Wednesday, June 6, 2012

How to Enter Offline Donations

We're down to the last day to have your offline cash/check donations credited to your individual fundraising totals! 

You know what that means...BANK NIGHT TOMORROW! 

6:30 P.M. Front Entrance to East Ridge Raptor's Stadium

To receive individual credit for the cash/check donations, we need to have you enter the information into the website.  Instructions follow.  In addition, we need you to include the donation tally form with the cash you turn in at Bank Night.  The donation form (donation tally or raffle ticket tally) should have the same name/information as whatever you enter online.

Let's take a quick look at the process.

1.)  Fill out your donation tally sheet



2.)  Login to www.RelayForLife.org
3.) Click on My Relay Center - either by using the link under the welcome message or from the "Get Started" navigation bar.  (circled in red)



4.) When the My Relay Center page opens, scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen.  Look for the "Other Options" box and click on the "Check/Cash Donations" link (circled in blue).


5.) Fill out the required fields based upon the information you have to enter (see example)


6.)  Note that if you have Raffle Ticket information (like  in my example), you should enter that information as one line item.  Enter your donation information EXACTLY as you have it on your tally sheet.  In this case, I have the information listed as "Raffle Tickets", so that is what I entered above.



7.) After completing your first entry, you can select either "Add" or Save and Add Another" depending upon what you need to do next.

8.)  If you have multiple entries, repeat step 6 as many times as needed to capture everything on your tally sheet.   Note that you can enter your other offline donations as single line items (Jim Smith - check $20, luminarias - $200, Fred Jones - cash $60).  OR, you may want to enter everything as a single entry, like "CASH DONATIONS" - $120.  It's up to you. 

 9)  That's it!  Gather up your tally sheets, your raffle ticket stubs and your money and meet us at the East Ridge Concessions Stand at the football field tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

See you there!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

What do you think? We've got an idea!


PEG BOARD SALE - ONSITE FUNDRAISER


We've got an idea to help you clean out your closets while raising money for Relay For Life.  But we also need some help pulling together the details of how to execute this potential fundraiser.

Here's the high level idea:

  1. Gather up as many handbags, purses and shoes as possible to sell for $10/item
  2.  
  3. Put some surprise gifts in a few of the items for sale (Twins Tickets, gift cards, dinner for 2, tickets to a play/show, CDs or ??? other items of value) to create some excitement around the purchases (beyond the wow-factor of a new bag or pair of shoes)
  4.  
  5. Donate the money raised from the sale of the bags/shoes to the American Cancer Society.

We are looking for a team or teams to help us fine-tune this idea. 

  1. We are thinking that the team(s) running the peg board sale would earn a percentage of the donation totals to put toward their team total
  2. Donors of the higher value 'surprise' items tucked into the purses/shoes would earn a percentage of the donations totals to put toward their team total (split with the team running the game).

We will be asking all of the Relay For Life teams to donate gently used purses and shoes to put up for sale for the fundraiser.  Anything that doesn't sell will be donated to a local charity after RFL.

What do you think?  We need some feedback and some people interested in helping to run the fundraiser during Relay.  The event committee will supply some help in getting the game/sale setup... so what do you say? 

If you are interested in helping or if you have any ideas about how to make this work, please email Paula, Jen or Mara

Once we figure out the logistics, we'll email and post more details to let everyone know how they can help.

Thanks!
     

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

On-Site Fundraising List - Updated

Please take a few moments to make sure your team information is on this list.  We really need to get an idea of what fundraisers are planned for the Relay. 

We are planning for camp site locations, what food to stock for the concessions stand and what information needs to be printed up for the information booth.

If your information is missing or needs an update, please email Paula at mnrelaygirl@gmail.com by tomorrow -- Wednesday, May 16th.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Calling All Teams with On-site Fundraisers Planned

The final Team Captain's Meeting is in 9 days!

We're working on the camp site assignments...

... and the details for on-site fundraising is crucial to our planning!

If you don't see your team's on-site fundraising information on this list, please make sure you provide the details to mnrelaygirl@gmail.com by this Wednesday, May 16th so we can figure out the camp site assignments.


