Our Company
Yes, the equity gap in sports still exists and as female athletes at any level, a major key to our success is fundraising, partnerships, and being prepared for opportunities as they come.
To secure sponsors we've all been told the importance of sharing our athletic journey effectively and pitching professionally, but we've never been shown how or been provided the tools to do so.
So, instead of chasing the trends of AI, we decided to let our passions for the game lead us, and we started cooking up something special. Our secret sauce is crafted from experience in sports brand strategy, team operations, corporate charitable giving, and a deep passion for the success of women and girls in sports.
From there, we started building something we could only dream of when we were competing, which is an all-in-one platform to help athletes pitch sponsors, represent themselves professionally, raise funds, and engage with supporters, without having to beg or juggle a dozen different links.
And true to the spirit of the athletes we serve, Fundraisher is a completely bootstrapped company. We chose not to take outside investments because we believe in making decisions that put the needs of women and girls in sports first, not investors. We're growing this together, one Athlete Hub at a time!
While this approach means we're more hands-on and a little less automated, every step we take is intentional, designed with both athletes and their supporters in mind. And our roadmap includes so many features we can't wait to share with you in future releases.
As we embark on this journey together, we want to take a moment to thank you for trusting us with your efforts. We're so excited to support your success!
If you have any questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
-The Fundraisher Team
Our Mission
It is our goal to provide the technology and strategy to support stress-free support and partnerships for female athletes.
For Athletes:
Elevate your athletic brand with a single, professional digital hub that centralizes your story, simplifies fundraising, and pitches you directly to sponsors.
For Teams:
At the amateur level, fan loyalty starts with the athlete, not the team. Capitalize on this direct connection and equip your roster with the professional tools and technology needed to market both their individual stories and the collective team brand.
For Parents & Supporters:
Fundraisher makes it easy for your village to support. Whether it’s a personal or team fundraiser, or grabbing your tickets to show up and cheer, Fundraisher provides a centralized Hub for it all. Supporting an athlete has never been so simple and organized.
For Influencer Marketing & Casting Agents, and Brands:
Finding the right talent for a campaign can be time-consuming. We've built the Athlete Partner Marketplace, a private network for approved agents, producers, and managers to find and connect with female athletes for paid campaigns.
Access our professional, high-potential pipeline and instantly find diverse female talent with transparent digital portfolios ready for scalable and impactful brand partnerships. Secure authentic alignment and measurable impact while connecting with rising female athletes who embody your values and offer direct access to engaged fan communities.
Our goal is to streamline your casting process by providing a network of vetted, athletic talent, each with a professional Hub that details not only their athletic journey, but their audience, engagement, and content style.
Yup, something for everyone!
A Personal Message From Our Founder
If you know me in real life, you’re aware of my deep passion for women’s tackle football and the growth of women’s sports in general, as well as the fact that I have been missing in action. If we haven't met, and even if we have, this level of personal transparency might be unexpected, especially when you might have anticipated professional accolades or a resume. I have a feeling you'll find this a bit more insightful and during these times, a bit more relatable...
So, a few seasons ago, I found myself struggling with PTSD and depression, or should I say I finally realized that I was struggling. I was having one misstep after another, but once I finally understood why, I knew I needed to take action.
I speak of energy often and how it never really dies; it can only be transferred, and the fact that we cannot always see the energy that we are transferring to others. We can all agree that being in the presence of others with negative energy is draining, but I also never realized that not expressing hurt, pain, grief was also draining AND causing an emotional bomb that was simply waiting on the right/wrong trigger. Well, the trigger was pulled and every feeling that I have never expressed, started to manifest. I was emotional about EVERYTHING, and because I know that hurt people often unknowingly hurt people, I distanced myself to figure it without causing additional collateral damage to those around me.
I made the difficult decision to take a break from all things "creative work" quietly, without a public announcement, informing only my clients about my mental health hiatus. And as one whose personal and professional environments pretty much existed as one, it was all or nothing: either I take a real break or face a breakdown. And I'm talking about a no-social-media (ok, ok, you may find me active on Twitter and Reddit), all devices and apps on DND, 'see you when I see you' type of break. Definitely not the best strategy for maintaining both personal and professional relationships, but it was necessary.
For the first time ever, my usually friendly self tried to avoid making new friends or taking on new projects due to my inability to be truly engaged. On one hand, I had the burning desire to continue pouring into everyone around me, but on the other hand, it was clear that although I am a very pessimistic, 'cup is halfway full' type of gal, I had to come to terms with the fact that the cup was truly empty, and my impact was no longer matching my intent. It became harder and harder to "put on" the smile, when in reality a hard stop and a refill was needed.
