Gamers for Giving 2016 – The results are in!

The results are in! Thanks to attendee entry fees, donations during the event, our fabulous stream team, and our sponsors, the grand total raised during Gamers for Giving 2016 was… $172,494.55! Wowza!!

Here’s how that all broke down:

• Raffle tickets, merch, donations at booth: $18,659.55
• Matching donation from anonymous contributor: $7,000
• Entry fees & streamer donations: $124,835.00 (~50% raised by the stream team!)
• Sponsorship Donations (less event expenses): $22,000.00

Total raised = $172,494.55

This is absolutely incredible! We greatly surpassed our original $100K goal, and raised triple what was generated during last year’s event! This is an outstanding achievement, and we’re so thankful to everyone who was involved. To all those who participated, THANK YOU! We can’t wait to put these funds to use within children’s hospitals across the country.

Looking forward, our major goal this year is to proliferate Project GO Kart. Gamers Outreach currently supports 16 children’s hospitals. With the funds we’ve raised at Gamers for Giving, we’ll be able to construct GO Karts to benefit kids at many, many more all around country!

We also hope to use these funds to better streamline the GO Kart program. When we started Project GO Kart, it was a one-off initiative for our local hospital. Now however, nearly every other week a parent, donor, or hospital reaches out seeking GO Karts to benefit patients. In order for us to properly scale the program, there are a few major development challenges we hope to address.

First: we believe the GO Karts can be designed and built more efficiently. The current GO Karts are comprised of modified, existing products, as well as some of our own custom fabricated components. Prior to the start of Gamers for Giving, we started working with a manufacturing partner to help create a 2.0 version of the GO Kart. Once our prototypes are complete, we hope to use funds from Gamers for Giving to build a large batch of GO Karts – more than we’ve ever built before! By doing so, we’ll be able to create the GO Karts at a more accessible cost, and deliver them within a matter of days to hospitals around the U.S. (as opposed to 6 or 8 weeks). This is a project we’ve been working on for a long time, and we’ll be sharing more developments as our work progresses.

Second: we need help delivering GO Karts! We’ll need to reach out to gamers across the country who can help visit hospitals where GO Karts are being delivered. This is a volunteer opportunity we hope to discuss more beginning this summer, when the first GO Karts of the year begin rolling out!

Lastly: we hope to make the GO Karts more accessible for donors by implementing software tools that enable community based fundraising. Shortly before this year’s event, we launched the Gamers Outreach fundraising platform. While it’s only the 1.0 version right now, this is a platform we will continue to develop that will empower patients, gamers, and families to fundraise for hospitals of their choosing.

We can’t wait to continue to share the work you’ve enabled within children’s hospitals. As gamers, we’re just happy to have the opportunity to be a part of this! It’s been incredibly special to see the joy GO Karts help bring to the hospital environment. Thank you all so much for everything you’ve done for patients and families!

Be sure to keep up with the development of our charity programs throughout the year at www.GamersOutreach.org.

We hope to see you at Gamers for Giving 2017!