“What does IGBO do for me?”

IGBO is an organization whose primary function is to “provide educational services, communication avenues and social opportunities to promote the sport of bowling and to enrich the lives of individuals through leagues and tournaments worldwide.” This is our mission statement.

For over 39 years, IGBO has been solidifying the sport of bowling in the gay community and creating a vast network of communication between all gay leagues and tournaments. 

Over the past 39 years, IGBO has helped over 160 gay leagues and 65 tournaments reach out to over 9,000 members, and to help them find leagues and tournaments to participate in.

As a not for profit organization, not one person on the board receives a salary of any type: we are all 100% volunteer. We operate on an extremely small budget and rely on league and membership dues to continue operating from year to year. 

What benefits your league will receive for the annual membership fee:

Advertising

Every member league gets free listings on the IGBO website (www.igbo.org). When a person searches the website for leagues, they can find your league listed with contacts, pertinent information about your league, geographic directions to your bowling house and links to your website or Facebook pages When a person e-mails a Board member about joining a league in their area, we always forward it to league representatives.

Every year, IGBO produces the “Join a League” posters. Posters are available upon request from your Regional Director.

IGBO Online

This is a new and integral part of our website. This is password protected area of our website that all members can join. This is a contact and information tool, for all individual members, associate members, leagues, and tournaments that are members of IGBO to learn more about what IGBO does and to contact all members for questions and ideas. This is where you the member have to ability to update your information to make sure that everything we advertise is current.

League Awards

Every member league annually receives IGBO awards. Awards for league champions, runners-up, and most improved male and female are included.

IGBO 300/800 Award Program

Every bowler who rolls a perfect 300 game or an 800 series during IGBO league or tournament play will receive an individually embroidered IGBO 300 Game or 800 Series Polo Shirt, limit 1 per each achievement per year.

So, if you were to add the costs of the above four items, that more than exceeds most leagues annual dues.

Individual Achievement Awards

IGBO offers 6 Individual PIN awards for all registered bowlers. These awards are, Triplicate , Big Split, All Spare Game, 50 pins over <140Avg, 75 Pins over Avg, 100 Pins over Avg. Each bowler can one of each award per year.

Tournament Software (Coming in 2021)

This is a free Tournament software package that is available to all member tournaments. This software package is designed to make running a tournament easier and more effective with features that will integrate the Tournament Average Database into it to make it easier to report tournament scores.

BenefitHub (Coming Soon)

Our newest benefit to our members. BenefitHub is your home to save on thousands of items all through an easy-to-use, exclusive discount marketplace. BenefitHub negotiates the best discounts on the market for you and many of the offers include additional cash back to make it the best overall value to you. Not only saving you money, but time and hassle, too. The diverse platform includes discounts on travel, hotels, restaurants, car rentals, your favorite local establishments and much more!

Community Support

IGBO offers other types of benefits to the Gay Community. The IGBO Aids Quilt is one of the largest ever, with 23 panels, over 1700 gay bowlers are memorialized by their loved ones. The panels are on exhibition at the IGBO Annual Event. The IGBO Annual and Midyear Tournaments annually raise thousands of dollars for local charities. All together, IGBO member tournaments donate over $100,000 from proceeds raised through their annual events. 

One more thing, one of the biggest benefits from joining IGBO is the people you meet. With over 9,000 members’ worldwide, friendships can’t help but happen, and you can’t put a dollar value on friendships that last a lifetime.

In summing up, it was best said by our former President, when she was asked,

“What does IGBO do for me?” and she said,

“If you go, you know” 

Sharon Stump, IGBO President, 2003-2007