Much confusion still swirls around eligibility and athletes when it comes to The National Collegiate Athletic Association's stance on crowdfunding — even after the NCAA clarified its rules in 2015, giving the method of personal fundraising explicit approval under student-athlete eligibility guidelines.
The NCAA’s clarification came nearly a year after it published an educational column that attempted to reign in a specific type of athlete crowdfunding called “pay-for-play” or “pay-to-stay.” The broad-stroke of the column, however, resulted in confusion among the collegiate community, causing many to steer clear of online personal fundraising.
“We’ve spent a year encouraging and working with the NCAA to clarify its position and help teams and athletes raise the money they need to pursue their goals,” said Bill Kerig, RallyMe Founder.
The NCAA's educational column, helps Division 1 members understand how current regulations apply to crowdfunding. For example, the NCAA does not view crowdfunding any differently than any other form of fundraising. In regard to eligibility and amateur status, this usually requires that funds raised do not exceed “actual and necessary expenses” and relate to competition or training for competition.
“The clarification makes abundantly clear - and public - what we have been talking with the NCAA about since 2012,” Kerig said. “We believe it will open the doors even wider for more collegiate athletes and teams to raise crucial funds and stay within compliance of the NCAA.”
As the cost of participating in high-level athletics continues to increase at a level greater than colleges’ and universities’ ability to support sports, online fundraising is becoming the new normal.
Summary of key aspects of the NCAA published position on Crowdfunding
As it relates to prospective student athletes and current student athletes:
RallyMe is the No. 1 online sports fundraising platform. RallyMe has partnered with over 35 sports National Governing Bodies and top sports organizations across the globe to help athletes, teams and organizations raise the funds they need to train and compete. Thousands have raised millions on RallyMe. The platform is safe, secure and provides sophisticated tools and templates to help athletes and organizations raise funds through their personal and social media networks. CNBC called RallyMe the “Gold medal standard” for athlete crowdfunding.