Thanks for all of your enthusiasm!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Fundraising Ideas - Round 3


We need your on-site fundraising activities ASAP.  Please report in your ideas to your fundraising chairperson, Paula at mnrelaygirl@gmail.com .  Paula will sync up with Dave in Logistics so camp site assignments can be ready for the Final Team Captain's Meeting on May 22nd. 

Please get your fundraising ideas emailed by May 16th.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Wednesday Happy Hour @ Sheraton's Red Rock

Q:  What's better than a Happy Hour in the middle of the work week? 

A:  A Happy Hour where 20% of the sales are donated to Relay For Life of South Washington County!



Here are the details:

Sheraton St. Paul Woodbury Hotel at 676 Bielenberg Rd is the place to be this Wednesday, May 9th!

Stop by for food and/or drinks from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. or from 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. for a little relaxation and help the Sheraton Relay Team raise money for the American Cancer Society.   The Sheraton will be making a donation of 20% of Happy Hour sales to Relay For Life.

As simple as that.  If you ask me, simple is just the ticket for a Wednesday night.

Frozen Goodness Raises Money to Fight Cancer!

We've got two awesome ways to eat our way to a cure:

TODAY, May 8th at the Woodbury Dairy Queen, order any Blizzard* and Dairy Queen will donate $1/Blizzard to Relay For Life of South Washington County!  Yum!

*mini Blizzards don't qualify... so take one for the team and order a big one!  Or at least a small or a medium one!  It's good for Relay!


Next, on Wednesday, May 29th we can try out the goodies over at Cherry Berry in the Tamarack Village.  The Teens Against Cancer 1 & 2 teams have a fundraiser at the new Cherry Berry Frozen Yogurt shop.  Visit between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to Relay For Life.  Check out the goodness at the Cherry Berry site ... you'll want to plot your perfect yogurt masterpiece. 

 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Light a Torch, Get a Fire!



There's never been a better time to raise money online!  Why, you ask?

This...


    ... is why!                    


For the months of May, June, July & August 2012, all participants who have raised $212 online through the "My Relay Center" online fundraising tools will be eligible for a drawing for a Kindle Fire! 

There will be a total of 4 drawings.  4 chances to win an Kindle Fire at the same time as you are fighting cancer!  How awesome is that?!

If you raise your $212 in May, you'll be eligible for all 4 drawings.  So get your fundraising done going early!!

The full scoop (rules, definitions, etc) on the chance to win a Kindle Fire are all available here => on the Relay For Life website. 

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Thank You from Bark For Life!

Yes, it was a little chilly.  Yes, a little rain fell.  But we had FUN!

We also raised over $3600 today!  So the Relay Planning Committee wants to extend a BIG thank you to everyone who showed up to walk, talk, dance, buy goodies, sell goodies, and generally have a great time on a Saturday morning.

Here are a few photos from the day... more will be tagged on the Relay For Life Facebook page.

We can't wait to see you all again at East Ridge High School for Relay on June 8th!







Friday, May 4, 2012

Bark For Life 2012


Bark For Life is This Saturday!
8:30-11:30 a.m.


8:30a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Registration
Owner/Canine Participant = $10
ACS Educational Materials, Program Information
Entertainment

8:45 a.m. Opening Ceremony
Recognition of Sponsors
Briefing of Events & Cancer Survivor Testimony

9:00 a.m. Bark For Life Begins
Cancer Survivors and their dogs lead the walk
Walk around Ojibway Park - ACS educational signs posted along the route

9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Additional Fundraising Activities
Canine and People Friendly Games and Activities
Various Relay For Life of South Washington County Team Booths Open
Photos and Entertainment
10:45 a.m. Closing Ceremonies
Announce final totals

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Garage Sales to benefit RFL This Weekend!


Two teams have advised of Garage Sales benefitting RFL this weekend! 
Check out them out on your way to/from Bark For Life:

Team Curvivor
Saturday, May 5:  8 a.m. - noon
6650 Goodview Ct.
Cottage Grove


Party Walk Crew
Friday, May 4:  9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 5:  9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
8347 Timberwood
Woodbury

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Fundraising: Idea Blast #2




Looking for ideas?  Here is an assortment of from Relays around the country:


MOVIE SALE

How many times can you watch Forrest Gump? Sell those old movies at Relay!


PRINCESS CROWNS

Sell princess crowns (curling ribbon and star garland). Colors include purple and white. 


