Flexing your fundraising muscles
We're just a little bit over 2 months from race day and it's time to begin fundraising!
Below are some helpful hints for how to encourage giving in your community.
Host a fundraiser. Whether you decide to put on a beef n' beer, silent auction or bowl-a-thon with your closest friends, hosting an event is a great way to raise funds and awareness for desmoid tumors. Cash and checks you receive can be added as offline donations to your fundraising page.
Here are past events that were hosted by community members committed to raising funds for a cure.
Use your online resources. When you register and create a fundraising page, you'll see ways to share it online.
Get creative. If people are interested in DTRF but unable to donate funds, encourage them to participate in the race, join your team, volunteer or provide sponsorship in the form of a donation.
Write thank you notes! When you get a notification that someone has donated to your fundraising page, email him or her a heartfelt message of thanks. After all, they took the time to donate; we can certainly take the time to show our sincere appreciation. At the end of the thank you note, kindly ask if they would forward the fundraising link or race information on to their contacts, or anyone who might be a runner or who lives in the Philadelphia area. Keep it short and sweet and leave it at that. Hopefully they will pass it on.
Send gentle reminders to those who said they would donate but haven't gotten around to it just yet. Give them some time, but make a list of those you need to check in with again.
Reach out to your community! Try your local grocery stores, restaurants, coffee houses, dry cleaners, etc.
Ask your local gym (where there are lots of runners) if they will help you promote the race or maybe even donate to your team. If you need a race poster, email us at information@runningforanswers.org and we’ll send some to you.
Use your walls/status/away messages! If you use social media, gtalk or any other type of online messaging, use your "status/away message" to post the link to your fundraising page. The visual reminder will encourage people to click on your fundraising page and donate.
Tap your company! Find out if your company will match your individual or team donation. Many do, so it's worth asking!
Send an email to your coworkers (if it is appropriate at your office). You don't have to go into too much detail! Even just giving a quick description of desmoid tumors and the link to the website and your fundraising page can be enough.
Send a letter/email to friends and family explaining why you are running this race. Do you know someone with a desmoid tumor? Do you have a desmoid tumor? Are you simply moved to help the cause? Tell them why you are passionate and they will want to support you.
Set a goal! If you know how much you'd like your team to raise for DTRF, or even when you would like to raise it by, tell everyone what your goal is and add it to your online fundraising page so that everyone can see it. The RFA committee suggests a fundraising goal of $500 per team. When people see what you are reaching for, they are more inspired to be a part of helping you get there.
