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Yes—most U.S. Extra Life gifts are charitable donations. Online contributions made through extra-life.org for a U.S. Children’s Miracle Network member hospital are gifts to Children’s Miracle Network, a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 87-0387205). The donor normally receives an emailed receipt immediately, but a federal deduction generally helps only if the donor itemizes on Schedule A instead of taking the standard deduction. Campaign money is directed to the participant’s selected local hospital as unrestricted funds. The $19 USD Platinum registration fee is not a donation. Canadian receipts come from the selected hospital’s foundation, and gifts supporting a U.S. hospital may not qualify under Canada Revenue Agency rules.
What is Extra Life?
Extra Life is Children’s Miracle Network’s year-round, do-it-yourself gaming fundraiser. Participants choose a local member hospital and raise money through video games, tabletop play, livestreams and community events. The 2026 Game Day season runs from October 1 through November 15, although fundraising remains open throughout the year.
The program began in 2008 in honor of Victoria “Tori” Enmon of Orange, Texas, who died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in January 2008. The Extra Life FAQ identifies Jeromy Adams as the founder and notes his 2011 goal of raising $5,415—$5 for every day Tori spent fighting leukemia.
Are Extra Life donations tax-deductible in the United States?
Generally, yes. Children’s Miracle Network is the legal name of the 501(c)(3) public charity that does business as Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Its EIN is 87-0387205, and IRS-derived nonprofit records identify contributions to it as tax-deductible.
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For a U.S. donor, the practical test is whether the donation is larger than the tax benefit already provided by the standard deduction. A charitable gift is generally claimed on Schedule A of Form 1040, so a donor usually must itemize deductions. A 2026 explainer from LegalClarity lists standard deductions of $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly; those figures are secondary-source examples, not an Extra Life promise, and should be checked against the current IRS Form 1040 and Schedule A instructions.
Extra Life says an online U.S. donor should receive a tax receipt by email immediately after payment. The credit-card descriptor can appear as CHILDRENS MIRACLE NETWORK. Keep the receipt with your tax records and claim only the amount that qualifies under current IRS rules. This article is general information, not individual tax advice.
What amount can I claim?
For an ordinary online gift, the deductible amount is normally the cash contribution shown on the receipt, subject to the donor’s itemizing decision and the federal charitable-contribution limits that apply to the donor’s situation. Extra Life has not published a goods-and-services valuation for ordinary online donor gifts. If a donor receives something of value, general U.S. rules require reducing the deductible amount by that value; ask a tax professional how that rule applies.
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Where does Extra Life money go?
Extra Life states that money raised through a participant’s campaign goes directly to that participant’s chosen Children’s Miracle Network hospital as unrestricted funds. “Unrestricted” means the hospital’s local leadership, rather than the donor, decides which eligible needs are most urgent.
- Research and clinical training
- Life-saving or diagnostic equipment
- Uncompensated and charitable care
- Child-life services and family support
- Other priorities identified by local healthcare experts
Hospitals treat children regardless of a family’s ability to pay. A Children’s Miracle Network member hospital in the Dallas area, Children’s Health, says donations from local fundraisers such as Extra Life are sent directly to that hospital and that it keeps 100 percent of locally raised donations in its area. That statement describes the hospital’s handling of local gifts; it is not a published, network-wide payment-processor calculation for every Extra Life transaction.
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The selected hospital is displayed on the participant’s donation page. A participant cannot change hospitals in the dashboard after registration; Extra Life support can update the designation when the participant contacts the support team.
Does Extra Life take a cut?
There is no published Extra Life percentage for credit-card or payment-processor fees in the information available for this guide, so a precise “after fees” percentage should not be invented. The clearest evidence supports two separate points: campaign gifts are described as going to the chosen hospital as unrestricted funds, while Children’s Miracle Network’s national office operates through an umbrella model with hospital membership fees and other program revenue.
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| Measure | What it describes | Amount or share |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 total raised | Children’s Miracle Network network-wide fundraising | $251,104,184 |
| 2024 donor-designated amounts | Amounts designated by donors to specific hospitals | $236,923,573 |
| 2024 hospital membership fees | Fees paid by member hospitals to the national organization | $32,858,206 |
| FY2025 national revenue | Children’s Miracle Network Form 990, year ending December 2025 | $62,748,149 |
| FY2025 national expenses | Children’s Miracle Network Form 990 | $57,362,518 |
| FY2025 national net assets | Children’s Miracle Network Form 990 | $76,504,093 |
In the FY2025 Form 990, 22.8 percent of national revenue came from contributions and 64.6 percent from program services. Philanthropy.org’s analysis of that filing says 81 cents of each dollar spent by the national organization went to programs. That ratio is the national office’s expense mix—not an Extra Life-specific pass-through rate.
The distinction explains why both statements can be true: a campaign gift can be sent to the selected hospital, while the national charity receives membership fees and program revenue to provide the network’s tools, conferences and support. The available figures do not establish a separate Extra Life processing deduction.
How do hospitals use unrestricted funds?
Because the funds are unrestricted, the hospital can respond to changing clinical needs instead of being limited to a project chosen at checkout. Children’s Miracle Network lists equipment, patient services, charitable care, education, research, family support and child-life programs as examples.
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Cause IQ’s presentation of Children’s Miracle Network’s 2024 network program areas reports the following amounts. These are network-wide figures, not an Extra Life-only spending ledger:
| 2024 program area | Amount |
|---|---|
| Equipment | $120,666,120 |
| Patient services | $106,743,106 |
| Advancement services | $102,102,102 |
| Charitable care | $64,974,065 |
| Education | $37,128,037 |
| Research | $32,487,032 |
Cause IQ also cites more than $464 million from the combined efforts of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and partners in 2024. Do not add those categories and label the result Extra Life spending; they cover a broader network scope.
