Extra Life – Play Games. Heal Kids.
Extra Life is a charitable gaming program of Children's Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals which raises funds and awareness across the U.S. and Canada. There are thousands of Extra Lifers (gamers who sign up for Extra Life) across the world who raise money for their local children's hospital by playing games.
It's a lot like running a 5K, where you raise money and then run the race. Only in Extra Life, you play games — video games, board games, other tabletop games and more! And you can do it any day of the year.
Since inception in 2008, more than $100 million has been raised through the Extra Life charity for their member hospitals, including Children's Health.
How to Register for Extra Life
1. Sign up for Extra Life
Go to www.extra-life.org and make sure you choose Children's Health as your hospital of choice.
2. Fundraise and Recruit Your Team
Ask your family and friends to donate to your Extra Life Fundraiser Page. Post on social, share via your stream or text.
3. Play Any Game on Any Day of the Year
Raise funds, have fun and help make life better for children.
How Do I Participate in Extra Life Game Day?
Extra Life is a program that unites thousands of players around the world to host fundraising and gaming marathons in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Each year, there is a national game day, where Extra Lifers pledge to play on that day and spread awareness for pediatric health care. Or, they can create their own game day or days. Essentially, gamers put in game time whenever works for them, because it all makes a difference in changing kids’ health.
Since inception in 2008, more than $120 Million has been raised for Children’s Miracle Network member hospitals, including more than $1 million for Children’s Health. Join us on national game day, Saturday, November 2, 2024!
What do I do on Game Day?
It’s totally up to you! You can game from the comfort of your own couch, at your friend’s house, at a rec center, at work — anywhere is fair game (Pun intended. Eyerolls permitted)! Lots of Extra Lifers organize big group events for the occasion and just as many pull out the sweatpants and snacks for a chill day at home. Your Game Day doesn’t even have to be on November 2nd. It’s your fundraiser—do it your way!
About Extra Life Charity
Extra Life was started after an Orange, Texas, radio station connected with Victoria, a young girl battling leukemia. The station was able to donate video games to help Victoria and other patients whose illnesses required an extended stay at the hospital. Unfortunately, after four years and several relapses, Victoria lost her battle. Jeromy “Doc” Adams wanted to honor Victoria’s life and created Extra Life, a way for gamers to raise money doing something they love. On October 15, 2008, the first Extra Life event was held. Over 1,200 gamers showed up, and news of the event spread. In 2010, Extra Life officially became a CMN Hospitals program.
Today, Extra Life is connected with over 100,000 gamers and has partnerships with some of the most prominent gaming streams like Twitch and Rooster Teeth.
How Extra Life Helps Children's Medical Center Foundation
In North Texas, Extra Life participants play to support the patients treated at Children’s Health. Local gamers can raise funds for Children’s Medical Center Foundation by participating in the Extra Life charity gaming event — since 2010 we have raised more than $1,000,000 through CMN Extra Life!
Funds raised through Extra Life support Children’s Health’s greatest need, which includes enhancement of care, discovery of cures and building a healthier community across all Children’s Health campuses. All contributions directly support patients and their families, ensuring the best experience, best care and ultimately a fighting chance to get back to being a kid again.
Extra Lifers
There are many ways to participate in Extra Life, and many different supporters. Click below to learn more about all the ways you can play games and make life better for children.
Kirsten Miller
Kirsten Miller plays Final Fantasy and streams it on Twitch. She asks her viewers and followers to donate while she’s streaming. Check out her Extra Life Page.
DFW Gaming Village
This group of gamers plays tabletop games. They host game days at their house and ask their guests to bring a donation. Throughout the night they also host raffles and other fun games. Check out their Extra Life Page.
OpTic Gaming
Children’s Health partner, OpTic Gaming, has raised over $71,000 and donated three gaming carts to Children’s Health. Check out their Fundraising Page.
Students and Corporations
If you're a student or company looking to get your peers involved with Extra Life, take a look at the below resources to get started.
FAQs
There are many ways to participate in Extra Life, and many different supporters. Click below to learn more about all the ways you can play games and make life better for children.
-
How do I sign up for Extra Life?
Registering for Extra Life is quick and easy!
- Go to www.extra-life.org
- Click the SIGN UP button in the top right corner
- Answer a few questions and in three clicks you’ll have your own Extra Life fundraising page!
-
What do I do on Game Day?
It’s totally up to you! You can game from the comfort of your own couch, at your friend’s house, at a rec center, at work — anywhere is fair game (Pun intended. Eyerolls permitted)! Lots of Extra Lifers organize big group events for the occasion and just as many pull out the sweatpants and snacks for a chill day at home. Your Game Day doesn’t even have to be on November 4th. It’s your fundraiser—do it your way!
Extra Life Resources
Extra Life logos and image
Promo graphics -
Fundraising Tips and Tricks
- Customize your DonorDrive fundraising page
- Become an Extra Life Platinum Participant
- Create your Facebook Fundraiser
- Utilize fundraising milestones and incentives on your DonorDrive fundraising page
- Enable DonorDrive Live Fundraising
- Utilize the Extra Life Multimedia Kit and Live Stream Tools
- Make sure to use the extralife tag on Twitch and #extralife on YouTube
- Download the DonorDrive Charity Fundraising app
- Share about Extra Life on your social media channels
- Always tag Extra Life and your local hospital when you share posts regarding Extra Life activities
-
Play Games online and stay connected
Family game night can include your favorite card, board or video games, and backyard games like tag or cornhole! Playing online games is also a great way to stay connected in an increasingly virtual world. Many game titles have an online version. Check out Board Game Arena for various board games. No need to download anything, you can play directly from a web browser. Steam, a digital gaming platform where you can buy and play games, is another option. They feature games from diverse genres: free-to-play, indie, sports and more.
Gather with those you share a home with, invite loved ones digitally from afar, and commit to raising funds via Extra Life.
-
How do I host a tabletop game night?
Whether with family/friends, your co-workers, or in the community at large, you can organize a game night (or convert your established game nights) to an Extra Life fundraising event in April. The important thing is to set the expectation that this game night is special because you'll be raising funds for kids in your community through Extra Life. Here are some ways that you can maximize your fundraising totals:
Entry Fee/Cover Charge: Ask for an entry fee to play tonight. You can set up multiple game stations or provide a variety of games to cater to different interests.
Tournament Style: Structure a bracket as a special side event within your game night. Card games make great tournament games (Skip-Bo, Speed, Uno All Wilds, Magic: The Gathering, etc.) Offer prizes for winners and runners-up to attract more participants.
Re-Roll: Golf tournaments raise a lot of funds through mulligans, where someone can make a donation in order to take another shot if they didn't like the shot they just made. Apply this principle to dice rolling and let your players donate in order to roll again.
Alter the Game Rules: Playing Monopoly and trying to get out of jail? Donate! Think of creative ways to spice up games and create fun ways to collect donations.
Donations for Losing: Get everyone to agree that the loser of each game has to make a donation to the team. Make it fun! Celebrate when they donate and encourage sympathizers to join them in donating.
Silent Auction: Ask local businesses to donate items for a silent auction. Everyone can place their bids throughout the night and the winner donates to the team in order to receive their prize. Be sure to send thank you notes and promote the businesses that donate items. Tag them on social media.
There are many other ways that you can create (or convert) your own tabletop game night fundraiser. Just remember that before you start, you'll need to register at extra-life.org so that everyone knows where to make their donations during the event.
Questions?
Please reach out to Marcie Long with any questions at marcie.long@childrens.com.