Athlete’ Event
This event is a great way to boost morale in your team and fundraise at the same time. You can try having your chosen athlete coach a session, play in a game, or even carry your groceries. Now, you may not be able to get Wayne Gretzky at first, so consider contacting one of your local home-town heroes. Websites such as https://www.celebritytalent.net/ can be a great start to picking your star player.
Create a Coach ‘Punishment’ Fundraiser
This one is a guaranteed hit. Your players will be the first to step up and donate to watch their coach receive a hilarious punishment, especially if they’ve been making practice particularly tough recently. Punishment ideas could be having your coach sitting above a classic dunk-tank, having them teach a lesson in a fancy dress costume that donators vote on or, if enough is raised, maybe even shaving their head!
Host a Kids Camp
Setting up a kids camp gives you multiple options for fundraising, from charging for the kids’ initial tickets, to a fundraising event during camp for the whole family to get involved in. You could offer to take the kids for the weekend, or even just for one night, letting parents get the night off they’ve been waiting for. The kids could be taken for practice on the ice during the day and camp under the stars at night!
Chuck-a-puck
Fundraising you can do during an ice hockey game, chuck-a-pucks are a great way to secure interest by offering up a cash prize. Offer numbered pucks for attendees to purchase before the game begins. During an intermission ask participants to throw their pucks onto the rink, aiming to get as close to the half-way line as possible. The person who threw the winning puck takes home half the money raised and the other half goes to the team.
Team Yard Sale
Ask your team (and their friends and family) if they have any unused goods or clothing to offer up at a team yard sale.You’d be surprised how many items are just sitting around taking up space. Set up a team yard sale at your local club, or at a strategically chosen house in the neighbourhood, advertise that all the proceeds will be going back to the team and get ready to sell!
Board Game Night
Everyone has a secret board-game they reckon they’re the best at, why not get them to prove it? Game nights are a fun, low cost way to generate extra funds, allowing both players and members of the community to get involved. Simply host a room set-up with both casual games and ticketed tournaments with cash prizes. Consider games like Monopoly, Risk or even the newly re-popularised chess!
Rummage Sale
Like a yard sale but specifically for your old equipment, a rummage sale is also a great opportunity to clean out your packed storage lockers, collecting all the unused gear gathering dust and offering it for sale. Try asking your players to bring in the sticks and uniforms they no longer need and the items quickly begin to stack up. When you announce your sale make sure to contact younger players and other nearby communities too.
Field Day
You won’t believe how fired up people can get on a well-run field day. Field days are a classic fundraising idea and a great way to bring communities together. Host events like three-legged races, sack races and egg-and-spoon races. Ask participants for donations in return for taking part and make additional revenue by selling refreshments on the day too.
Record Attempt
There are so many world record attempts just waiting to be broken, and a lot of them are easier than you think! Whether it be balancing hockey pucks or smashing watermelons, the support and laughs you’ll get will make the event worthwhile, even if you don’t break the record. Invite members of the community to help with your attempts and ask for donations towards your team's fundraising goal in return.
Slap Shot Shootout
A chance to show-off shootout skills, and a great hockey fundraising idea, a slap shot shootout puts your hardest hitters against stationary targets in the net, the catch is you shoot from the half-way line. Plates, buckets and cardboard make exciting targets, whilst, keeping the upfront cost to a minimum. Allocate prizes for categories like coolest trick-shot, fastest shot and most targets hit.
Figure Skating Contest
Ice Rinks are a gold mine of opportunity and, whether the team believes it or not, can be used for things besides ice hockey! A local figure skating contest builds a lot of buzz quickly and can end up being a massive event. Invite local skaters to compete but have an open category too to attract more interest. Pick high profile people from the local community to be your panel of judges and you have the makings of a popular and lucrative event for your ice hockey team.
Skate-a-thon
Sharpen your ice hockey skates and get ready for the long haul, as the ultimate goal of a skate-a-thon is to be the last person standing on the ice rink. Hosting a skate-a-thon is a reliable team fundraising idea for your ice hockey club. Participants can be sponsored either as individuals or as part of a team that rotates skaters between shifts. Ensure your team takes part too, as it’s a great opportunity for them to show off their skills to the attendees.
Pancake Mornings
An event that givesthose hockey moms and dads a chance to shine! Got an early-morning practice? Turn it into a special occasion with a pancake cook-off, a battle between flapjacks, buttermilk, crepes and anything in the pancake universe. Sell and advertise your event to the public as well as to the team for the opportunity to flip a bigger profit.
Dance
Every community needs a dance to look forward to, and your ice hockey team could be the one to make it happen. To host a dance, you’ll need a venue, music (ideally a band) and catering, but also effective ways of advertising beforehand, so be sure to contact local businesses to help you get the word out. Dances in support of your team are a great opportunity to gain new donators or benefactors. They also provide multiple chances to receive donations and raise extra money on the night, through add-ons such as raffles, dance competitions and a cash bar.
BBQ Cook-Off
Things get serious when a group of hockey lads have a barbecue showdown. Make it a great event for everybody by selling tickets to watch the pit masters shine. Give out prizes in a variety of categories, from best burger to best brisket, but also some fun ones like ‘best named grill’ to allow everyone a chance at winning something. Just make sure you plan for the right weather!
Video Game Night
Kids, teens and adults alike can get fired up by the prospect of a video game tournament fundraiser. Host your event at your local venue by renting a projector and having one of the participants bring in their games console. Set up different tournaments for different popular games, like Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros, Fortnite or even just set up a friendly game of Minecraft. Ask attendees to buy tickets to take part and line up some fun prizes, such as video game merchandise, for the winners.
Scavenger Hunt
Buy some gold spray paint and spray one of your hockey pucks with it, to create a cost-effective bit of "treasure" for people to hunt. Choose to hide your golden puck in your stadium, where you can offer tours to the public at the same time, or in an outdoors location. Make sure you make up a scavenger map with riddles, clues and a description of the treasure’s location!