How do U.S., Canadian and Facebook donations differ?
| Donation route | Receipt and tax treatment | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Life gift supporting a U.S. hospital | Children’s Miracle Network emails a receipt, usually immediately | U.S. federal deductibility generally depends on itemizing; charity EIN 87-0387205 |
| Extra Life gift supporting a Canadian hospital | The hospital foundation issues the receipt by the end of February of the following year | Most are mailed; some are emailed. A gift supporting a U.S. hospital is usually not accepted by the CRA, although exceptions can exist |
| Facebook fundraiser outside the United States | No Extra Life tax receipt is offered | Facebook converts donations to USD; the CRA does not currently issue receipts for Facebook donations |
For Canadian credit-card donations, a Canadian billing address generally results in processing in Canadian dollars. PayPal and Apple Pay are charged in U.S. dollars. Canadian donors should use the receipt from the selected hospital foundation and consult current CRA guidance, especially when the beneficiary is a U.S. hospital.
Is the Extra Life Platinum registration fee tax-deductible?
No. The $19 USD Platinum registration fee is not a donation to the fundraising page, so it should not be treated as a charitable gift to the hospital. Platinum registration unlocks a badge and, at fundraising levels, incentives such as an official Platinum T-shirt and medals. The fee pays for registration and benefits rather than representing a charitable contribution.
How do I document an Extra Life gift or request matching-gift information?
- Save the emailed receipt. Confirm the donor name, date, amount and selected hospital before filing it.
- Check the card statement. The transaction may be labeled CHILDRENS MIRACLE NETWORK rather than the participant’s screen name.
- Request a duplicate if necessary. Extra Life support can resend a receipt. In the same request, ask for the EIN and tax-exempt-status information if an employer’s matching-gift portal requires it.
- Start with your employer’s HR or matching-gift administrator. Extra Life provides a downloadable tax-ID and 501(c)(3) status letter and a W-9 for matching-gift submissions.
- Keep the fee separate. Do not combine the $19 Platinum registration payment with the charitable amount on your tax records.
How can I make an offline Extra Life donation?
For a check, make it payable to Children’s Miracle Network or Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and write the Extra Lifer’s name in the memo. Add the offline donation in the participant’s Extra Life account, then mail the form and payment to:
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Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
ATTN: Extra Life (or Accounting)
205 West 700 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Convert cash to a cashier’s check or money order rather than mailing currency. Extra Life says to allow about two weeks for an offline gift to appear.
How large is Extra Life’s impact?
The current Extra Life homepage reports more than $145 million raised since 2008, support for 170 children’s hospitals and 38 million patient visits. Those figures describe Extra Life’s current program reach. They should not be mixed with Children’s Miracle Network’s broader totals: the network reported $251,104,184 raised in 2024, Extra Life represented 3.1 percent of the network’s 2024 fundraising sources, and the network’s financial-impact materials report more than $473 million raised for children in 2025.
Older Extra Life materials cited $132 million in lifetime fundraising; the current homepage’s $145 million figure is the appropriate current reference for 2026.
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Charity Navigator’s profile for EIN 87-0387205 reports 100 percent on the displayed accountability measures sourced from the FY2024 Form 990: website reporting on the tax form, no material diversion of assets, independently audited financial statements, a records-retention policy and tax-form disclosure on the website. The extract does not show a single overall star rating, so no star score should be inferred.
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- Comes with secure packaging
- Helpful in various ways
Children’s Miracle Network’s financial-impact materials make its 501(c)(3) statement, W-9, annual report, Form 990, tax-exemption certificate and financial audit available for download. The FY2025 Form 990 lists President and CEO Aimee J. Daily, Ph.D., with $721,472 in compensation plus $262,279 in other compensation. That is national-office information and does not change the stated destination of an Extra Life campaign gift.
What should donors remember?
- A U.S. Extra Life gift supports Children’s Miracle Network, EIN 87-0387205, and is generally deductible only when the donor itemizes.
- The participant’s chosen hospital receives the campaign gift as unrestricted funds.
- U.S. online receipts are normally emailed immediately; Canadian hospital foundations issue receipts by the end of February.
- The $19 Platinum registration fee is not charitable.
- No current Extra Life payment-processor percentage has been published, so “100 percent after fees” is not an established figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if my Extra Life receipt never arrived?
Check the email address used at checkout and its spam or promotional folders first. If the receipt is still missing, contact Extra Life support with the donor name, gift date and amount; support can send a copy and include the EIN or tax-exempt-status letter when an employer requires it.
Can my employer match an Extra Life donation?
Many employers accept matching requests for eligible charitable gifts. Begin with your HR or matching-gift portal, then provide Children’s Miracle Network’s EIN, 501(c)(3) status letter or W-9 as requested; the registration fee should not be submitted as the charitable amount.
Is the hospital’s tax ID the same as Extra Life’s EIN?
Not necessarily. Extra Life campaign gifts are processed through Children’s Miracle Network, whose EIN is 87-0387205, while a separate restricted gift made directly to a hospital foundation may use that foundation’s own legal entity and EIN. Use the recipient name and number printed on the receipt for the specific payment.
Why does my bank statement name Children’s Miracle Network instead of Extra Life?
Extra Life says online gifts can appear as CHILDRENS MIRACLE NETWORK on a credit-card statement because Children’s Miracle Network is the charitable organization processing the contribution. The descriptor does not mean the gift was diverted from the participant’s selected hospital; campaign funds are designated to that hospital as unrestricted support.
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