Introducing Community Funds Giving – now available for Extra Life and more!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CommunityFunds/comments/1g5wpqa/introducing_community_funds_giving_now_available/

created by AsteriskRX on 17/10/2024 at 17:42 UTC*

54 upvotes, 12 top-level comments (showing 12)

Hey there, friends and fellow altruists! We are delighted to announce that Community Funds are now available for the Extra Life gaming charity – all through an initiative we're calling Community Funds Giving! Extra Life game day is coming up on November 2nd, so it’s time to put those gaming hours to good use by helping kids in need.

Extra Life is an annual gaming event with the goal of raising funds for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Over the past 11 years of participation, the Reddit community has rallied to raise over $1,000,000 in donations. Not too shabby!

Community Funds Giving

ICYMI, Reddit’s Community Funds program offers fundraiser matching for your community-led fundraisers. Community Funds Giving runs through the end of the year, at the conclusion we’ll post a wrap up to showcase all of your fantastic collaborative efforts. In order to be showcased in our wrap up, make sure your application is in by Dec 1. And this year, it’s easier than ever for you to host a fundraising event. You focus on tapping into your community to raise money, and we’ll work behind the scenes to support your efforts. Community Funds will match you dollar for dollar up to $20,000 USD for any funds raised after you’ve signed a Community Funds contract.

Past Community Funds matching events include supporting the Boys & Girls club with[1], holding a donation drive for the World Central Kitchen[2], and raising $48,500 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank[3]. For even more inspiration, check out r/CommunityFunds. If you’d like to casually talk through your idea before applying, follow this link[4] to grab some time to chat with program staff.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/17nnk6a/reddit_community_funds_and_rnba_join_forces/

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/bangtan/comments/1deoxr6/feed_with_jin_donation_drive_for_world_central/

3: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/17lavo1/help_us_celebrate_half_a_million_rvancouverites/

4: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ3c0Q0EHv3ieekJ4SqOOEg7PXddp-SECKReVk8na3Yq-tEXZWSIz30rqIWwyOZEXNZKpxkhOlcS

Share this link and your ideas with other mods.

How Community Funds for Extra Life works

Communities participating in Extra Life may apply for Community Funds[5] to match their fundraising efforts – up to $20,000 per applicant!

5: https://redditforcommunity.com/community-funds-fundraising-application-au-ca-de-nz-uk-us-fr-it-es

Before you apply, be sure to create a “subreddit team” under the Reddit Super Team on extra-life.org[6]. You will also need to choose which Children’s Miracle Network Hospital you’d like the matching funds to support.

6: https://www.extra-life.org/reddit

Next, rally your community members to sign up and join your Extra Life subreddit team, and organize them to raise funds via their friends, family, and social networks! Every dollar raised helps kids battling serious illnesses, and all funds - including those matched by Community Funds - go directly to Extra Life on behalf of the participating community.

When is Extra Life happening?

While the official Extra Life game day is Saturday, November 2nd, their fundraising platform is available year round. Applications for Community Funds are also available year round, but as a reminder if you want your fundraiser to be showcased in our Community Funds Giving wrap-up, please submit your application by Dec 1.

What if I’m not in the US?

Anyone can register for Extra Life, regardless of where you live. If you wish to raise money to help kids outside of the United States and Canada, a list of hospitals with significant international outreach programs and reach is available here[7].

7: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=cms.page&id=1103

Let’s not just save virtual worlds but save lives in the real one, too!

Can I host a fundraiser for an organization other than Extra Life?

Yes! We evaluate the following when reviewing Community Funds applications for fundraiser matching:

The charity must be a registered 501(c)(3) organization (US), a T3010 Registered Charity (CA), or relevant local equivalent, and
The organization’s verifiable financial practices.

We love seeing communities coming together for a good cause, share some of your favorite examples in the comments. Or, be your own example and let us know what you’re planning for Community Funds Giving 2024!

