GRAND RAPIDS, MI, APRIL 2018- VNN, America’s largest and fastest growing high school sports communication platform, today launched Team Shops to its network of over 2,000 high school athletic department partners. A new release on VNN’s flagship SportsHub website, Team Shops give over 15% of the nation’s high school sports programs the ability to fundraise from their official home online.
A now-essential activity for sports programs nationwide, team fundraising accounts for an estimated $1.2 billion dollars in funding for the youth sports market. Despite the vast scale, team fundraisers themselves are often managed through high-effort, high-touch, in-person events and solicitations. The launch of Team Shops simplifies the fundraising process by enabling teams to raise money through the everyday purchases parents, athletes and fans make already online. In addition, campaigns that benefit united athletic funds are available to comply with Title IX requirements where applicable. At launch, each shop page includes links to product categories, gift cards, and daily deals, with plans to introduce other eCommerce opportunities yet to be announced.
“Over my 16 years of working with schools, I’ve found the biggest challenges in executing a successful fundraiser have always been distribution, time, and effort,” said VNN CRO Randy Hagg. “Going door to door, washing cars in a parking lot, and selling magazine subscriptions can be effective, but takes an absurd amount of time and effort. We’re excited to simplify fundraising for high school athletes, making it as easy as texting a link to your friends and family!”
This initiative, part of VNN’s commitment to an open future in high school athletics, is a collaboration with Toronto-based online fundraiser FlipGive.