PURPLE HAIR COLOR

Sell purple hair color and offer to dye people’s hair

ROCK FOR YOUR LAP

Bring in a rocking chair and provide a walker/runner the opportunity to have someone from your team walk the donors laps around the track.  Set amounts for part or all of a walker's track-time.


HOLE IN ONE TRY

Set up a portable putting green and for a donation let people try and putt the ball in. Put everyone’s name in a hat that actually makes it.  Draw for  a Relay prize.


GLOW GEAR

When the sun goes down sell stuff that glows in the dark.

FISHING FOR A CURE

Set up a booth that looks like a pond with poles, etc. with prizes floating in it and charge $1.00 to fish for a prize


DECORATION STATION

Sell foam stick-ons (hearts & flowers) to use to decorate luminaria bags. 10pieces/$1


CRAFT SALES

Sell crocheted ponchos, blankets, and quilt. Create some scrapbook pages ready made for people to simply add their fun photos. Donate proceeds to Relay.


DANCE LESSONS

Have dance lessons at your campsite for a donation.  Swing, salsa, ballroom, disco and more!


ART SALES 

Have students produce great works of art and have an art show.  Parents and friends buy back their budding artist’s masterpieces.


PHOTO CONTEST


Hold a “stumper” photo contest!  Ask employees to bring a baby or childhood photo of themselves that they believe no one can identify.  Ask for a donation to make a guess. Give winners a contributed prize.


QUILT MAKING


Do you have a team that makes quilts? Make quilt squares in honor and in memory of people with cancer. Ask for a contribution for different sizes: a 4" square for $5, an 8" square for $15, and a 12" square for $25. Display the quilt at a public location, such as the chamber of commerce or the library... or...
“TOPLESS” CARWASH
Advertise a “topless carwash” when boys ask for a topless carwash all but the top of the car gets washed.

WINDSHIELD WASHING 

Fast food restaurant teams can collect donations for washing windshields as cars pass through drive up window.  





Get creative!  If you think your idea is fun, chances are others will, too! 

Monday, April 30, 2012

On-Site Fundraising Ideas: April Check-In

With a little over a month to go before we gather on the track at Raptor Stadium, it's a great time to lock down your on-site fundraising plans.  Whether you have items to sell on-site or games and activities to host during the Relay, it never hurts to plan ahead.

This year, we will be featuring an Information Booth on Friday night to help our participants and guests find their way around the event.  One of the things you can find out there will be where all the fundraising action is.  In order to be included on our master list of fundraising hot-spots, you'll need to let the Planning Committee know what you're up to.

Earlier is better for this.  Especially if you need a camp site on/near the track to increase visibility to your activity.  We can't give everyone a track-side camp site and we are doing our best to hold these spots for our teams planning to do on-site fundraising activity. 

We will be posting (and updating) our on-site fundraising activities list here on the blog to help you identify some of the ideas other teams have laid claim to.  While the list may be very helpful in sparking ideas for your own team's activities, please be respectful of other teams' efforts to raise money at the site by trying to come up with unique ideas so that everyone can maximize the effectiveness of the on-site fundraising. 

Here's the list as of today:
We know this is only a partial list.  There were all kinds of ideas bantered around at the Team Captain's Meeting that we'd love to get added to the list.

Please send an email to mnrelaygirl@gmail.com with any details about your on-site fundraising plans.




Saturday, April 28, 2012

One A Day - The Relay Way



Sometimes our lives are filled to the brim with responsibilities, adventures, obligations and it seems like we barely have time to look up to see who is tugging at our sleeve, looking for our attention next.   How can we ever fit something else into our schedule?

Sound familiar?  For many of us, I bet it does. 

So what am I doing here, about to ask you to add something else to your list?  Or to remind you that you've already got Relay For Life fundraising on your list?

Today, I want to remind you that every journey begins with a single step. 

Choose one thing today that you can do to improve your Relay For Life experience.  Any one thing.

  • Send an email with tips out to your team members
  • Post a fundraising link from Your Relay Center on your Facebook page
  • Make a list of items your team will need for your campsite
  • Donate to yourself
  • Ask Uncle Fred to join your team
  • Invite a survivor to walk the first lap
  • Write your email letter (you can update your mailing list tomorrow)
  • Any single thing that feels like it's 'do-able' is a great candidate for your one thing for Relay today.
Just do one thing a day.  You'll be surprised what a difference it can make on June 8th!



