Bowl A Thon Fundraiser FAQs: Your Guide to Striking Fundraising Success

A bowl a thon fundraiser is more than a fun night at the lanes, it’s a great way to bring in important revenue for everything from uniforms to travel expenses and more.

Below you’ll find answers to the questions we hear most often from coaches, booster clubs, and nonprofit leaders who’ve successfully rolled strikes for their causes. Use this FAQ to plan, promote, and maximize your own bowl a thon fundraiser.

Starting With The Basics

1. What is a Bowl a Thon?

A Bowl a Thon is an event where participants bowl games in exchange for pledges or donations. Supporters sponsor bowlers per pin knocked down, per game completed, or with flat donations. It’s a fun, social way to raise funds for a cause.

In this FAQ we’re going to run through the most frequently asked questions we get about bowling fundraisers, and how we recommend you best run your bowl a thon.

Case Study - Healthy Hearts and Paws Project in Champion, Ohio, filled all 94 bowling spots at their bowling fundraiser.

2. How do you organize a Bowl a Thon fundraiser?

To organize a Bowl a Thon fundraiser:

• Secure a bowling alley and date.
  
• Set fundraising goals and pricing (per pin, per game, flat donations).
  
• Create registration forms and pledge sheets or set up online donation pages.
  
• Promote the event to participants and donors.
  
• Arrange volunteers for check-in, score tracking, and prize distribution.
  
• Host the event, tally funds raised, and thank donors.

3. How does a Bowl a Thon work?

Participants register in advance to secure their spot in the event. Before bowling day, each participant reaches out to friends, family, neighbors, or local businesses to request pledges. Sponsors can commit to donate a specific amount for every pin the bowler knocks down (for example, $0.50 per pin) or pledge a flat donation regardless of score. On the day of the event, bowlers play one or more games, and their scores are recorded. We definitely recommend 3-4 games or more, bowling games go by fast!

Afterward, fundraising organizations calculate each participant’s total pins and the corresponding donations. Finally, participants collect their pledges or the organization sends follow-up reminders, and all funds are gathered to support the fundraising goal.

See how Teamfi provides fundraising for you at no cost.

4. How do participants collect pledges?

Pledges can be collected:

• In person using printed pledge sheets. Use our free template for bowl a thon fundraising.‍
• Online using platforms like Teamfi that offer a no cost solution to digital fundraising. We even have our own unique bowl a thon product that can’t be found anywhere else.
• ‍Through email or social media campaigns directing supporters to a fundraising page.
  

5. What are common Bowl a Thon fundraising goals?

Goals often depend on the size of your group and community support.

Many groups set targets between $2,000–$10,000, though larger organizations can raise much more with effective promotion.

Your utmost goal is to raise money. There are costs with running a bowl a thon and it is critical that the crux of your fundraising, the bowl a thon itself covers those costs and then some. Layering on additional fundraisers, which we’ll dive into more, is just another way to add in more financial support to your cause.

Tired of fundraising platforms taking away as much as 20% of what you fundraise? That’s just part of why coaches love Teamfi.

6. Bowl a thon - What should you recommend for fundraising per pin?

Assuming the average bowler is near the 150 mark, we can infer over four games, about 600 pins would be knocked down. It is important to set these expectations to fundraisers.

So with that said, $1 per pin is about $600. $0.25 per pin will be $150. $0.10 per pin will be about $60. So it’s crucial for you and your fundraiser participants to be concise and clear what the “a-thon” is – be sure to remind fundraiser donors and pledgers what their expectations should be.

• $0.05–$1 per pin.
  
• $25-$100 flat donation if you want to have one-time donations.
  
• $50–$200 per bowler minimum donation goal.‍

Provide options to suit different donors’ budgets.

Keep in mind that the bowl a thon templates include columns for pledges per pin and flat donations, spaces to record each bowler’s name and scores, sections to tally total pins and calculate donation amounts, and a clean, easy-to-read layout that’s ready to print and distribute at practice. So it’s all laid out for you.

Bowl a Thon - The Nitty-Gritty - Details For Your Event

7. Do you need a contract with the bowling alley?

Generally speaking this is good to get some sort of confirmation that your event is on their books. While a full-fledged contract is not needed, getting written agreement on dates, times, price to rent the alley, shoe rental fees, food and beverage policies, any deposits, and liability insurance is sensible.

8. What supplies do you need for a Bowl a Thon?

When it comes to a bowl a thon, the good news is the bowling alley that serves as the host is going to have just about everything you need. From bowling balls and shoes to refreshments and facilities, it’s part of what makes a bowl a thon so easy.

If you’re hosting a walkathon, facilities are at the forefront of your concern, but that’s taken care of during a bowl a thon. What you might need though, include:

• Pledge sheets or digital pledge links. Which we happily provide!
  
• Registration forms. With our digital bowl a thons, that’s something we also can do.
  
• Event signage and sponsorship delivery.
  
• Prizes and recognition certificates.

9. Should you offer prizes?

Offering incentives and prizes is a fun way to cap an event. Gift cards for the highest fundraiser participant, a trophy for the best team, and other fun and small prizes are a great way to elevate your event from a standard fundraiser.

The best fundraisers aren’t just one of events, the best ones go on for years. Setting the tone early on helps incentivize fundraiser returnees even after their involvement with your team or organization ends.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals notes that fewer people are fundraising, so making sure your fundraiser donors are having a good time is vital to long term success.

