How to Run a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Fundraiser
If volleyball is popular at your school, a volleyball serve-a-thon is a great way to get people engaged in fundraising. Volleyball serve-a-thons are tons of fun while being successful fundraisers for schools, extra-curriculars, and clubs.
This page outlines the A-Z of volleyball serve-a-thons, including planning, tracking donations, and tips for organizing and promoting the fundraiser.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Guide
Table of Contents
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon 101
A quick introduction to what a volleyball serve-a-thon is and how it works.
What is an "A-Thon" & How Does it Work?
An “a-thon” can be a powerful fundraising tool (and a lot of fun, too!)
What Do You Need to Run a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon?
Learn what it takes to run a successful volleyball serve-a-thon.
Using a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon to Fundraise
How to raise money with volleyball serve-a-thons.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Templates, Tools, & Resources
See how FutureFund makes managing volleyball serve-a-thon pledges effortless.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Theme Ideas
Feel inspired with our volleyball serve-a-thon theme examples.
Start Your Volleyball Serve-a-Thon With FutureFund
Our integrated pledge campaign fundraising tool allows you to collect donations (via cash, debit, or credit) and easily manage fundraising progress. Get started for free.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon 101: A Quick Guide
What is a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon?
A volleyball serve-a-thon combines the best of a volleyball tournament and a-thon-style fundraisers. Like other a-thons, volleyball serve-a-thons use peer-to-peer fundraising.
Participants sign up in teams and ask for support through pledges. Because participants ask for donations from friends, family, and coworkers, this type of fundraiser can reach a huge amount of potential donors.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon FAQ
How does a volleyball serve-a-thon work?
Players register in teams, from 6 to 12 players. The teams pay a registration fee, which helps cover most of the costs of the serve-a-thon. Teams also collect donations in the form of pledges from their peers.
The teams have a few weeks to gather donations, and then the fundraiser culminates in a volleyball tournament. The teams play each other until there is a winner. In most cases, you’ll want to have a prize for the winning team to help encourage them.
Where should you host your volleyball serve-a-thon?
You’ll need a volleyball court to host your serve-a-thon. For a smaller tournament, you might be able to use your school gym.
For bigger teams, you should book a volleyball center or large gym for the event. Typically, you’ll want enough courts for all teams to be able to play at once, minus two teams, so everyone has the chance for a break.
When should you hold a volleyball serve-a-thon?
Volleyball serve-a-thons are usually held indoors, so you can host them any time of the year. That said, you probably want to save the warmer months for outdoor activities, making fall or winter the ideal time for a serve-a-thon.
How should participants form teams?
To make the tournament as fair as possible, you should create some general rules for teams. Some factors to consider include:
- Number of players
- Age
- Gender
For example, if the teams are open to all ages, you should make sure every team has a similar amount of children. So you can make a rule saying each team needs at least 2 players age 12 or under.
Are volleyball serve-a-thons good fundraisers?
Volleyball serve-a-thons are fun and engaging and great fundraisers if volleyball is popular at your school. Even if everyone participating isn’t an experienced player, volleyball is a less intimidating sport, making it easy for more people to participate.
What is an "A Thon"?
A Thon's Are Fun & Effective Event-Based Fundraisers
An “a-thon” is a peer-to-peer style fundraiser that involves participating in a certain activity and gathering donations for participating in said activity.
The activity can be almost anything, from reading to running to bowling. No matter what activity you choose, the premise is the same. Participants commit to doing the activity (reading a certain amount of books, running a certain distance) and ask their friends, family, and coworkers to support them.
A-thons work great because you reach a huge donor pool through peer-to-peer fundraising. People are also more likely to donate since participants are “working” in return for the donations.
What Do You Need to Run a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon?
Use FutureFund to Power It
FutureFund’s built-in pledge campaigns allow you to easily collect money and keep donations organized. Since parents cover payment processing fees, 100% of the funds raised go to your school!
Easy for Everyone
Any good fundraiser needs to be easy to plan, participate in, and most importantly, get donations. FutureFund makes planning and running a volleyball serve-a-thon as easy as possible.
Donate Online
Instead of dealing with paper pledge forms and cash and cheques, take the process online. Donors can donate instantly online with their credit or debit cards.
All-in-One
Always know how the fundraiser is going. Easily view how much money has been raised and more with detailed reporting.
Using a Volleyball Serve-a-Thon for Fundraising
Managing & Organizing Pledges
Each student will sign up as a participant in the fundraiser. Then, they can collect pledges individually by credit or debit card. These pledges will be recorded in FutureFund and will count towards the student’s total and the grand total for the fundraiser.
