Cornhole Fundraisers & Charity Cornhole Tournaments
Everything you need to run a successful cornhole tournament fundraiser from from start to finish.
Turn Cornhole into a Fundraising Experience
Cornhole is an accessible, social, and affordable way for nonprofits, schools, businesses, and community organizations to bring supporters together for a good cause. With minimal equipment, flexible venue options, and a low barrier to participation, cornhole tournaments can be a great fit for fundraising events of nearly any size.
But organizing a successful cornhole fundraiser takes more than setting up boards and collecting entry fees.
RecDay brings fundraising, event management, and tournament operations together in one platform—from the first team registration to the championship match.
Built to Bring Competition & Community Together
Cornhole fundraisers attract everyone from casual backyard players to experienced competitors. Organizers need to create an event that's welcoming and fun while managing registration, sponsorships, donations, tournament brackets, scheduling, and scoring.
RecDay bridges both sides by combining cornhole tournament management and fundraising in one central platform.
Best of all? Event committees, volunteers, sponsors, and tournament directors can work together using the same tools.
How Does a Cornhole Tournament Raise Money?
Team registration fees are usually just the starting point. A successful cornhole fundraiser creates multiple opportunities for players, spectators, and local businesses to support the cause.
Player & Team Registrations
Charge individuals or two-person teams to compete, with registration packages that reflect your audience, event experience, and fundraising goals. Consider offering recreational and competitive divisions, or bundling food, drinks, shirts, and other perks into registration.
Sponsorships
Cornhole tournaments offer plenty of opportunities for businesses to support the cause while gaining visibility among participants. Consider bundling team entries into corporate sponsorship packages so businesses can involve their employees while supporting your mission.
Presenting Sponsorship
Board or Lane Sponsorships
Long-Toss Sponsorships
Division Sponsorships
Bracket Sponsorships
Leaderboard/Technology Sponsorship
Championship Match Sponsorship
Awards Sponsorship
Food & Beverage Sponsorship
Player Gift or Swag Sponsorship
Shirt Sponsorship
In-Kind Donations
Donations
Not everyone who supports your cause will want to compete. Give spectators, friends, and supporters an easy way to donate, while also allowing players to make additional contributions during registration.
Merchandise
Branded shirts, hats, koozies, and other event merchandise can generate additional revenue while giving participants something to remember the event by.
Silent Auction
Silent auctions can work especially well alongside cornhole tournaments. Between matches, players and spectators have opportunities to browse items, place bids, and support the cause beyond their registration fees.
Raffles, Contests & Add-Ons
Raffles, drawings, 50/50 contests, and special challenges can keep participants engaged while generating additional donations. Consider offering sponsored trick-shot challenges, prize drawings, or other activities that encourage friendly competition beyond the tournament itself.
“When you don’t have to be chasing down every detail, your event committee can focus on the things that generate fundraising revenue: promotion, sponsors, and donations.”
–Alex, Nonprofit Board Member & Event Committee Chair
One Platform for Cornhole Tournament Management & Fundraising
A tournament fundraiser has a lot of moving parts. RecDay brings it all together in one place, connecting the fundraising side of your event with the tournament itself.
Instead of moving information between registration forms, spreadsheets, fundraising tools and tournament software, organizers can manage the entire event from a single platform.
And when the final match is over, your event doesn't disappear. Player, sponsor, registration, and fundraising information stays together, giving you a clearer picture of what worked—and a better foundation for building an event that can grow year after year.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cornhole Tournament Fundraisers
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Start by establishing your fundraising goal, identifying a venue, and determining how many cornhole board sets you can accommodate. From there, choose your tournament format, set registration fees, recruit sponsors, and promote the event. Use a tournament management platform (like RecDay) that can handle registrations, payments, brackets, scoring, and fundraising in one place.
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It depends on the number of teams, tournament format, and available time. Each match typically requires one set of two boards, positioned 27 feet apart from front edge to front edge for regulation play. More board sets allow multiple matches to run simultaneously, reducing wait times and shortening the event.
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There is no fixed limit. The number of teams you can accommodate depends on available board sets, your tournament format, and event duration. For example, a 16-team single-elimination tournament requires 15 matches, while round robin formats require substantially more. Plan your capacity around the number of matches and expected time per match.
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The best format depends on your audience and event goals. Common options include:
Single Elimination: Fast and straightforward, with teams eliminated after one loss.
Double Elimination: Gives teams a second chance before elimination.
Round Robin: Guarantees multiple games as teams compete against others in their group.
Round Robin + Elimination: Combines guaranteed games with a championship bracket.
For recreational fundraisers, round robin followed by a single-elimination bracket can offer a good balance of playing time and competition.
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Consider offering recreational and competitive divisions if you expect a mix of casual and experienced players. This helps keep games enjoyable and appropriately matched. For smaller events, one open division may be sufficient. Collect experience or skill information during registration to help determine the best structure.
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Start by selecting your tournament format and assigning registered teams to the appropriate divisions. Brackets can be seeded randomly, manually, or based on results from preliminary round robin play.
While printable brackets and free bracket generators can work, tournament management software like RecDay can automate bracket progression, match assignments, scoring, and standings without requiring organizers to update everything manually.
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Don't rely on team registration fees alone. Add sponsorship packages, merchandise, donations, raffles, auctions, and contests. Consider offering corporate team packages or sponsored boards to create additional revenue opportunities without increasing the cost of participation.
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Item descriptionYes. RecDay's Play with Purpose program offers qualifying nonprofit fundraisers access to its tournament management and fundraising platform at no cost. Organizers can manage team registration, payments, sponsorships, brackets, scoring, and more in one place.
Learn more at www.recday.com/get-qualified.
Quick Guide to Planning a Fundraising Tournament
Planning a tournament fundraiser can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Start with the right tools, and a practical, straight-forward checklist that outlines your to-dos in one easy-access place.
Free Access for Nonprofits & Fundraisers
Whether you're launching your first cornhole fundraiser or growing an annual event, the Play with Purpose program provides qualifying nonprofit fundraisers with access to RecDay at no cost—helping more of what you raise go toward your mission. Get qualified below to learn more.