Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association teams are some of the best-run club sports programs in the country. They travel nationally, compete in organized conferences, and send teams to a legitimate national championship every spring.
They also operate on budgets that would make a varsity athletic director laugh.
A typical MCLA team runs on somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 per year. The top programs, teams consistently competing at nationals, might push higher. But they're doing it entirely without athletic department funding, without scholarships, and without full-time staff. Every dollar comes from player dues, university allocations, fundraising, and maybe a sponsorship deal or two.
That's the reality of MCLA lacrosse. And the programs that figure out the funding piece are the ones that stay competitive year after year.
Where the Money Comes From
Let's break down the typical MCLA team budget by revenue source. These numbers vary by school and region, but the pattern is consistent across the association.
Player Dues: 40-60% of Revenue
Dues are the backbone of most MCLA budgets. They typically range from $300 to $800 per player per semester, depending on the school, the team's travel schedule, and what's covered (gear, tournament fees, insurance).
On a 40-player roster at $500/player, that's $20,000 per semester. It sounds like a lot. It's also not nearly enough once you factor in travel.
The challenge with dues: they have a ceiling. Push too high and you lose players who can't afford it. Every MCLA team has had the experience of a talented recruit deciding not to join because the dues were out of reach. That's a real cost, even if it doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
University Allocation: 10-25% of Revenue
Most schools provide some funding to recognized club sports through the student government, recreation department, or a club sports office. The amount varies wildly. Some schools give $1,000/year. Others fund up to $10,000+.
The catch: university funding is almost never enough on its own, and it often comes with restrictions. Some schools require dues to flow through university accounts (which adds red tape). Some cap spending categories. Some require a formal budget proposal each semester.
It's helpful, but it's not a strategy. It's a baseline.
Fundraising: 15-30% of Revenue
This is where the gap gets filled. And it's where the difference between a $15K program and a $50K program usually lives.
Teams that actively fundraise, running online campaigns to parents and alumni, can raise $5,000 to $15,000+ per year. Teams that don't fundraise, or only do a car wash and a restaurant night, leave thousands on the table.
More on this below. Fundraising is where MCLA teams have the most untapped potential.
Sponsorships: 5-15% of Revenue
Some MCLA teams land local or national sponsors. Equipment companies, apparel brands, local businesses. A good sponsorship deal might bring in $1,000-5,000 per year in cash or in-kind support (discounted gear, free practice pinnies).
Sponsorships are great when you can get them. But they're inconsistent, time-consuming to secure, and often dependent on one player's personal connection. They're a supplement, not a foundation.
The Big Cost: Travel
If you're wondering where all the money goes, the answer is travel. Always travel.
MCLA teams play conference schedules that can span hundreds of miles. A team in the SELC might drive 4-6 hours each way for a conference game. A team in the PNCLL might fly to multiple away weekends. And then there's the conference tournament and, for qualifying teams, the MCLA National Championship.
A typical travel breakdown for one away weekend:
| Expense | Cost (30 players) |
|---|---|
| Hotel (2 nights, 8-10 rooms) | $1,600-2,400 |
| Transportation (charter bus or vans) | $800-2,000 |
| Meals (per diem or team meals) | $600-900 |
| Tournament entry/game fees | $200-500 |
| Total per weekend | $3,200-5,800 |
Multiply that by 4-6 away weekends per season, and travel alone can eat $15,000-30,000 per year. For teams that qualify for nationals, add another $5,000-10,000 for the championship trip.
This is why dues alone don't cut it. And it's why the teams that raise money externally have a real competitive advantage. Not because they can buy better sticks, but because they can actually afford to show up to their games.
The Alumni Advantage in Lacrosse
Here's something MCLA teams have that most other club sports don't: an unusually strong alumni culture.
Lacrosse is a tradition sport. Players identify with their program in a way that goes deeper than most club sports. There's a reason alumni games draw 50+ former players at some programs. There's a reason guys who graduated a decade ago still follow the team's Instagram and show up to homecoming.
That emotional connection is worth real money, if you give alumni a way to act on it.
The average MCLA program has produced hundreds of alumni over its history. Many of those alumni are now 5, 10, 15 years into careers. They have disposable income. They have nostalgia. And most of them would happily throw $50-100 at the team if someone asked them properly.
Let's do some quick math. Say your program has 200 reachable alumni. If 15% donate at an average of $80, that's $2,400 from a single campaign. Run two campaigns a year (fall and spring), and you're at nearly $5,000 in annual alumni giving. That's real budget impact, and it only grows as each graduating class adds to the network.
The problem: most MCLA teams don't have an alumni directory. They don't have alumni email addresses. They have no way to reach former players other than hoping someone sees a post on Instagram.
Fix that, and you unlock a revenue source that compounds every single year.
How Top MCLA Programs Fund Themselves
The most financially successful MCLA teams share a few things in common:
They collect dues online, not through Venmo. This seems small, but it matters. Online dues collection with balance tracking means higher collection rates, less treasurer headache, and real financial records. A team that collects 95% of dues instead of 80% recovers thousands of dollars per semester.
They run at least two online fundraising campaigns per year. One in the fall (pre-season, targeted at parents and alumni) and one in the spring (tournament fundraiser, targeted more broadly). The best teams raise $5,000-15,000+ per year from campaigns alone.
They maintain an alumni database. Not a Google Sheet that one person has. A proper directory with emails, graduation years, and giving history. They use it to send updates, share results, and make fundraising asks that feel personal, not spammy.
They have a fundraising chair or committee. It's not just the president and treasurer winging it. There's at least one officer (sometimes two or three) whose job is specifically to manage alumni relations, sponsorships, and campaign logistics. This role is as important as the social chair, honestly more.
They treat every graduating class as an investment. Before seniors leave, they collect updated contact info and add them to the alumni directory. They invite them back for alumni weekend. They keep the relationship warm. Because a senior who graduates connected stays connected. A senior who graduates into silence is gone forever.
A Fundraising Calendar for MCLA Teams
Here's a realistic annual fundraising schedule that works for most MCLA programs:
August/September: Collect dues for fall semester. Set up your roster and payment system. Update the alumni directory with the latest graduating class.
October: Launch the fall fundraising campaign. Target: parents and alumni. Goal: cover fall travel and equipment. Duration: 2-3 weeks.
November/December: Send an alumni update. Season recap, big wins, what's ahead in the spring. No ask. Just connection.
January: Collect spring semester dues. Begin sponsorship outreach for the spring season.
February/March: Launch the spring campaign. This one can be framed around the conference tournament or nationals qualification. "Help us get to nationals" is a powerful message. Target: alumni, parents, and extended network.
April/May: Post-season recap to all donors. Thank everyone. Report results. Collect senior contact info before graduation.
That's two campaigns, two alumni touchpoints, and consistent dues collection. It's not overwhelming. It's six deliberate actions spread across the year. And it can easily generate $10,000-20,000 in non-dues revenue.
Start Building the Machine
MCLA lacrosse has everything it needs to be financially sustainable at the team level. Strong alumni loyalty. Engaged parent networks. A tradition culture that makes people want to give back.
What most teams lack is the infrastructure: the alumni directory, the online payment system, the campaign tools, the donor records. That's not a money problem. It's a setup problem. And it's fixable.
Fieldraiser was built for exactly this. Dues collection, fundraising campaigns, alumni management, donor tracking. All free. All in one place. Set it up before your fall season, and you'll wonder how you ever operated without it.