10. What age groups can participate?

Bowl a Thons are a great fundraiser because of how they are both family-friendly and inclusive. From young kids to senior citizens, a bowl a thon is something that anybody can participate in, on the same line as things like walkathons and color run fundraisers.

Any age group can participate, as long as they physically can do so. Ask your bowling alley about using bumpers for younger kids to encourage more youth participation.

11. How long does a Bowl a Thon last?

Most bowl a thons last between 2-4 hours depending on the number of games, any additional fundraiser. There should be enough time to get people to the alley to get ready, get bowling shoes, and mingle as they head to their lanes. Before bowling begins, thank your pledgers, those in attendance, sponsors, and your fundraiser participants for their time. Reiterate what you’re fundraising for and then let the games begin!

Want to learn more about organizational fundraising? We have an ebook to help with that.

12. Can local businesses sponsor a Bowl a Thon?

Absolutely. Businesses can:

• Sponsor lanes.
  
• Donate prizes for things such as silent auctions.
  
• Get their logo displayed at the event.

Sponsors are the simplest way to help cover costs and make money at any event. Fulfill your end of the bargain and advertise there business and you can raise hundreds, even yes, thousands. Placing logos on banners, t-shirts, and on your Teamfi pledge and team pages are just some of the many ways to sell sponsorships. For more information on this, the National Federation of High Schools provides a guide on how to effectively leverage sponsors.

Bring in more people to your bowl a thon by encouraging sponsors to bring in a team at a discounted rate.

13. How can I market my Bowl a Thon?

When it comes to marketing and promoting your bowl a thon fundraiser, there are several great options for your organization.

• Social Media - An essential component of any fundraiser is social media. Whether you’re a high school sports team, travel team, music program, or another worthwhile fundraising organization, sharing your bowl a thon on social media is important.
  
• Flyers in community spaces with a QR code to sign up, or contact information.
  
• Email
  
• Local newspaper announcements.
  
• Personal invitations to past supporters.

14. What are creative themes for a Bowl a Thon?

If you’re looking to add a little flair to your bowl a thon, consider:

• Cosmic bowling (glow in the dark). Many bowling alleys can do this for your fundraiser.
• Decade themes (e.g., 80s Night).
• Team costume contests. Have each lane have their own fun uniform or costume. When it comes to what to wear to a bowl a thon, it’s the same as any typical time going bowling. Comfortable shirt and pants/shorts, and then bowling shoes which can be rented at the alley.
• Holiday tie-ins (Halloween Bowl. Christmas Bowl)

Themes make the event more engaging and can help raise more money.

15. Is it better to collect pledges before or after bowling?

One Time Donation - Collect before the event. One time donations are a great way for people to donate without wanting to wait for how many pins were knocked down.

Pledges - Collecting immediately after the event. collect payment soon after the event with results documented. This can be done automatically through our Teamfi software to make it easy, or if you’re running a paper bowl a thon, going back to your pledgers who can pay you via cash, check, or payment processors like Venmo. Quick turnaround on money is one of seven reasons people keep coming back to us.

16. Do you need insurance for a Bowl a Thon?

Check with the bowling alley, most venues have liability coverage, but your organization may still need event insurance, especially if you are serving food or alcohol.

Liability insurance for a low risk one-day event would run for less than $100.

17. How do you thank donors and participants?

Send thank-you letters or emails. Recognize top fundraisers publicly and share photos and results on social media.

A great way to do this is for your biggest pledge donors to give signed thank you cards, one card signed by all of our bowl a thon participants is a special and affordable way to say thank you. Gratitude fosters future support. Be sure to emphasize what you fundraised for and if it’s something tangible like new uniforms, share them on social media when you get them.

Example: “Thanks to your support during our bowl a thon, our baseball team got new uniforms.”

It’s one of the many ways that teams are winning in fundraising.

18. Can you combine a Bowl a Thon with other fundraisers?

Of course! It’s something you should do as well, given that you’ll have not just your fundraiser participants, but also everyone affiliated with your organization in one spot.

• Silent auctions, raffles, and 50/50 drawings. These chance based fundraising options are a good way to raise additional funds.
  
• Merchandise sales. Selling everything from t-shirts to hats and stickers is a fun way to raise a few dollars.
• Concessions kick back. Often alleys are willing to give back a certain percentage from selling concessions to your organization.

19. When is the best time of year to run a bowl a thon?

While there is no specific time where running a fundraiser is considered best, it also depends on your organization. If you’re a sports team, running fundraisers just before or during your season when parents, fans, and players are most engaged is considered best practice.

Fundraisers at bowling alleys during the summer are when the most availability and many times discounted rates are available.

Ultimately, picking the time where you think those following your organization has the most availability and interest is something that you will have to judge.

20. How do you track results and funds raised?

Using a pen and paper template, will allow you to track the following:

• Participants.
  
• Pledge amounts.
  
• Final totals.

If you want an easier way to track your bowl a thon fundraiser, our Teamfi fundraising software is both a simple and efficient way to fun your bowl a thon.

Each of your bowlers has their own unique hub where they can add contacts, bring in pledges, and even one time donations.

Your organization will also have a page where you can state what you’re fundraising for, program goals, and details of the event.

For more information reach out today and we’ll get you set up for success.