The Akaa Project's guide will show you step by step how to plan a dodgeball tournament at your school, work, church, or anywhere else. So, dodge, dip, dive, duck and dodge for a good cause!

2. THE GUIDE TO LAUNCHING YOUR OWN
DODGEBALL FUNDRAISER

3. WHO ARE WE, YOU ASK?
• The Akaa Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to the
improvement of the education, healthcare, and finances of
the Akaa community in the Eastern Region of Ghana, Africa
• We founded a school called the Asiafo Amanfro Community
School and kicked of our fifth school year in September of
2013
• We focus our efforts on grassroots fundraising and
empowerment, every bit helps!
WHY ARE WE DODGEBALL EXPERTS?
• The Akaa Project has been doing dodgeball for 3 years!
• We started a biannual dodgeball tournament to get students
involved in making an impact in Ghana
• Our dodgeball tournaments bring together at least 200 people
every time and is by far our most successful fundraising
event!

4. LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS
DODGEBALL . . . how to
turn a game dedicated to throwing
balls at your friends into a HUGELY
SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER . . .
. . . use this guide to help
you navigate organizing a
wildly popular fundraiser
centered around America’s
most beloved game . . .
. . . raise a ton of money
and have fun doing it!

5. First and foremost, VOLUNTEERS
-gather your group of committed individuals who will help you pull
this off
-for your sanity, we suggest you delegate a lot of these
responsibilities to your volunteers
next, PICK A DATE/PICK A VENUE
-NOTE: the date and the venue are entirely dependent on each
other
-if you are a church member, high school student, or college
student, tap into your resources and use the recreational facilities
already accessible to you and your peers
-make sure you’ve given yourself plenty of time to plan and recruit
participants!
-meet with the athletic/recreation director to work out a date

6. SO YOU’VE PICKED YOUR DATE, NOW WHAT??
MARKET IT, DUH!
•
social media is your best friend – tweet it, instagram
it, facebook it – nothing is off limits; make sure everybody is
looking forward to throwing balls at their friends
•
make flyers! – dodgeball is funny, use pictures!
WE RECOMMEND USING TWO WEEKS TO PURELY ADVERTISE

7. LET’S TALK MONEY
DON’T FORGET, THIS IS A FUNDRAISER, AND IT’S
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY . . . and fun, and throwing
things at high velocities at friends
-we’ve had a lot of success charging AT LEAST $30 per team
PAY TO PLAY: TEAM VS. INDIVIDUAL FEES
-team fee:
charging a flat rate for teams allows participants to stack their team
to lower their individual costs – this especially encourages
participation for college students who are often broke
-individual fee:
charging an entry fee per participant often allows you to raise more
money, but may deter participation due to increased individual cost

8. RULES AND PAPERWORK
protect yourself – use a waiver
-a simple waiver is a really good idea and it’s not hard to whip one
up
-your waiver should basically deny you or your organization’s
responsibility for any injuries incurred during the dodgeball
tournament and explain that the participant is entering the
tournament with the knowledge that it is a dangerous game and
injuries may occur – it may be a good idea to have a
trainer/physician on staff as a volunteer to appease parents of
minors
DA RULES
-determine your set of rules and stick to them – make sure the
participants and the referees are all on the same page . . . people
take their dodgeball very seriously

9. THIS IS AN
EXAMPLE OF
RULES WE’VE
USED
BEFORE
–FEEL FREE
TO USE
THEM!

10. FOOD . . . mmm
-we’re pretty sure it’s proven fact that parties and events are
better when there’s food . . . there’s got to be research on that
somewhere
-it is recommended to find local business and food chains that
are willing to donate or reduce costs for the cause . . . Chipotle is
usually really good about this and often has college campus
representatives for this exact purpose
food (or drink) for thought: alcoholic beverages for a
tournament catered to adults 21 and up
-food and drink requires extra planning time – it is in your best
interest to offer to advertise the restaurant/business on your flyer
as a “sponsor”

11. PRIZES
-we recommend offering prizes for the winner of the tournament as
well as for best dressed, most spirited, and any other prize worthy
achievements you can think of
-just like with the food, we recommend approaching local
businesses about your fundraiser to see what they have to offer in
the form of prizes – contributions are most often in the form of gift
certificates, but all donations are welcome!
T-SHIRTS
. . . for tournament champions!
-t-shirts are easy to have made and are relatively inexpensive –
keep in mind it takes a few weeks to have them made
-it’s also a good idea to have t-shirts for sale – make them different
than the champion t-shirts – and it’s easy advertising for the next
dodgeball tournament!