 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Jazz up your team: Pick a theme

Photo Credit:  electricjpw on www.RelayForLife.org



Relay For Life is 45 days away.  Time to think about how to get your team jazzed up about all of the activities that will be going on at Hope Field (aka Raptor Stadium) on June 8-9.


I know this is a fundraising site.  It's also a place to talk about a little fun.  I happen to believe that having a theme for your team's participation at Relay is a way to accomplish both objectives at one time.


In my many years of Relay For Life involvement, I've seen some AMAZING themes executed at RFL.  Some of my favorites are:

  • Mentor In Black (circa 1998 by the Mentor Graphics team in Portland, OR ).  An excellent play on the company name the summer following the Men In Black movie.  It had really easy and fun costumes to lend some pizazz to the team's theme.
  • Wizard of Oz.  I've seen this in multiple states, multiple years.  Always fun!  My favorite involved costumes to represent the key characters (pity the lion in 80 degree weather in a full-fur suit) along with 'witch feet' sticking out from under the tent and a 'yellow brick road' leading to the track's edge.
  • California Raisins.  (see photo below... this was one of my teams' themes.  I don't know if it qualifies as 'amazing,' but it sure was fun!).  This was in Arlington, VA in 2002.  We played I Heard it Through the Grapevine on a boombox and threw small boxes of raisins to the crowds on the field with health notes attached to them.  FYI, it rained during this event, and our costumes doubled as rain gear.  Later, it got cold... 32 degrees in mid-May cold.  Those mittens turned out to be invaluable as well. 



  • Gilligan's Island.  A lagoon (aka kiddie pool).  Inflatable palm trees.  Costumes.  Mayhem.  Silliness.  So fun!
Other themes you might consider:
  • Entertainment ideas (movies, books, tv shows)
  • Food ideas (birthday cake, old fashioned soda-shop with sundaes for sale)
  • Sports themes (soccer, football, cheering, etc.  - tie in on-site games for fundraising)
  • Hobbies (poker, knitting, fishing, etc.)


The possibilities are endless.  Themes can be a jumping off point to generate unusual fundraising ideas.  They are also just plain fun.  Regardless of age, we can jump into the fray and play like kids while supporting the fight against cancer.

Themes also get your teams engaged in the celebratory aspect of Relay For Life.  The more they get excited about RFL, the more enthused they will be about making the ask for fundrasing dollars.

Seriously.  Think about a theme for your team.  It's FUN.  It's an opportunity to be recognized for your creativity.  Seriously.  Fun. Themes.


Raisins... dancing around the track.


This last photo isn't a theme.  But, it did generate one of my favorite quotes of all time from a RFL event:  "I'm fragile."  Spoken by my heat-loving, non-camping friend about 30 seconds after her husband delivered her a 5 a.m. coffee with an update that the temperature outside was 32 degrees. 

Fun is everywhere!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Fundraising: Ideas, starting at the online site





Sometimes, we just need a few starter ideas to get the creative juices flowing.  The Relay For Life website has a whole section of fundraising ideas that can be used to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Whether you are looking for outdoor ideas, ideas for youth, onsite fundraising, food-related ideas or something for the work-place you can get a start by clicking on the link above.  It will take you to the "Get Involved" page within the www.relayforlife.org site.

Click through the tabs about half-way down the page for information on:

  • Bark For Life
  • The Purple Toilet
  • Zumba-thon
  • Tip-a-thon
  • Car window washing
  • Cupcake bar
  • Jeans day
  • Much, much more!
Even perusing the "Dos & Don'ts" may spark some ideas.  There is a list of IRS acceptable fundraising sales ranging from bake sales to luminarias to garage sales to fun activities like bowling parties, dances and more.

With 46 days left until Relay For Life of South Washington County, there's still plenty of time to organize some additional fundraising activities.








Friday, April 20, 2012

Make the Ask: emails.

Let's talk a little about making an email request for donations.

Whether you are a student tapping into your family's holiday card list or an adult sending out emails to friends, business associates, clients, acquaintences, etc. - emailing a request for donations to the American Cancer Society is a simple and effective way to raise money quickly.

There are a few steps in this process. 

