Photo courtesy of Regan Pickard

I love bowling.  When I first moved to Boston I was introduced to a New England/Canadian Maritime form of it, candlepin bowling.  And since my ancestors hail from this region, I’ve developed a particular familial affinity for it. 

It may come as no surprise, then, that the “Be the Star You Are Bowling Classic” on Firstgiving’s site caught my eye.  This event, now in its 23rd year, supports West Michigan’s Junior Achievement organization and has already raised over $2,000 on Firstgiving.com.  Event organizers expect to raise $100,000 in total in order to serve 60,000 students in 3.000 classrooms during the upcoming school year.

The Bowling Classic also caught my eye, however, because it is an impressive gathering of the Grand Rapids community.  The weekend-long event will bring together 100 teams of bowlers from companies and organizations invested in the community and this cause.  It’s not every day (er. . . weekend) that you can bring 500 people together to bowl for a cause, or even for pure entertainment.

A few years ago, I read a very interesting book by sociologist Robert D. Putnam called Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community.  The number of bowlers in America, says Putnam, has increased, but bowling league enrollments are way down.   And this is significant, says Putnam, because it represents a trend by which the fabric of social life (aka social capital) in America is degrading. 

I think the jury is still out on this.  Traditional forms of social capital are declining, but it’s possible that they are being replaced by new ones in the mode of Web 2.0 and social media. 

When people talk about fundraising, they often talk about the importance of building networks and relationships with donors.  West Michigan’s Junior Achievement has clearly invested in these relationships, which is why their event participation is so great.  What is significant is that with a broad base of support, these event organizers have also seized the opportunities afforded by social media and extended the reach of their fundraising by empowering teams to fundraise online for Junior Achievement.  Kudos!  Best wishes for fundraising success from Firstgiving.com.