Bowl For Kids' Sake

About the Event:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana’s Bowl For Kids’ Sake has been the agency’s largest annual fundraiser for almost 40 years, with a different theme each year.

Participants form teams of up to six bowlers who fund-raise on behalf of BBBS-SWLA in the weeks leading up to the event. 

Teams raise a minimum of $180 but some teams raise even upwards of $1,000. The event is a celebration to thank those who have raised funds on behalf of the non-profit. Beer, soft drinks, and food are available on the day of the event, which takes place from 9:30am–4:30pm.

Prize packages donated by the Golden Nugget Lake Charles and L'Auberge Casino Resort are awarded to the top 10 fundraisers. Raffle items generously donated by Southwest Beverage Company are given away during each bowling shift.

Bowlers are provided with a fundraising toolkit that contains all the information and directions they need on how to register their teams and motivate their bowlers to fundraise. With the additional funds raised, BBBS-SWLA expands the mentoring programs that currently exist in the community.

Planning:

Marketing and promotions started in November to announce the event date of March and registration that would open in January. 

To promote the event, I utilized Big Brothers Big Sisters of SWLA's social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), paid ads, media interviews I participated in (live and pre-recorded), radio station interviews done by our executive director, digital billboard advertising, public speaking engagements done by myself and our executive director with local organizations or businesses, hanging flyers and posters around the city and in local establishments, and involvement of the BBBS Board of Directors who were tasked with recruiting a certain number of bowling teams and sponsors.

I worked with a company on the creation, design, and functionality of the registration website for bowling teams to be able to sign up and fundraise through the site. I handled the updates, maintenance, and troubleshooting for the site; as well as assisting fundraisers in creating their pages and technical issues.

I designed and ordered the Bowl For Kids' Sake event t-shirts to be worn by Big Brothers Big Sisters staff, and board members.

I assisted in organizing the volunteer shifts for the event to cover decorating and setup, check-in area, money handlers, match volunteers, photographers, emcees, etc. 

We invited our Big Brother and Big Sister mentors to bring their Littles and volunteer during Bowl For Kids' Sake or grab a lane and bowl together. Some matches handled selling raffle tickets while others helped with check-in or clearing lanes for the next bowling shift.

We had five bowling shifts and almost 500 participants on the day of Bowl For Kids' Sake and raised over $100,000 in 2019. 

Although we were unable to have the event in 2020, you can see the full registration site here: https://amplify.netdonor.net/1...