Turn a match into a giving-back game
In Florida, the CCVL league turns its tournament days into fundraisers, and even the opposing teams and the sponsors give towards adopting a school and building a court. At home games in Italy, every ace Modena Volley serves becomes support for school teams. LOVB Nebraska put a Let's Keep The Ball Flying video on the big screen to introduce its fans to our partnership. Each of them used a match day that was already happening.
You already play the match. The hall is booked, the referees are there, the parents are in the stands. A giving-back game adds one shared goal and turns a normal fixture into the night your club remembers. This is how to run a volleyball charity match with your opponents as co-hosts.
Pick the match
Choose a home game with a crowd: a derby, a top-of-the-table clash or the last home game of the season. Talk to your club board and your opponents' coach at least four weeks before.
Invite your opponents in
Ask the other team to co-host. Set up one shared team page on our fundraising platform, with every player from both squads on it and one goal from our five fundraising goals. Opponents on the court, teammates off it: both sets of supporters give to the same total, and the whole hall sees it grow.
At the end of the night, the two teams challenge their next opponents to run their own giving-back game. That is how one match becomes a chain across a league.
Make it personal
If your club already adopts a team with us, bring that team into the hall. Share a photo or a short message from its players in the week before, put their faces on the screen at the break, and make their next season the goal. Your supporters are then giving to players they know by name.
Not adopting a team yet? A giving-back match is a good first step. See how adopting a team works.
Two clubs, one shared goal, and a challenge passed on to the next team in the league.
Build the night
Before: each player shares their page with five or ten close people in the week before. The club posts the match as a giving-back game.
At the door: the QR code on a poster and on the scoreboard screen.
Pledges: supporters pledge per point, per ace or per block. A match has plenty of points but usually fewer than eight aces, so keep point pledges small and ask more for the rare moments: "25 cents per point, up to $10" or "$5 per ace or block, up to $50."
At the break: the announcer reads the script below and shows the total so far.
After: a team photo with both squads, a thank-you post, and the final total.
Announcer script
Tonight both teams are playing for more than the points. Every ace, every point and every donation goes to grassroots volleyball in our schools around the world, through Let's Keep The Ball Flying. Scan the code on the screen and join both teams. At the break we will show you how far we've come together.
Halfway there! Together we have raised [total]. That's [what it builds]. Scan the code on the screen and help us finish strong.
The full script, with a version for the final whistle, is in the toolkit.
After the match
Thank every donor within a day. Post the final total with the photo of both teams. Tell your opponents which club is next, and send them this article. If your club adopts a team, send us your photos and we share them with its players, so their thank-you closes the loop for your supporters.
Opponents on court, together off it, and a team on another continent gets to play its next match.
Read next: The 1% Movement: athletes and coaches giving back to the game. Meet the players and coaches who give back every season.
