http://theakaaproject.org/

The Akaa Project Presents:

THE GUIDE TO LAUNCHING YOUR OWN DODGEBALL FUNDRAISER

WHO ARE WE, YOU ASK? • The Akaa Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to the

improvement of the education, healthcare, and finances of the Akaa community in the Eastern Region of Ghana, Africa

• We founded a school called the Asiafo Amanfro Community School and kicked of our fifth school year in September of 2013

• We focus our efforts on grassroots fundraising and empowerment, every bit helps!

WHY ARE WE DODGEBALL EXPERTS?• The Akaa Project has been doing dodgeball for 3 years!• We started a biannual dodgeball tournament to get

students involved in making an impact in Ghana• Our dodgeball tournaments bring together at least 200

people every time and is by far our most successful fundraising event!

LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

DODGEBALL . . . how to turn a game dedicated to throwing balls at your friends into a HUGELY SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER . . .

. . . use this guide to help you navigate organizing a wildly popular fundraiser centered around America’s most beloved game . . .

. . . raise a ton of money and have fun doing it!

First and foremost, VOLUNTEERS

-gather your group of committed individuals who will help you pull this off-for your sanity, we suggest you delegate a lot of these responsibilities to your volunteers

next, PICK A DATE/PICK A VENUE

-NOTE: the date and the venue are entirely dependent on each other

-if you are a church member, high school student, or college student, tap into your resources and use the recreational facilities already accessible to you and your peers-make sure you’ve given yourself plenty of time to plan and recruit participants!-meet with the athletic/recreation director to work out a date

SO YOU’VE PICKED YOUR DATE, NOW WHAT??

MARKET IT, DUH!

• social media is your best friend – tweet it, instagram it, facebook it – nothing is off limits; make sure everybody is looking forward to throwing balls at their friends

• make flyers! – dodgeball is funny, use pictures!

WE RECOMMEND USING TWO WEEKS TO PURELY ADVERTISE

LET’S TALK MONEY

DON’T FORGET, THIS IS A FUNDRAISER, AND IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY . . . and fun, and throwing things at high velocities at friends

-we’ve had a lot of success charging AT LEAST $30 per team

PAY TO PLAY: TEAM VS. INDIVIDUAL FEES-team fee: charging a flat rate for teams allows participants to stack their team to lower their individual costs – this especially encourages participation for college students who are often broke-individual fee: charging an entry fee per participant often allows you to raise more money, but may deter participation due to increased individual cost

RULES AND PAPERWORKprotect yourself – use a waiver

-a simple waiver is a really good idea and it’s not hard to whip one up-your waiver should basically deny you or your organization’s responsibility for any injuries incurred during the dodgeball tournament and explain that the participant is entering the tournament with the knowledge that it is a dangerous game and injuries may occur – it may be a good idea to have a trainer/physician on staff as a volunteer to appease parents of minors

DA RULES-determine your set of rules and stick to them – make sure the participants and the referees are all on the same page . . . people take their dodgeball very seriously

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF RULES WE’VE USED BEFORE–FEEL FREE TO USE THEM!

FOOD . . . mmm-we’re pretty sure it’s proven fact that parties and events are better when there’s food . . . there’s got to be research on that somewhere

-it is recommended to find local business and food chains that are willing to donate or reduce costs for the cause . . . Chipotle is usually really good about this and often has college campus representatives for this exact purpose

food (or drink) for thought: alcoholic beverages for a tournament catered to adults 21 and up

-food and drink requires extra planning time – it is in your best interest to offer to advertise the restaurant/business on your flyer as a “sponsor”

PRIZES-we recommend offering prizes for the winner of the tournament as well as for best dressed, most spirited, and any other prize worthy achievements you can think of

-just like with the food, we recommend approaching local businesses about your fundraiser to see what they have to offer in the form of prizes – contributions are most often in the form of gift certificates, but all donations are welcome!

T-SHIRTS . . . for tournament champions!