Paperwork & Donor Payment Management
It’s easy for students to sign up, especially if their information is already in the system. You can bulk sign up entire grades or classes.
All donor payments are automatically entered into the system, so you can instantly see each student’s total and the grand total.
Using FutureFund to Accept Online Donations
Donors don’t need to have cash or a checkbook handy to donate. They can easily donate through an emailable donation link and pay by credit or debit card. Any cash donations can also be noted in the system to be collected later.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Goals & Rules
Length of Time
A volleyball serve-a-thon is made up of 2 main parts: the pledge collection and the tournament. Give teams at least 2 to 4 weeks before the tournament to register and collect donations.
The tournament should be at least 1 day, usually a Saturday or Sunday. If you have a large amount of teams, it might need to be a 2-day event. A typical volleyball game is 60 to 90 minutes, so plan around 90 minutes per game.
Goal
Of course, it will be every team’s goal to win the serve-a-thon. That said, you should also set a fundraising goal for teams to keep in mind while they collect pledges.
Other Considerations
Volleyball is a team sport, so you should create some ground rules to keep the teams as fair as possible. Think about how many children, female players, and playtime each team should have.
Recommended Starting Rules
When planning your volleyball serve-a-thon, think about the following:
- Before you start advertising your volleyball serve-a-thon, you should know:
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- The venue
- The date
- The fundraising goal
- The team restrictions
- The theme
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- Start telling families about the volleyball serve-a-thon at least 2 to 4 weeks days before the event.
- Participants should be signed up in your fundraising system and gathering donations for at least 2 weeks before the volleyball serve-a-thon.
- On the day of the volleyball serve-a-thon, be sure to re-explain the rules and encourage participants to continue fundraising.
- At the end of the fundraiser, give an update on the fundraising goal and thank all of the participants.
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Templates & Resources
Sample Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Rules
These rules are a great starting point for organizing your volleyball serve-a-thon.
Sample Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Event Description
Unsure of where to start? Use this sample student and parent messaging to get the ball rolling!
Set Up Online Pledges With FutureFund
Let parents and supporters donate online with FutureFund’s online pledges. Try it out for free!
Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Theme Ideas
Olympic
Teams can get into the competitive spirit with an Olympic theme. Each team represents a country and competes for the gold medal.
Group Costume
Volleyball is a team sport, which means pretty much any team costume goes! Encourage each team to coordinate a costume like superheroes, flower patches, mimes, and more.
Holiday
Celebrate the holidays and fundraise with a holiday-themed serve-a-thon. Plan a Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s, or even a St. Patrick’s Day tournament.
Rainbow
Color coordinating is a classic theme. Let each team choose a color and get creative, including neon, glitter, and patterns to make each team stand out.
Movie or TV
A movie or TV-inspired theme gives teams tons of options to choose from. Teams can dress up as anything from The Avengers to Care Bears.
Find Other Fundraiser
Ideas & Guides
How To Run a Move-a-Thon Fundraiser
Move-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to be active together. See how a move-a-thon works in our fundraiser guide.
How To Run a Chess-a-Thon Fundraiser
Chess-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money & play games together. See how a chess-a-thon works in our in-depth guide.
How to Run a Jump-a-Thon Fundraiser
Jump-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also being active. See how a jump-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one in our in-depth guide.
How to Run a Spell-a-Thon Fundraiser
Spell-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also practicing academics. See how a spell-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one here.
How to Run a Math-a-Thon Fundraiser
Math-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also practicing academics. See how a math-a-thon works & what you’ll need to run one in our guide.
How to Run a Baseball Hit-a-Thon Fundraiser
Baseball hit-a-Thon fundraisers are great ways to raise money while also being active. See how it works & what you’ll need to run one in our in-depth guide.
Sample Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Rules
To participate in the volleyball serve-a-thon, you must register your team by [date]. Then, the volleyball serve-a-thon is on [date], which means you should start fundraising right away! Make sure to tell your friends, family, and coworkers that you’re fundraising, so they can donate.
All donations will be collected through FutureFund through this link: [link].
Sample Volleyball Serve-a-Thon Event Description
We’re serving up a new fundraiser! On [date], [school name] will be hosting a volleyball serve-a-thon to help fundraise for [cause]. You can help by registering a volleyball team and participating! Each team will be collecting pledges online through FutureFund: [link], so even if you can’t participate, you can still donate!
Set Up Online Pledges With FutureFund
Make your donation easily and instantly! Click this [link] to make your donation through secure credit or debit card payment.
If you prefer to donate by cash or check, just donate directly to the student you’re supporting. Thank you for your support!