Since 1996, the Youth Sports Foundation (YSF) has been a beacon of support for young athletes, fostering their growth and passion for sports.
From its origins in Muscatine, Iowa, YSF has expanded its reach to include communities across the Midwest, offering programs in over eight types of sports, including tackle football, wrestling, track and field, volleyball, badminton, and cheerleading, utilizing Cognito Forms and PayPal Payments to drive registration success within their organization.
Growing from small beginnings to managing thousands of players across various sports teams was no easy task.
The Opportunity
Countless families feel YSF’s impact. With dedicated leaders like Co-founder Jim Miller and Regional Director Joe Payne, it’s truly a community-driven organization.
“We started with teams around communities directly near us. It then snowballed where adjacent communities wanted to get involved. We just kept growing.” says Miller.
When manual processes for registration and payment became unsustainable, YSF turned to Cognito Forms and PayPal for solutions to support the nonprofit.
“Right before COVID, we were pretty close to reaching and surpassing the 10,000-player registration mark. So, we absolutely needed things to run smoothly and efficiently [online],” says YSF Business Manager Cathy Miller.
It was important for parents to register their children for sports easily and for YSF to manage large volumes of payment.
“Efficiency is kind of the name of the game, especially right now during our crazy busy season,” says Miller.
The Solution
YSF began implementing Cognito Forms to automate data collection and management. It was a significant process improvement over printed documents, both on the administrative end and for those submitting the forms—quick to set up and simple to fill out at schools and events.
The registration forms collect all data types—including player information, parent details, and medical history. After the form is filled out, parents and players sign a waiver at the bottom of the form using a Signature field.
Suppose parents don’t happen have all the information they need right at that moment (i.e. medical information and contacts). In that case, they can save their responses and continue later with the Save & Resume option.
What’s also nice about it? Payments are collected directly on the form; no pop-up window or redirect is needed to collect payments.
Youth Sports Foundation doesn’t make it complicated. Registration has moved from paper to an online form, and payment has moved from check, cash, and manually keyed credit card to payment collection using PayPal at the time registration is submitted.
The Impact
The decision to use Cognito Forms with PayPal was a game-changer. Parents and participants can now enjoy smooth, secure transactions, speeding up the registration experience. They can also process payments on the go via mobile devices. The seamless flow from Cognito Forms to PayPal and then to QuickBooks has been a critical factor in YSF’s growth.
“Cognito Forms catches all the information and quickly captures the payment, which then goes to our PayPal account. Parents have trust in the checkout process because they trust PayPal,” says Miller.
YSF intakes tens of thousands of yearly registrations, processes over $300,000 in payments, and does not have a single piece of paper in sight.
What’s Next for YSF
As the foundation grew, so did the complexity of its operations, especially in towns where multiple sports programs run simultaneously.
“We’re constantly using Cognito Forms,” shares Payne.
Moving from manual to online systems has allowed the staff to focus more on developing programs and engaging with the community.
They’re also exploring new functionalities within Cognito Forms to further streamline their workflows, such as routed email notifications, equipment inventory management, and using Lookup fields to simplify data entry.
Looking forward, YSF plans to sign up more players and introduce even more sports programs across the Midwest.
Their experience of expanding and innovating offers valuable insights for other organizations looking to leverage technology to meet growing demands.
Win Big With Seamless Registration and Payments
The PayPal + Cognito Forms partnership is ideal for organizations looking for a single end-to-end integration. It helps give customers the confidence to buy and businesses the opportunity to boost their sales. The solution enables multiple payment options at checkout, including PayPal, Venmo, and all major debit and credit cards.
With this dynamic pairing, you can maximize efficiency and simplify your customers’ checkout experience.
Haley Nelson
Haley, the Content Specialist for Cognito Forms, helps customers discover how they can use the product to elevate their business. She knows that when it comes to getting things done, Cognito Forms is the perfect tool. When not at work, you can find her hiking, listening to podcasts, or buying plants.