Simplifying support for female athletes

My superpower has always been supporting the success of others, especially women, but I needed to take a break to recalibrate as someone in service of others. During my break, I finally had the mental capacity to organize my thoughts and create the solution I've dreamt of for so long in support of every female athlete I know.

Whether she's looking to get recruited and needs a dedicated area for stats, highlights, and a bio, or she's fundraising to make it to Nationals and has to share a multitude of links for each campaign, I've always wanted athletes to have a single location to do it all. And by giving teams the opportunity to market themselves via their athletes' Hubs, teams have the ability to reach their roster's active supporters with the efficiency that a paid ad could never.

They say, “If you build it, they will come,” and it's been incredible to see that come to life. What started as a vision to better support female athletes has grown into opportunities to work with student-athletes, nonprofits, and teams, while also connecting women and girls in sports with casting, production, and influencer marketing opportunities. It's been both fulfilling and rewarding, especially knowing how much more is possible when we are given the proper tools.

Back in 2012 when I played with the Dallas Diamonds, we didn't have the budget for a brand manager, so while I was protecting my quarterback from sacks on Saturdays, I spent the rest of the week figuring out how to help my team attract sponsors and put fans in the stands. With the help of my O-line coach, Coach Billy F. Hughes (may he forever rest in peace), I purchased a new desktop computer and invested in my first DSLR camera because we needed a new website and lots of photos.

There was so much to learn, but I wanted nothing more than for my teammates to be able to share something that looked professional. I created personalized business cards for everyone on the roster to promote themselves and the team, produced hundreds of pieces of social media content, and looked for every opportunity to give our athletes the visibility and support they deserved.

Looking back, that was essentially the blueprint for what would become FundraisHER's Athlete Hubs and Team Dashboards. It's amazing how much the original vision has evolved, yet how little the mission has changed.

My hope is that FundraisHER becomes a catalyst for keeping more women and girls in the game, because we know firsthand just how expensive that journey can be. Social media is great for exposure, but exposure alone doesn't always translate into tangible support. The opportunities are out there, and I believe preparation, presentation, and professionalism can make all the difference in reaching that next level.

We may not all get paid big bucks to play the sports we love, but there's tremendous value in our voices, our stories, and the communities we've built around us. And there's still so much room to create opportunities that didn't exist before.

That's what FundraisHER is here to do.

Amari Hollis, Founder of FundraisHER