What is Sports Crowdfunding?

When sporting legends like Usain Bolt, Mary Kom, or Christiano Ronaldo set world records and create some of the best sports moments in history, their success eclipses the sacrifices they made and the challenges they faced to become a champion sportsperson. We seldom think of the struggles they pushed through to become the superstars they are. We know of the gruelling hours they put into practice but not their humble beginnings. 

For many athletes, lack of resources such as professional coaching, training infrastructure, sports gear can break their dreams before they even start. Thankfully, the world today is different. We can pool in our resources and ensure that we can empower the potential superstars of the future to have the best facilities they need to excel.

Today, we can start a sports crowdfunding campaign for an individual athlete or a sports organisation that supports athletes. In India, there are many online crowdfunding platforms like Ketto that host several campaigns to help people raise money for various causes. 

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So, what exactly is sports crowdfunding? 

In sports crowdfunding, you share the story of an athlete or organisation that needs money to train, buy sports paraphernalia, or support an athlete in any other way that can help them reach their true potential. Through crowdfunding, you can tell the potential donors about the immense talent of the athlete and their accomplishments and request them to contribute a small amount. The contributions can be useful for the sportsperson to get better training facilities and prepare to become the champion they deserve to be. You can add pictures of the athlete’s training routine and tell the donors exact why you need their support.

You can run a crowdfunding campaign for any purpose you wish. Some of the popular reason why people crowdfunding for sports are:

Pay for coaching and training

Not all athletes have finances that can pay for the best coach or trainer. Their talent can go underutilised without the right guidance and coaching techniques. Good coaching is often the difference between a podium finish and second best. 

Sports crowdfunding ensures that this gap never occurs. If an athlete has the talent but no money to train, they can start a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to pay for their coaching or training. Often, athletes also have to travel abroad to train under more experienced coaches. This requires additional funding as the athlete needs to consider the cost of living in that country. 

With crowdfunding, the athlete can seek financial help from compassionate souls and sports lovers from across the world. If a well-known international sports organisation raises funds on the athlete’s behalf, they can reach even more people and raise funds.

Develop sports infrastructure

Every football club may have the urge to be as successful and well-funded like Chelsea or Manchester United. Most football clubs around the world are not equipped well and have the bare minimum necessary to train their players. The story is similar for other sports as well. Athletes require stable, if not state-of-the-art sports and fitness facilities such as gym equipment or even appropriate footwear. Without the right equipment, they can suffer serious injuries, which may bring down the curtains on their sports dreams.  

A sports club or organisation can start a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds from the community and build their infrastructure. Players and members can also run the campaign and seek other sports organisations’ support in the same field to spread the word. 

Sponsor an athlete

Every Indian sports lover may have heard the inspirational story of Budhia Singh, the youngest marathon runner in history. Coming from a poor background, he attained great fame early on, thanks to well-wishers’ contributions. 

Today, sports crowdfunding can help athletes and create more champions. This will in turn bring glory to the country at various local and international sporting events. Well-wishers can contribute money to help the athlete get the best training, manage other expenses such as education and housing. 

So, start a sports crowdfunding campaign today and help someone be the champion they are meant to be.