Frequently Asked Questions

Here are various questions and answers that might help to clarify terminology and fundamentals related to our Bowl For Kid's Sake bowlathon event.  If you have any others you feel should be added, or if something is not clear, even after reading these, please contact Samantha Jones at sjones@bbbsneo.org or at (440) 352-2526 x14.

What is the Bowl For Kid's Sake event all about?

Bowl For Kid's Sake is a National "bowlathon" event for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and is the largest fund raising event in terms of reaching the most individuals, businesses and community supporters. Supporters join together as teams of 4 - 6 bowlers per team to bowl on a specific date and at one of the supportive bowling lanes. Each bowler works to raise a number of donations from their family, friends, special others, co-workers, etc.  Various prizes are awarded, but all donations go to Big Brothers Big Sisters to support their operations.  

Whether you are a member of a bowling team, or helping to raise donations for a team, or you are making a donation to support an individual and/or team, please know you are helping to make a BIG difference in our mission to help change the destiny of children from single parent families, many facing adversity.

What is a Bowlathon?

Our Bowl For Kid's Sake event is considered a bowlathon (much like a walkathon, telathon, or bikeathon) as we encourage our fund raising participants to solicit donations to support their team or personal fundraising objectives from other family, friends, co-workers, vendors, customers, etc.  By using each person's personal network of contacts, more funds can be raised, but equally important, a connection to Big Brothers Big Sisters is also made, improving our agencies visibility.  Personal or business donations can be made at whatever level your contact is comfortable with, and it all helps us to make a BIG difference to children from single parent families, many facing adversity.  Our team/personal fund raisers are encouraged to use our online Team/Personal Fund Raising tools to support their efforts to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Ohio.

What are the various ways someone can participate in the event?
1) You can Register to Bowl as part of a team and help raise donations for your team (we seek a minimum of $75 per bowler).

 2) You can become a Team or Personal Fund Raiser (with or without bowling), and work to raise as much donations as is possible.  We have online tools available to help you raise funds.  A Team Fund Raiser works to recruit other team members to help raise more donations, while a Personal Fund Raiser works to secure donations for just him/her self.

 3) You can Register to Bowl (per 1 above) AND be a Team/Personal Fund Raiser, if desired.

 4) If you have a retail business, or are part of an organization who employs a larger number of employees, you can run our King Pin program to help raise money in the form of donations from your customers, employees, etc.  We will provide you with a customized large poster to feature in your location, and customized King Pins that can be used to record a donation, with the objective of showing your community support for Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Each King Pin is then posted on an area that shows your poster, and the various donations received.  Donations would be made based on a personal choice of your guests.  All donations would be collected and presented to Big Brothers by the end of March 2015 to officially close our Bowl For Kid's Sake event out.

What is involved if I wish to have a bowling team?
Simply select a Team Captain, and have the Team Captain register the team online using our Bowl For Kid's Sake Register Bowling Teamlink.  Or, you can email Samantha Jones at sjones@bbbsneo.org, or call her at (440) 352-2526 x 14.  After registering the team, various communications and email will help to provide you the proper supportive tools.

What does it mean to be a Personal Fundraiser, and what tools can I count on if I become one?
It means you are going to work to recruit other family, friends, special others, etc. to support your fund raising efforts.  You will use the Online Tools or manual solicitation efforts to raise as much money as possible.

Online tools will include your own Team and Personal Fund Raising web pages, customized to your preference, as well as various communication and tracking tools to monitor your team/personal member results.

For the Team and Personal Fund Raising tools, do they interface with various social media to support my fund raising?

Yes.  Once registered for a Team or Personal Fund Raising account, you can use the email and social media tools to support your fund raising efforts.  Social media includes Facebook, Twitter and others.  The great thing is, when you receive any online donations, you can easily track your team/personal fund raising results, and email others on your team, or in your mailing network how you are doing.

If I become an online Team/Personal Friendraiser, can I still solicit gifts from contributors who pay with cash/checks? If so, how is this tracked properly?
Absolutely.  It will not be unusual to receive cash and/or checks as part of the process, although we encourage donors to donate online, as they will get an immediate receipt.  All cash and checks will be recorded using the Team/Personal Fundraising page to properly track all donations.

If you wish to direct a question to us that is not shown, please feel free to email Samantha at sjones@bbbsneo.org, or call her at (440) 352-2526 x 14.