Extra Life invites WPN members to embark on a noble quest: make a legendary impact and become a hero for your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital by hosting a charity activation for Extra Life. To help you learn more and uncover ideas to get started, Extra Life has provided a WPN Guidebook for Making an Impact.

Why host a charity activation for Extra Life? Extra Life raises funds that support the health of over 12 million kids every year—and those funds are unrestricted, meaning each member hospital can use them to support their areas of greatest needs.

Fundraising events like this one bring your community together for an incredible cause, plus, 100% of what you raise at your store will stay local to you, making a direct impact on kids in your community.

What is Extra Life?

Extra Life was founded in 2008 to honor the life of Victoria Enmon. As she spent years battling leukemia, video games provided her with a welcome escape. Every year, 50,000+ people game in her memory and in support of the millions of other kids who will benefit from local member hospitals of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Extra Life has raised over $110m for local hospitals since 2008.

Extra Life allows anyone to change kids' health and change the future by playing games and collecting donations. Every dollar raised is sent to your chosen member of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals as unrestricted funds.

The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to patients across the U.S. and Canada.

Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment, and charitable care.

How Can My Store Participate?

There is no one way to start fundraising—the options are numerous, and it's up to you to decide the avenue that works best for your store. You may consider running a charity activation alongside Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons events already scheduled on your calendar. Or you might make plans for a unique event to draw as many players to your store for this cause as possible!

The guidebook shared by Extra Life covers some of the various ways you can begin raising funds, including the following:

Host a dedicated charity tournament.

This may mean adding a fundraising component to your existing tournament or creating a special event for Extra Life.

Organize a giveaway.

Offering a prize to a supporter of your campaign chosen at random during the event can boost excitement during your fundraising event.

Run a point-of-sale campaign.

If you have the technology set up, you may opt to implement the ability for customers to round up their purchases to support your local hospital—or add the ability for them to make a donation in tandem with their purchase.

Express thanks to donors in the way that best suits your community environment, whether that's displaying their names on a wall or giving them a shout out on social media.

How Do I Get Started?

Once you decide what activation your store will host, develop a plan to advertise your event. Focus your efforts to build eagerness to participate throughout your community and run an incredible event in-store!

After your event is over, reference page 7 of the Extra Life guidebook to learn more about the handoff of your donation. Share the results of your community's incredible work in support of your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital with them—and maybe make plans to do it all again in the future!

Don't forget to take advantage of all the resources at your disposal, from the Extra Life Fundraising Toolkit found in the WPN Guidebook to joining the Wizards of the Coast Super Team.

What is the Wizards of the Coast Super Team?

The Wizards of the Coast Super Team was created by Extra Life to help unite friends, family, co-workers, and fans under one roof to raise funds and awareness for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals through Extra Life.

WPN stores can create a Sub Team for their store within the Super Team, which makes it simple to select your local hospital, create your store's very own fundraising page, and connect with your community to boost your store’s impact for local kids.

With Extra Life's Guidebook for WPN stores in-hand, you're prepared to host a charity activation for Extra Life at your store. Keep the WPN Guidebook page handy as you collaborate with your staff and community to change kids' health and support your local children's hospitals.