No Streaming Required | 6 Easy Ways To Raise Money #ForTheKids

With the rise of digital streaming platforms, the Extra Lifers who participate in fundraising efforts on Game Day and beyond have become incredibly visible and shaped the way that people think about Extra Life. However, Extra Life is more than just streaming! We have a large and passionate community that exists in spaces that are left out of the streaming world by choice or technical limitations. If you’re looking to up your fundraising game without streaming, here are several ideas that will make your efforts to help your kids in your community successful.

Make the First Donation to Your Page

This first point might raise a few eyebrows. When it comes to fundraising, momentum is important. Participants who already have a donation, even if it is from themselves, are more easily able to attract future donations. In fact, making the initial donation yourself before any fundraising effort is so effective that, according to our friends at DonorDrive who have crunched the numbers, people who self-donate raise 10 times more than those who don’t.

Join D&D Adventurers League

This should be of interest to the tabletop gamers in our community: Participating in Extra Life fundraising can help you earn rewards at the table in Dungeons & Dragons’ Adventurers League! Adventurers League helps new people to learn how to play D&D while providing high-quality, regulated adventures for players of all skill levels. Since Wizards of the Coast began working with Extra Life several years ago, many local Adventurers League events have offered ways to earn in-game items or a re-roll of the dice via charitable donations. This year, Adventurers League is offering extended Liars Night (the name of their month-long Halloween event) festivities to everyone who has donated to a fundraising page on the Extra Life website, bought a re-roll ticket that benefited Extra Life, or otherwise helped in local fundraising efforts. This will extend the spooky celebration through November 7th, allowing more time for players to fight Wandering Monsters through Game Day and beyond. Defeating those monsters earns in-game candy corn that can be used for unique, holiday-related items.

Download the Apps

Does it get any easier than downloading a mobile app?! However, if everyone in the Extra Life community downloaded and made the attempt to use the Mobile Fundraising Apps, Extra Life would be able to raise another $1 million USD for the kids!

Set Up a $1 Donation Playlist

One of the most creative unstreamed fundraising efforts we have encountered is a sponsored cross-country road trips. This involves an Extra Lifer soliciting $1 USD donations per song suggestion to construct a playlist of music they must listen to during their journey. Community member Rich Moser recently put this tactic to the test on a journey from Pittsburgh to Phoenix. “People could choose songs, ANY song, by donating $1 per song,” explained Rich. “If my math is right, I raised $614 by doing this! [There were] so many great and terrible songs that I had to keep the playlist playing for a day or so after we got here in order to complete it!”

If you want to take a gander at Rich’s playlist, here’s the link (be warned some songs are NSFW).

Launch a Facebook Fundraiser

One of the features on Facebook that has gained traction over the years has been giving users on the social media site the ability to create fundraisers for causes near and dear to their hearts. This feature has raised over $1 billion USD since it was launched back in 2015. Due to a recent update to Extra Life’s website, it has never been easier to create a Facebook Fundraiser. Through your account page on Extra Life’s main website, you will have a small button that streamlines the fundraiser creation process with clear prompts to help you connect your Extra Life account with your Facebook. Once the process is complete, any donations to your Facebook fundraiser will be reflected in your fundraising total on Extra Life!

On average, people who create Facebook Fundraisers raise $150 USD extra from the effort. (Note tax receipts only issues in the USA) If everyone in the Extra Life community created one, our fundraising totals for 2019 would be mind-boggling!

Host a Classic Game Night

If streaming isn’t your thing, consider throwing a game night for your friends or community. Game nights are a classic way to get people engaged with your fundraising efforts, especially if it’s a laid back, less formal event. Dust off the Rock Band or Guitar Hero controllers, grab a few board games, your tabletop dice, whatever will help everyone have a great time. The flexibility of fundraising during an occasion like this depends on your imagination. Ideas to raise money for the kids range from a $10 donation to attend the festivities to micro-donations to turn the tide of various games from Super Smash Bros. to Monopoly. The key is for everyone to walk away having had fun and armed with the knowledge that they helped kids in their communities.

What are the most fun fundraising ideas with no streaming required that you have come up with? Share with us in the comments!

Don’t forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!