Cheer and dance
The cheer fundraiser that pays for competition season.
Uniforms, bows, choreography, competition fees, the bus to nationals. A cheer fundraiser has to cover a lot with a small roster and a coach who is already at practice five days a week. Here is the sale Brian runs for squads in any state.
A cheer fundraiser has the worst math in school sports. Small roster, big fees, and the invoices arrive in a pile. Competition entry, choreography, uniforms every couple of years, travel to the big one. A car wash raises a weekend’s worth of money for a weekend’s worth of work. A two-week product sale with an online store raises competition money, and the coach’s part is five minutes at practice.
What a cheer sale pays for
Competition fees
Entry fees, music, choreography and the trip. The fall sale puts the money in the account before the first invoice.
Uniforms, shoes and bows
Replaced on a cycle. One strong sale a year keeps the cycle from hitting the parents all at once.
Travel
The bus, the hotel and the trip to nationals the athletes talk about all year.
Dance team
Same sale, same fees, same calendar. Costumes, competition entry and travel.
Why cheer families sell this
They are sharing a link, and the catalog is popcorn, sweet treats, cookie dough and gift items from Giving Market, a Booster company. A flyer posts the store link, an aunt three states away orders from her phone and the box ships to her door. The athletes collect VIP Duck collectibles during the sale and the prize program tracks every order in an admin site. Nobody is washing cars.
How a cheer fundraiser runs
- The call. Brian and the coach or booster president. The goal, the roster and the competition calendar.
- The window. Two clean weeks. Brian sets the kickoff, the midpoint push and the finish around games and competitions.
- The kickoff. Five minutes at practice with Brian’s script. Each athlete gets a store link and a paper form.
- The sale. Families share the link. Brian sends the day seven push that wakes up the second half of the squad.
- Delivery. Program orders ship pre-sorted to the coach or treasurer. Online orders ship straight to the supporter.
Sideline, competition and all-star
The sale is the same for a sideline squad, a competition team and a dance team. School squads usually run it in the fall. Programs with spring tryouts often run it right after the new squad is set, so the new families start the season with the fees covered. Brian has run cheer sales since 1994 and builds each one around the calendar the coach already has. The fall 2026 program results, including a middle school band that sold $15,000 with 150 kids, are on the case studies page.
After tryouts or in the fall
Two windows work for cheer. The first is right after spring tryouts, when the new squad is set and the season’s fees are about to land on the new families. The second is the fall, in two clean weeks that miss homecoming and the first competition. Brian looks at the schedule with the coach and sets the dates. All-star programs that run year-round pick the quietest two weeks they have. Whichever window you pick, book it early. Spring windows fill by early January and fall windows fill before summer.
Band, chorus and cheer programs share one page at teams and groups. The step-by-step is on how it works. Squads in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas have the South Central page.
Questions people ask
When should a cheer squad run its fundraiser?
Right after tryouts in the spring, or in the fall in a two-week window that misses homecoming and the first competition. Brian picks the window with the coach so the check lands before fees are due.
Our squad is small. Is that enough?
Yes. The online store does the reaching. A small squad whose families each share a link with relatives in other states out-sells a bigger program that only sells in the parking lot.
Can the cheer boosters run it instead of the coach?
Yes, and most do. The booster president runs point, the coach gives five minutes at practice for the kickoff, and Brian handles the rest.
What does it cost the squad to start?
Nothing. Zero upfront cost and no minimum. Brian sends the catalog and the parent letter the day you book.
Ready to raise more this year?
Tell Brian about your school or team. He replies within one business day with a plan and a date.