Ask a high school athletic director how fundraising is going across their programs and most will give you a version of the same answer: ‘Fine, I think. The coaches handle it.’ Then ask them to pull up a report showing what was raised across all sports last year, broken down by program, with a comparison to the year before. That’s when it gets quiet.
Athletic directors are responsible for the financial health of every program under their umbrella. But in most schools, fundraising is completely decentralized – each coach chooses their own platform, sets their own timeline, and reports (or doesn’t) on their own schedule. The AD is accountable for outcomes they can’t see.
The Real Cost of Fragmented Athletic Fundraising
When every coach fundraises differently, three specific things happen:
- Donor fatigue – families with kids in multiple sports get fundraising asks from three different coaches in the same two-week window
- Data loss – each coach builds their own donor list, which often disappears when they leave
- Liability exposure – coaches using non-approved platforms or handling cash informally create compliance gaps the AD may not know about until there’s a problem
What Standardization Actually Means
Standardization doesn’t mean every team runs the same type of campaign. Football doesn’t have to do what swimming does. It means setting the floor – the minimum standards all programs must meet – while giving coaches flexibility within that floor.
A functional athletic fundraising standard typically covers three things: which platform or vendor is approved, what reporting the coach must submit after the campaign, and when campaigns can run. Everything else – campaign type, goal amount, kickoff format, prize structure – remains the coach’s decision.
Handling the ‘I Have My Own System’ Coach
Every AD has at least one coach who has been running the same fundraiser with the same company for twelve years and does not want to change. This is a real and legitimate concern – existing relationships have value, and coaches who feel their autonomy is being taken away will push back.
The most effective approach is to lead with the benefits to the coach, not the benefits to the department. ‘This standard means you spend less time on administrative work and less time managing communication logistics’ is a different message than ‘the department is requiring everyone to use the same platform.’ Both may be true – but the first one lands better.
Building the Consolidated View
The practical benefit of a standardized athletic fundraising approach is the consolidated report. When every program runs through the same platform, the AD can see – in one view – what every program raised, which programs are outperforming, where participation is low, and how performance compares year over year.
That information changes how athletic directors allocate support. Programs that are struggling get intervention. Programs that are doing something right become models for others. The data exists because it was collected consistently.
InstaRaise gives athletic directors exactly this consolidated view – one dashboard for all program fundraising performance, without requiring every coach to change how they interact with their own teams. The standardization is in the infrastructure, not in the experience.