With the support of my amazing partner, I entered a state of eremitism and took the time to prioritize my foundational well-being. You know, digging deep and getting to the root of things. And while I initially viewed stepping away as a failing, the absolute peace and purpose of today would have been impossible without it. Sometimes, you just gotta talk it out, go through it. Having gone through the 'this had to happen in order for this to happen' scenarios, I realize that to land exactly where I am now, I wouldn't alter a single moment.
Silence kept me in arrested development for a very long time, but feeling safe enough to speak up literally changed my life, my energy, and my outlook. My priorities have shifted in the most harmonic way, and a sense of balance has replaced overstimulation. Just know, there is so much freedom in your truth. Far too nuanced and personal to go into detail about, I can honestly say that I am thankful for the time away and the ability to come out on the other side, extending love and grace.
Nowadays, in the fashion of "Keeping the main thing the main thing," and free to focus on the things that I am truly passionate about, I'm back to nerding out over women's sports branding and fundraising. Attempts at taking on projects outside of sports and integrating into industries that I had no passion for (although these projects added to my toolbox) taught me a lot about myself, and the direction I needed to move in.
I went from hoping someone would launch the next big thing in support of female athletes, to telling myself that, "It hasn't been built yet because the world is waiting on you to do it." And this time around, I believed those words. So, I built Fundraisher.
A dream realized, Fundraisher transformed a decade-plus of consulting and creating fundraising, marketing, sponsorship, and fan engagement strategies from a mental guide of best practices and to-dos, into a viable tech product that I can now equip athletes with, that implements those strategies. The goal is to address critical gaps in the impactful support of female athletes, and the accessibility and user experience of those doing so.
Initially, I had an idea to create a Linktree-type solution that simply allowed athletes to share fundraisers and links to their tickets, but that idea has grown into a Hub of opportunity. They say if you build it they will come, and I've since been met with the opportunities to provide a casting network of female athletes to production and influencer marketing agents, therefore creating additional opportunities for women and girls in sports.
I'm incredibly thankful for the experience gained from creating with #theXPbrand and working with other founders to build and implement strategies with the WNFC, A7FL, YourCause, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Sports Creative Community as they've provided me with very unique experiences that helped shape my vision and skills.
The vision that initially led to me learning to build a website for my 2012 Dallas Diamonds women's tackle football team, turning my living room into a photo studio to capture everyone's roster photos, and designing and printing personalized business cards for each of my teammates for efficient promoting was pretty much the blueprint and unofficial case study for our Athlete Hubs and our Custom QR Code Cards. It's crazy to think about how much of my original vision has evolved, but also how much has stayed the same.
My hope is that Fundraisher is a catalyst for keeping women and girls in the game, which we know can get very costly over time. I also hope it opens her mind to the partnerships and opportunities that are available AND that she can create for herself. We may not get paid big bucks to play, but there is so much value in our voices and so much space for us to create opportunities that were not there before.
On one hand Fundraisher is my business, but its also my way to continue giving back. We have a goal to donate 1,500 Hubs this year to female athletes in sports via nonprofits that share the same mission, so please reach out if you know of an organization that could use the support.
Now, you might wonder why I’m sharing all of this. It’s not just for the feel-good story that ends in triumph, because this ain’t that, lol!! I was going through it! But I believe it’s important to be reminded that growth isn’t always pretty and can be downright ugly. There are struggles and losses along the way, but you learn so much about yourself in the process. In business, everyone is expected to be so polished and never allow personal experiences to negatively affect their work, but that's not realistic.
We all go through things, and sometimes you just need to step away for a bit, regroup, and come back even stronger. The more I come out of my cocoon and connect with people, the more I learn about my peers on the same journey, even prioritizing self-care over high-paying yet stressful executive titles. And just the fact that my usually uber-private self even wanted to give an update about my hiatus, yeah, we're all growing around here.
Today, equipped with so much mental clarity, excitement, and gratitude in my heart, I am ready to serve, and build, and grow with those in alignment! Do I have a bit of anxiety starting a new business? Well, of course! But it's honestly more social anxiety than anything as I emerge out of my lil' bubble. If there is anything that I am never anxious about is helping and creating opportunities for others, and Fundraisher is allowing me to do that on so many levels! Whether we have 47 paid users, or gain another 10,000, I just want Fundraisher to be a resource for those athletes who find value in it.
So in closing, thank you sooo much for reading, please be kind to others and yourself as people are fighting battles that we are not privy to, and last but not least - support women & girls in sports.
-Amari Hollis
