Frequently Asked Questions

As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters creates positive matches between adult volunteers ('Bigs') and children ('Littles'), in communities across the country.

These relationships have the potential to be lifelong! Professionally trained Big Brothers Big Sisters staff members work with our partners and professionals in the education and juvenile justice communities. The children in our programs face adversity in some way, shape or form. That means we serve children from all walks of life. We defend the potential of each child so they can achieve success.

When you participate in Bowl for Kids' Sake, you have the power to ignite potential and change lives for the better, forever. We depend on the money raised from Bowl for Kids' Sake to carry out the work of carefully matching children with caring adult mentors and providing ongoing support to the child, volunteer mentor, and child's family. 

Each team is asked to raise a minimum of $500 to support our youth mentoring programs. Teams are made up of 5 participants and may raise the total as a group or each participant may set an individual goal of a minimum of $100.

No! This event is about having fun and bowling to celebrate your fundraising success! No age requirements and no special bowling skills needed.

Peer-to-peer fundraising relies on donations from multiple donors to reach a goal. Supporters of BBBSU like yourself reach out to their networks and raise money on the organization's behalf.

Here's how it works:

1. Form a team of your friends, family, or co-workers who will help you fundraise (and who you want to bowl with).

2. Once you sign up, you’ll set a fundraising goal and set up your individual and team fundraising pages.

3. Next, you can share your individual fundraising page with your network through a variety of channels, such as email, social media, or texts. Get creative! And if you need help, read the next question for some ideas. If you reach your goal before the event, increase it and keep fundraising!

4. Remember to thank your supporters soon after they give, and even again following your event to show your appreciation for their gifts.

Raising a team goal of $500 might sound like a lot, but peer-to-peer fundraising is focused on raising money with several small donations. When you share why a cause matters to you, people listen. Use your personal fundraising page and emails to relay a personal experience with BBBSU that tells your friends and family why mentoring is important to you.

Some ideas for getting to $500 could be:

• Giving $50 yourself
• Asking your significant other to donate $30
• Asking three close family members to give $25 each
• Asking a close friend for $50 or two close friends for $25 each
• Asking five coworkers for $10 each
• Challenge ten friends and followers on your Facebook or X pages to donate their coffee budget for the day or week
• Double your impact with a matching donation from your employer! Companies often match their employees’ charitable gifts, so check to see if your employer has this policy.