1.  Write a letter / email request.   Spend some time with this.  It's important to share the Reason You Relay in your note.  Consider putting in a picture to personalize your request a bit further.  Your note does not need to be a masterpiece, it should simply reflect the personal nature of your involvement with Relay For Life.

For some of us, finding the right words to ask for money is tough.  That's where we can lean on some of the online tools.  Pick one of the templates under the email tab as a starting point.  Let's look at the "Help Me Reach $100" template.

We've got a great start with a letter here.  What's missing is some personal pizazz.   



As an example of how just a few tweaks can personalize the note, here's a sample from my drafted letter:


You might also think about offering to put a luminaria on the track for each donation of $10 or more right in your request letter (some people put this in their thank you letters to donors).  It's really up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

Make sure the information about how to donate online is included in your updated letter.  This should appear automatically at the bottom of your letter, but you should double check via the preview button to see that the link is being included.  Some people like to include written instructions on how to find their donation page, just in case there are technical issues for the user trying to click on the link.  I think this really depends on what you think the comfort level of your potential donors is with email technology. 

2.)  Pull your email list together.  Put together as comprehensive a list as you can.  Family.  Friends.  Classmates.  Neighbors.  Insurance Agents.  Vendors.  Church friends.  Members of your garden club.  Your baseball team.  Leave no stone unturned.  Try not to pre-judge whether someone will give or not, whether they can afford to donate or not.  Just ask.  Any amount will help.  Remember that you are creating an opportunity for people to fight back. 

There are tools to import email addresses from files, other online address books you use (gmail, yahoo, etc.) or you can make use of your address book from previous years if you're a returning Relayer.  Use the tools and save yourself a lot of time!

3.)  Select the names/addresses for your donors in the online tool & send the emails out.

4.)  Wait for the donations to come pouring in.

5.)  Take a few minutes to send out a thank-you email after you receive donations.  If you didn't put a note about luminarias in your request email, think about making the offer to put a luminaria out for each $10 donation in honor/memory of someone of the donor's choosing. 

The good news with the thank-you emails is that there's a template that you can use - either as-is, or as a starting point - and the email addresses are already in the address book from step 3. 

Note:  our Luminaria Chairperson and/or other members of the Planning Committee will be happy to help you get your luminarias made if you find yourself with more than you can handle.  Trust me, if you are getting swamped with donations, this is a 'problem' we would be happy to help you take care of at Relay! 

Our top individual fundraisers for Relay For Life consistently report that they raise the bulk of their donations through letters and emails.  It makes sense.  We can connect with many individuals in a very short period of time.  Our online donation center makes it very easy for people to give to the American Cancer Society.

With Relay For Life only 48 days away, this weekend would be a great time to send out letters!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Bark For Life: Gear up for on-site fundraising!


Saturday, May 5, 2012
Ojibway Park

UPDATE (4/19/12 9:25 pm):  During the Team Captain's Meeting tonight, Dave announced that the team with the most registered participants at Bark For Life would have $500 added to their Relay For Life team total!  The second place team will have $250 added to their Relay For Life team total!

So let's get out there and recruit some team members for Bark For Life!

We're gearing up for the Bark For Life of South Washington County in just over 2 weeks.  If you haven't heard about Bark For Life, or simply haven't thought about how Bark For Life might help you raise money for your Relay totals, this post is for you.

For starters, just to make sure everyone understands the awesomeness that is Bark For Life, here's a brief description of the event:

Bark For Life is a non-competitive walk for dogs and their owners to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer.  This is a mini-Relay-event with Opening & Closing Ceremonies, team fundraising booths, educational materials, games & activities, entertainment and photo opportunities.  A full schedule of the event can be accessed by clicking here.

Aside from being a fun event (which it is!), Bark For Life provides you with additional ways to boost your team's fundraising totals.  Dogs and their people will be walking around Ojibway Park on Cinco de Mayo - enjoying the festivities of Bark For Life.  Oh-so-many of these individuals will have money in their pockets, wallets, bags, etc. that could easily be donated to your team in exchange for such things as:
    • Food
    • Games
    • Gift basket drawings
    • Duct tape bracelets or Relay Crafts or .... just about anything you can think up to sell
If you are thinking about doing some on-site fundraising for Relay For Life on June 8th, this smaller event may be just what you need to warm up... work out the kinks... fine-tune your approach to maximize dollars raised once we set up camp at East Ridge High School.