12. EQUIPMENT
BALLS
. . . duh.
-but really, you’ll need lots of balls, and you need to check with your
affiliate organization for the type of balls – lots of schools only allow the
soft, mushy dodgeballs, which is fine because they can still be thrown at
high velocities – six balls per court is recommended
whistles!
-this may seem unnecessary, but it is extremely difficult to hear the
referee due to the loud excitement that comes with dodgeball
a microphone
-this is for the same reason as the whistles – whoever is running the
event will want to be heard over the screams that accompany artful
dodges
often times the equipment can be used/rented for free from your school/organization
– if not, give yourself plenty of time to locate the cheapest options and have them
shipped

13. THE ACTUAL TOURNAMENT . . .this is important
ROUND ROBIN
-start the tournament with group play: this means that all the teams
are divided into several groups (groups of 4 or 5 teams) and they all
play each other within their group – everybody has paid the same
amount to participate in the tournament, this guarantees every team
gets at least three games of dodgeball
BRACKET
-use the round robin or group play to determine the seeding in the
bracket -the teams advance and are seeded in the bracket depending
on their performance during round robin/group play
it is IMPERATIVE that you have the groups/bracket determined
before the day of the event; you must know who is playing whom
ahead of time in order for an organized and successful event
MAKE SURE TO GIVE A REGISTRATION/FEE DEADLINE several days before the
event so you may organize the teams and tournament bracket

14. TEAMS and COURTS
TEAMS OF 6 – we recommend 6 people per team on the court at one
time; teams can be bigger than 6 with subs (this is where teams benefit
from team fees rather than individual fees)
TEAM UNIFORMS – everything is more fun when you’re dressing up
BE PREPARED FOR A LOT OF TEAMS – we’ve never had less than
20 teams participate
CLEARLY LABELED COURTS – for smooth transitions between
games, you’ll want all participants to easily locate their next court
without having to ask a volunteer
LOTS OF THEM – the more courts the better; waiting around for
your next game is zero fun – short wait times can be remedied with
food
SIZE OF COURTS – basketball courts make an easy dodgeball
court, but you may want to make it smaller if this is a kids
event – cones and tape are good for adjusting court sizes
we once used balloons to indicate courts by colors and it worked!

15. SET UP . . . on the day of
make sure you have:
equipment
volunteers
food/drink
tables for food/drink
clearly labeled courts
all forms/waivers
rules printed and on
posters
VOLUNTEERS . . . you will need:
referees for each court
food/drink table volunteers
event organizers – to walk around and
answer questions
announcer
cleanup
YOU MUST HAVE A TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE WITH
PREDETERMINED GROUPS AND A PRE-SEEDED BRACKET –
proofread, proofread, proofread – nothing is worse than a tournament schedule
with errors and redundancies
LOCK IN – if this is an event for minors, we recommend making it a “lock in.”
This way the parents know where their child is for the duration and nobody
leaves when they’re eliminated – this ensures a big crowd for the
championship game!

16. THERE YOU HAVE IT!
NOW YOU HAVE THE NECESSARY TOOLS . . . but
what will you do with them?
-here’s the thing, we need your help
-we are a grassroots organization that relies entirely on
our donors and fundraisers, and the smallest of
donations go a long way in rural Ghana!
-100% of our donations go directly to the Akaa
community, we’re not making any money off of this!
-if you’re excited about fundraising for the Akaa
Project, contact us – or message us on facebook !!

17. interested in other ways to help the
Akaa Project?
THE SIMPLEST WAY TO HELP IS TO FOLLOW US!
click these to go straight to our pages
Educate yourself! – learn about us! we love it when our
supporters know what’s going on in the village; check out
our latest initiatives!
SHOP! – we like to bring you lots of African styles; check
out our shop for awesome gifts!
or you can just donate now!