Comments

Comment by Moggehh at 20/10/2024 at 21:24 UTC

11 upvotes, 4 direct replies

Some tips from the /r/Vancouver team on running a successful donation drive:

1. Choose a cause that directly affects the people that participate in the subreddit. People are more likely to donate if they think they will be helping their community.

2. Work with the charity. Designate a member of your team to reach out and see if they have a team page or something that can help expedite redditors donating for the cause. You might even be able to set something up with just a couple of emails.

3. Link it everywhere! We had the link on our automod post sticky, in our holiday buying guide, and stickied to the top of the subreddit. Our mod team also added comments about it when the topic fit.

4. Update the banner! We created several banners announcing the fundraiser and updated as we hit certain stretch goals.

5. Involve the charity. In our case, we arranged for the CEO of the food bank to come and do an AMA[1].

6. Post about it every few days. Don't rely on just a sticky - prep posts ahead of time that celebrate goals, and keep it top-of-mind for the subreddit. We saw jumps in donations every time we posted.

7. Check out the anonymity of the charity's donations and be transparent[2] about what your mod team can see. In our case, unless the donation was anonymous, we could see the names and email addresses of those who donated. Let people know if that's the case in case they want to use their username to donate.

8. Don't stress about the total amount. Every dollar counts and is appreciated by the charity. Whether you raise $500 or $5,000, you're helping someone in need. It's also worth finding out the buying power of your charity - in our case, the food bank had the ability to buy food at 2:1, meaning $1 donated and matched by Reddit could be used to buy **$4** worth of food. This is a great metric to share - smaller donations are important too!

9. Thank your community[3].

10. If anyone on your mod team can afford it, arrange to "pre-load" the fundraiser with a few donations so that it's not empty off the bat. Similar to putting a $5 bill in a tip jar, it does encourage people to "get going" with donations.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1865fhv/ama_with_david_long_ceo_of_the_greater_vancouver/

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/17lavo1/help_us_celebrate_half_a_million_rvancouverites/

3: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/18ajwdh/beyond_our_wildest_expectations_thank_you_for/

Comment by stingray9798 at 25/10/2024 at 03:47 UTC

7 upvotes, 2 direct replies

I'm the Director of Extra Life at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, and I'm so excited about this opportunity from Reddit! Thank you for motivating the Reddit community to support their local children's hospials.

I'll remind everyone that everything you raise through Extra Life (and the community funds you unlock) will go to your selected hospital. 72 kids per minute are treated at our member hospitals, so you are all raising critical funds to change kids' lives.

Anyone who has questions about Extra Life may contact us at support@extra-life.org or comment here and I'll answer.

Oh, and if you sign up as a Platinum Participant and raise $2,000usd, you will have a chance to unlock a sweet custom Extra Life controller (Xbox, PS5, or Switch).

Join the Reddit SuperTeam at extra-life.org/reddit

Comment by Xenc at 20/10/2024 at 13:27 UTC

4 upvotes, 2 direct replies

This is a fantastic cause! Is this something that could simply be a team donation link added to Highlights for the community?

Comment by RuffaroMaxheim at 11/11/2024 at 19:26 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I just got this notification an hour ago. Is it over?

Comment by dieyoufool3 at 12/11/2024 at 02:22 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Question: r/worldnews’ community has been laser focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for years now.

Would fundraisers to support Ukraine’s war efforts qualify for community funds?

Comment by 0mie at 25/10/2024 at 06:48 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I’ve raised almost $3k in memory of my kiddo that passed from cancer, still waiting for updated images of the new controllers; do you know when that will happen & when emails will go out? I’ve seen a few people already redeemed their codes /u/stingray9798

Comment by [deleted] at 11/11/2024 at 18:25 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by TourAny2745 at 11/11/2024 at 19:21 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I got nothing to raise for, but this seems like a great new implement

Comment by Krunk_korean_kid at 11/11/2024 at 18:24 UTC

0 upvotes, 0 direct replies

They shoulda bought more Bitcoin and more shares of GameStop if they wanted money. Fools.