"Bowl for Barack" (fun fundraising) w/poll

I may have mentioned this before in comments and also think someone else may have proposed it.  I know I e-mailed the proposal to friends a few months ago when I was visiting my hometown and noticed that the nearby bowling alley is not as busy as it used to be.

I was reminded of it by the "Bake for Barack" diary.  Or "Bake Sale" or whatever.

So here is the concept:  You solicit friends, especially perhaps friends who maybe learned to bowl, as I did, when I was ten, but have not done it for years.  (Roller skating is another option.)  Everyone pays say $25 to participate and you get the facility to donate the lanes for a tournament.
Why do they agree to do that?  Because you have scheduled it for their slowest day of the week and they would rather have people in there buying beer and food than not have anyone there.  And they can use the publicity.

The winner of the bowling tournament wins, say $100, but he or she is eventually shamed into donating the winnings to the campaign.

So why is this an attractive concept?  (And I did get some favorable responses to my suggestions last April until we just did not have time to put it together.)

Like many of you, I have my own personal goal of raising money, but getting even rich people to contribute is tough.  Offering a social outing like this may make that easier.

It's very "blue collar".  You can bring the kids too and introduce them to this game.  

It's fun and may offer an opportunity to get together with old friends in a very casual social setting.

You might be able to get the bowling alley to contribute more than free lanes.

It's much better than fundraisers where there is a cash bar and nothing else, other than a boring speech and you look around for someone to talk to.  

No one is going to be embarassed if he or she does poorly.

It's something particularly suited to red states and small towns. And  maybe attracts the support of other local small businesses.

I could even visualize a "National Night of Bowl for Barack" with the candidate in real time.