If you are not sure you are ready for the big-time-venue of the actual Relay, you might consider some on-site fundraising where the crowds are smaller.  Or when the window of time for the event is shorter (Bark For Life runs from 8:30 - 11 a.m., so just 2-1/2 hours to schedule people to help out with your fundraiser).

The other thing to consider is that Bark For Life, with it's shorter duration may seem like an easier event for some people to participate in than the actual Relay For Life.  It's also a little earlier in the season, so it may be a great alternative for the folks that are out of town in early June, but who still want to help your team raise money. 

Take advantage of Bark For Life to introduce "Relay Newbies" to the Relay For Life experience.  To sign up, just follow this link to the BFL landing page.  Once your team members are registered, they will have access to all of the online tools available for RFL, so they can really add to your fundraising efforts.  Even more important than their fundraising, they'll start to get an idea of the Relay For Life community and hopefully become as excited about RFL as we are!  Today's Bark For Life participants are tomorrow's Relay For Life participants!


The last way you can earn some money for your team total is perhaps the easiest.  The team that has the most individuals registered for the Bark For Life will have an additional donation allocated to their team total.  Just for showing up at Bark For Life!  Can you believe that?  So get your co-workers, friends, classmates, family members, neighbors... anyone you can think of ... to join you for Bark For Life.  They'll be joining in the fun, experiencing a taste of Relay For Life through the Bark For Life and potentially helping you to drive up your fundraising totals.

Remember that you are welcome to join in the fun whether you have a dog or not!  See you there!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Party Walk Crew Garage Sale - May 4th & 5th

Hey, did someone say Garage Sale? 
Oh yeah, we were just talking about that on Monday!


The Party Walk Crew Team is already all over the Garage Sale Fundraising Idea!

Here's the scoop on their event:

WHERE:  8374 Timberwood Road, Woodbury
WHEN:  Friday,  May 4th 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 5th 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.



Saturday, May 5th is also our Bark For Life Event over at Ojibway Park.  Maybe you can stop on over at the garage sale after the festivities at Bark!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Get your bowling groove on!

Bowling Fun Night event!!!!


 
Sponsored by COUNTRY FINANCIAL


5th Annual Bowling Event 

When:  Tuesday, April 24th at 4:30 p.m.
Where:  Flaherty's Bowl in Arden Hills

For $10, you can sign up to participate in the fun.  You'll also be eligible for prizes.
($10 includes shoe rental)

Please contact one of the COUNTRY Financial team captains
by this Friday, April 20th if you'd like to join in the fun!

Brenda Fowler:  651-631-4629
Nancy Mathewson:  651-631-7726
                   Pat Wilson:  651-631-7197                      

 

Prizes for High Score: Male, Female & Team

Plus ... Special Event Drawings and prizes given out just for participating!!
Form a team with co-workers, friends or family
Help Us “strike out” Cancer!!

Benefits South Washington County Relay for Life




Monday, April 16, 2012

Garage Sales: Not just for decluttering anymore.

Holding a garage sale to clear out the clutter in your spare room, basement, garage, closet, office, wherever...is not a new idea... but it's a good one! 

Many of our Relay For Life teams hold garage sales and donate all or a portion of the proceeds to their fundraising totals.  If you've already got a garage sale planned... maybe one during the Woodbury Lions Club 35th Anniversary event May 10-12* ...put the word out to your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers that you are looking for items to sell in an effort to raise money towards your Relay For Life goal.

You'll find it pretty easy to get donations of goods to sell...we are all blessed with so many things that most of us have extra household items that we no longer use for various reasons.

All you need is a little sweat equity to get the garage sale itself organized, some signage to direct your customers to your sale and some signs or banners to let people know that you are donating proceeds to the Relay For Life. 

If you are looking for tips on holding a profitable garage sale, there are all kinds of sites that have ideas for you.  A few links are listed below for your reference.  Also, feel free to ask other RFL participants if they have any ideas for you.  A great place to do that will be at the Team Captain's Meeting on Thursday, April 19th. 



