Hosting a Night of Nets

Because World Malaria Day is April 25, many groups will schedule their Night of Nets close to that date, but you can plan your event for any date. Hosting a successful Night of Nets will take some planning and effort, but it is doable, and together, we will create a national outcry for the children and communities being threatened by malaria every day.

Here are some tips to help you plan, promote, and execute your Night of Nets. You can also download our comprehensive Leaders’ Guide.

Prepare

Pick a date: You can plan your night for any date or occasion. This can be a great event for summer camps, campus gatherings, and neighborhoods.
Form a planning team: Think of other groups and individuals who might want to get involved. Consider skills and talents; potential roles; influence/connections; and interest/availability.
Develop a timeline and meet regularly.
Choose and secure a location: Try to host your event outside if weather and space allow, but inside works, too. Be sure to get proper permissions, know the rules of usage, and determine any costs.
Gather fundraising and advocacy ideas: Consider creative ways to raise funds and collect advocacy signatures before and during the event. Competition is good!
Download and utilize free resources: Visit our Resource Page to download free posters, handouts, and story cards.
Gather materials for making your bednets: See our instructions on how to make your own makeshift bednets, and be sure to order any supplies in advance.
Consider ordering Night of Nets t-shirts: It takes three weeks to receive your shirt order. You can order shirts directly from Stuph Clothing.

Promote & Recruit

Be sure to spend a lot of time promoting your Night of Nets and recruiting others to take part. Together, we can create awareness around malaria and take action to stop this child killer. Here are some helpful ways you can promote your Night of Nets:

Word of Mouth: Tell your friends and canvas your campus, church, and community—make announcements, go door-to-door or make phone calls, place flyers in mailboxes, visit sorority and fraternity houses, ask professors to announce it to classes. Get people to sign up.
Use the resources on our Resource page: We have posters, handouts, and story cards that can be used to advertise your cause. You can also use these resources and a bednet to create a “Life Under the Net” display in a central location. Click here to visit our Resource page.
T-shirts: Order t-shirts for your team to wear around your campus, church, or community as a means to promote and recruit. Click here to order your shirts or call Stuph Clothing at 800.242.9166.
Utilize Radio and Media: Go to local newspapers, television stations, or radio stations to promote your event and invite community involvement.
Partners with others: Think about both on and off campus partners you can enlist to help with your event. Consider the following ideas:
- Church leaders and ministries: Get your entire church and other local churches involved. Ask them to help champion your event and recruit others to be a part of your Night of Nets.
- Campus organizations: Think about other campus ministries, social justice groups, athletic teams, dorms, Greek organizations, etc., that might be interested in partnering with you. This can be through planning, participation, or fund raising.
- Faculty and staff: Get the administration and faculty on your side! Ask them to promote in their classes and even in those hoity-toity board meetings. Many campuses have funds for projects like these, and you should mention that this is great PR for them!
- Community members: Go to local businesses for donations and advertising. For example, ask a local fabric store to donate tulle for your fabricated bed nets. Advertise for partner businesses on campus.

Mobilizing Your Community on Facebook

Here are some exciting tools on Facebook to help you start a movement on your campus or in your community. These movements work together for a larger national movement to end malaria:

Start your own Night of Nets Cause - by creating your own Cause group, you can invite your friends and network; update them on your local activities; encourage and track your community's support in our national goals of buying bed nets for every family in Twachiyanda, Zambia; and collect signatures to petition our government leaders to do more to combat malaria. Start your own NoN Cause.
Change your Profile Pic - One of the best ways to get your friends' attention is to change your profile pic. One student leader created an online tool for changing your profile pic to create awareness around malaria and the Night of Nets. Change your profile pic.

Think Through the Actual Night

We recommend starting your event by 7:00 p.m. and sleeping the entire night under bed nets. If an all-night event just won’t work, plan an all-evening event. Schedule is completely up to the creative ideas of each group, but here are plenty of ideas to consider:

Fundraising dinner: Get a partner to donate dinner and charge participants a fee to eat.
Other Fundraising: Think about creative ways to fundraise prior to and during the event.
Advocacy: Participate in our advocacy campaign and get as many signatures as you can! Click here to download advocacy petitions.
Concert: Ask local bands to perform during the evening.
Laptop stations during your event: Set up laptops where participants and passersby can easily donate and sign the petition online during the event.
Talent show
Net “fashion” show
Competition: Set up a competition between participating dorms, campus organizations, churches, etc., to see who can raise the most money.

Scavenger hunt:

Film: Consider purchasing Malaria: Fever Wars from pbs.org.
Wrap-up breakfast: Take time to celebrate and announce how much money you raised.
Photos/Video: Have a student photographer and/or videographer get footage and post excerpts throughout the night.
Worship/Prayer: Spend some time in worship, asking God to move in the hearts of our communities and place his protection over the children still vulnerable to this disease.
Art: Use art to demonstrate their concerns and commitments around malaria.
Come up with your own creative idea!

Follow-up After the Event

Send funds and petitions: Make sure to send the funds and signed petitions to us at: World Vision’s Night of Nets
PO Box 9716 MS 333
Federal Way, WA 98063
Send us stories: E-mail your stories, photos, and videos to us at: nightofnets@worldvision.org. We’ll post them on our blog.
Follow-up with participants: Get the e-mail addresses of everyone who participated and send them a thank-you message after the event, or send a message through your Night of Nets Cause on Facebook. Consider setting up a follow-up meeting for those who are interested in staying engaged in the issue.

Let us know you are hosting a Night of Nets - or sign up for more information.