There are a lot of advantages to cheerleading teams that other sports simply don’t enjoy. I think this goes without saying, especially in high school, but I will give you that the same is true for those in college – let me explain and give you a real example here if I can.
Over the years, I have participated in and planned many car wash fundraisers. It started in high school where I was president of several clubs on campus and president of my senior class as well. The one thing we’ve always needed in our clubs and organizations was money – there just wasn’t enough money for our unquenchable thirst for mega-events. In those days I had a business washing cars, boats, planes, and a mobile car wash and we used the equipment to clean cars at those parties. In the end, we got really good at organizing them and making a decent amount of money.
However, we were unable to achieve as much as the cheerleading squad for obvious reasons. First, they could sell us 3:1 in pre-sale car wash fundraiser tickets, and during the day of the event they would pull cars off the street in droves with a simple “Cheerleader Car Wash” sign and a couple of girls in the corner in swimsuits. Hey, it’s not fair, but that’s life. Yes, there is a proven advantage indeed. Needless to say, if you’re a encouraging parent or student advisor and your team needs money – fundraisers of this type are very easy to hold and are a perfect fit for the summer months.
The other day, I was chatting with a mom at Starbucks who has a daughter who made up the high school cheerleading squad for the following calendar year. Her sister was a cheerleader a few years ago at the same school, and her mom remembered how much that cost in terms of cheerleader camp, contests, uniforms, travel expenses, and mom really didn’t want to go into that again, didn’t want to give her homework at “another damn bake sale” I think were her exact words. I explained the car wash’s fundraising strategy and how they could do pre-sale tickets, and use a busy corner to host the endeavor.
She remembered doing at least one such fundraiser a few years ago and thought it was fun, but she said she remembered getting a sunburn, and with proper planning explained that nobody had to burn out and that her daughter’s band could make much-needed money. Please consider all this and think about it.