Bowlin’ the Night Away

I was going through some old photos the other day and came across some from my high school days when I participated in a bowl-a-thon to raise money for a band trip. While in band, we raised funds for new uniforms, instruments, hat plumes, arm-band music holders, and a variety of other things by selling pizzas, candy bars, and wrapping paper, as well as participating in bowl-a-thons and jump-a-thons. Back then I never considered what the parents must have gone through to coordinate these events. As I sat in the airport recently, I pondered what goes into planning any-a-thons.

When planning a bowl-a-thon or a jump-a-thon, the logistics are pretty similar to start. You want to form a committee so you’re not alone on your journey. The committee will need to determine the amount of money to raise, what sponsorships will be offered, how many donations will be needed, where the event will be held, who will market the event, and if other activities will accompany the event like raffles, t-shirt sales, or goodie bags.

After the amount to be raised is determined, the event committee needs to secure a location. If the thing-a-thon is compelling enough, the committee should be able to find a sponsor to cover the costs of renting a bowling alley or a school might offer their gym for free to a jump-a-thon. The marketing committee needs to begin developing their strategy for reaching the community and build the online portal where sign-ups and donations will happen.

The sponsorship committee can begin approaching local businesses to offer them the opportunity to partner with the group by paying to have their logo on something like the event t-shirt, a sign above the bowling alley itself, or fund something like the snack table. The donations committee needs to begin securing items that can be used either as swag for the participants, or as items for a raffle or silent auction for additional fundraising opportunities during the event.

Those groups doing the fundraising are responsible to get their people fired up to not only participate but also talk to their friends and family members about the upcoming event and their need for financial assistance. In some cases, they may need to recruit others to participate like on a bowling team or to jump with them. In other cases, participants are looking for people to donate money per number of strikes or rounds of jumps. Then, supplies and food need to be ordered, an event plan created, emcee recruited, music playlist curated, and the rest of the nitty, gritty details completed that go into any event.

When running an “-a-thon,” be creative. For bowling, consider having each round be a different way to bowl. For example, one round can be bowling between your legs, one round rolling the ball down the alley with two hands, still another round throwing with your opposite hand. When planning a jump-a-thon, it doesn’t just have to be straight-up jumping for hours and hours. Think about creating stations with a different style of jumping and have participants rotate through ones like jumping on one leg, crisscrossing your arms every other jump, and spinning the rope backwards. These keep the participants engaged and make the event more fun.

All the while, your emcee is creating hype, calling raffle numbers, giving away prizes, announcing incoming donation amounts, or just highlighting people who are doing something funny or remarkable on the floor.

After the event is over, there are two very important next steps. First, celebrate with the event planning team. This step so often gets overlooked in efforts to finish up the post-event tasks and move onto the next thing. Stop, thank the team, and celebrate the wins. Second, thank the donors and sponsors. Share a story or two from the event or a striking donation received and encourage them to visit the web page or social media of the group to monitor its progress.

Each event and circumstance for which fundraising is needed has its own uniqueness’s, but hopefully you now have a general idea of what’s in store if you find yourself planning a volleyball-a-thon.

Have you planned a fundraising-a-thon? What is one thing we should be sure to do?
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