How Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County Pivoted to Virtual Bowling
Since 1966, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Dane County has provided mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of today’s youth. Because of social distancing, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County had to take their Bowl for Kids’ Sake (BFKS) virtual.
Online Fundraising Activities
Ready to pivot virtual for their mission, BBBS of Dane County was able to bring their in-person peer-to-peer fundraising activities online. These included:
- Online Donations
- Team & Individual Competitions
- Activity & Fundraising Challenges
What Made This Event Unique?
Click above to check out BBBS of Dane County’s P2P Site!
In April 2020, BFKS kicked off with four weeks of challenges, competitions, and prizes. Weekly participants could get involved online Activity Challenges, Fundraising Challenges, and fun drawings. They shared a Contest Calendar to keep everyone looking ahead!
The challenges and fun giving opportunities spread the BFKS spirit. They kept participants engaged and fundraising throughout the campaign, with a variety of motivational challenges. Everything from weekly raffle tickets to a Yeti raffle, fundraising challenges and prizes, and a virtual bowling contest.
Each Friday, participants tuned in live on Facebook to hear raffle drawings, and to learn about the next week’s challenges. Through social promotion, friendly competition they made giving fun and attracted friends, relatives and colleagues to the virtual campaign.
Virtual Fundraising Strategies
Shifting a peer-to-peer event virtual needs a good fundraising strategy to create the same atmosphere. BBBS of Dane County drove donor engagement and motivation to give with these fundraising strategies:
- Weekly Activity & Fundraising Challenges
- Weekly Facebook Live event
- Impact & Mission Messaging
- Virtual Bowling Contests
- Fundraising & Recruiting Leaderboards
- Social Media Rewards
- Showcased sponsors on fundraising site
- Fundraising Tips & FAQ page
- Shared Contest Calendar
- Social activities: online happy hour, costume
contest, design your own bowling alley
Best Practices and Lessons Learned
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BBBS of Dane County implemented these best practices to make their virtual ‘Bowl For Kids’ Sake’ a success:
- Communicate the mission and need
- Make it fun to fundraise!
- Reward for recruiting, fundraising, and social media reach
- Use impact statements
- Create virtual sponsorships
- Have a virtual photo gallery
Results
A move to virtual paid off to say the least! BBBS of Dane County closed the event with these results:
- 284 Participants
- 54 Teams
- 787 Donations
- $130k Online Donations
- 108% to Goal
Connect with a Cause
You can learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County and support their mission by visiting their website.
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