-t-shirts are easy to have made and are relatively inexpensive – keep in mind it takes a few weeks to have them made

-it’s also a good idea to have t-shirts for sale – make them different than the champion t-shirts – and it’s easy advertising for the next dodgeball tournament!

EQUIPMENTBALLS . . . duh.-but really, you’ll need lots of balls, and you need to check with your affiliate organization for the type of balls – lots of schools only allow the soft, mushy dodgeballs, which is fine because they can still be thrown at high velocities – six balls per court is recommended

whistles!-this may seem unnecessary, but it is extremely difficult to hear the referee due to the loud excitement that comes with dodgeball

a microphone-this is for the same reason as the whistles – whoever is running the event will want to be heard over the screams that accompany artful dodges

often times the equipment can be used/rented for free from your school/organization – if not, give yourself plenty of time to locate the cheapest options and have them shipped

THE ACTUAL TOURNAMENT . . .this is important

ROUND ROBIN-start the tournament with group play: this means that all the teams are divided into several groups (groups of 4 or 5 teams) and they all play each other within their group – everybody has paid the same amount to participate in the tournament, this guarantees every team gets at least three games of dodgeball

BRACKET-use the round robin or group play to determine the seeding in the bracket -the teams advance and are seeded in the bracket depending on their performance during round robin/group play

it is IMPERATIVE that you have the groups/bracket determined before the day of the event; you must know who is playing whom ahead of time in order for an organized and successful event

MAKE SURE TO GIVE A REGISTRATION/FEE DEADLINE several days before the event so you may organize the teams and tournament bracket

TEAMS and COURTSTEAMS OF 6 – we recommend 6 people per team on the court at one time; teams can be bigger than 6 with subs (this is where teams benefit from team fees rather than individual fees)

TEAM UNIFORMS – everything is more fun when you’re dressing up

BE PREPARED FOR A LOT OF TEAMS – we’ve never had less than 20 teams participate

CLEARLY LABELED COURTS – for smooth transitions between games, you’ll want all participants to easily locate their next court without having to ask a volunteer

LOTS OF THEM – the more courts the better; waiting around for your next game is zero fun – short wait times can be remedied with food

SIZE OF COURTS – basketball courts make an easy dodgeball court, but you may want to make it smaller if this is a kids event – cones and tape are good for adjusting court sizes

we once used balloons to indicate courts by colors and it worked!

SET UP . . . on the day ofmake sure you have: equipment volunteers food/drinktables for food/drinkclearly labeled courtsall forms/waiversrules printed and on posters

VOLUNTEERS . . . you will need: referees for each courtfood/drink table volunteersevent organizers – to walk around and answer questionsannouncer cleanup

YOU MUST HAVE A TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE WITH PREDETERMINED GROUPS AND A PRE-SEEDED BRACKET – proofread, proofread, proofread – nothing is worse than a tournament schedule with errors and redundancies

LOCK IN – if this is an event for minors, we recommend making it a “lock in.” This way the parents know where their child is for the duration and nobody leaves when they’re eliminated – this ensures a big crowd for the championship game!

THERE YOU HAVE IT!

NOW YOU HAVE THE NECESSARY TOOLS . . . but what will you do with them? -here’s the thing, we need your help-we are a grassroots organization that relies entirely on our donors and fundraisers, and the smallest of donations go a long way in rural Ghana! -100% of our donations go directly to the Akaa community, we’re not making any money off of this!

-if you’re excited about fundraising for the Akaa Project, contact us – or message us on facebook !!

interested in other ways to help the Akaa Project?

THE SIMPLEST WAY TO HELP IS TO FOLLOW US!click these to go straight to our pages

Educate yourself! – learn about us! we love it when our supporters know what’s going on in the village; check out our latest initiatives!

SHOP! – we like to bring you lots of African styles; check out our shop for awesome gifts!

or you can just donate now!

http://theakaaproject.org/