*Just a quick note on the Woodbury Lions Club Garage Sale weekend.  The registration deadline (which includes a listing in the directory) was yesterday, April 15th.  If you aren't signed up, it's worth checking to see if you can be included in the fun as a late entrant.  The Lions Club website is here.  Check it out for details on participation (including rules around selling food/beverages at your sale). You might not be able to get listed in the directory, but it's a great weekend full of garage sale fun.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Team members: Your Fundraising Multiplier!



During both the Relay For Life Kickoff event and the Team Captains' Resource Sessions, we've been talking about the need for everyone to focus on raising at least $150 per person.  There are many who have set goals of $250 or more.   We want to encourage everyone to be aggressive with these goals.  Remember, every dollar helps the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer. 

We definitely want to encourage your individual fundraising efforts.  In fact, we'll keep working on ideas to keep you motivated on this front every week from now until June 8th!  But for today, and for this week leading up to our Team Captain's Meeting on Thursday, April 19th at 6:30 p.m., let's focus on building up our team rosters! 

We can have up to 15 members per team.  There are many teams (including my own), that do not yet have a full roster.  Think about how much of a financial impact we can produce simply by getting our friends, family members and co-workers to join our teams.  Let's look at the math.  One team of 10, meeting our goal of $150/member will raise $1500If we fill up that same team's roster to 15 members, still assuming that everyone only raises the minimum target of $150, that team will bring in $2250That's an extra $750 per team... minimum.


As I type, we've got 104 teams signed up online with 695 participants.  Clearly, we do not have all of our participants on board and fundraising yet... or at least we do not have them logged into our online system.  So there's some room to boost our participation and fundraising efforts.  


If your team is like mine, you've got a handful of participants committed and starting to fundraise, but who have just not made it to the online tool yet.  That's ok, but let's push them to get online where they can take advantage of some of our fundraising tools.  We really need everyone to raise $150 or more!  It can be done and without a huge additional effort on our part.

Let's look at the multiplier effect of making sure we've got full rosters of teams joining us at Relay For Life on June 8th.  Just to see what a little team member recruitment can do to help us meet our fundraising goals:

104 teams * 15 members/team * $150/person minimum = $234,000

Let's dream a little. 
What if we can each raise at least $250/person?   .... $390,000!

We really need to utilize our multiplier effect to maximize our impact in the fight against cancer. 

We'll help you come up with ideas to raise money. 

Will you help us fill up the field with Relay For Life participants on June 8th?





Friday, April 13, 2012

Why I Relay: Missing my dad on his birthday.



There are some days when the reason that I Relay is foremost in my mind.  Today is one of those days.  It's Dad's birthday.  He's been missing from our family photos for 18 years, 3 months and 18 days. 

My dad, Guy, is the reason I Relay. 


The reason I'm sharing this here, on a fundraising ideas page, is that it's both helpful and healing for me to share the reason I Relay.  It helps connect me to the people who are supporting my fundraising efforts.  It will help you, too, if you can share what the motivation is that drives you to participate in the Relay For Life.

My tip for you today is to think about ways you can share your reason for participating in the Relay For Life while you are fundraising.

Everyone has experience with cancer in some way.  They can relate to your story, your experience.  It helps provide them a way to fight back against cancer through you, by supporting you with donations to the American Cancer Society.

You might find it helpful to come up with a couple of versions of your message depending on the method you are using to ask for donations.  A personalized letter can provide a great deal of detail about who you are honoring and/or remembering and why the funds are so important in the fight against cancer.

You might want to put a photo of the person or people you are walking for on your Facebook page.

Certainly put a message on your personal online Relay For Life page.  It's helpful to have the reason you Relay on that page for any of the donors making an online contribution towards your goal.  Include a photo or upload a video, too.   Consider inviting them to the Relay For Life and remember to thank them for their help there, too!

If you are speaking to someone in person, you have all kinds of opportunities to tailor your message about Relay to the potential donor.  While sharing about Relay For Life, you might find that in addition to securing a financial donation, some of your conversations will lead to team members or folks coming to check out the Relay for themselves.

Whatever your reason is for participating in Relay For Life, get out there and connect with people.  Share your stories.  Recruit some team members to raise money.  Invite your friends and family to join you at the event so they can see what a force we have gathered in one place on June 8th-9th.

Let's help the American Cancer Society in their quest to celebrate more birthdays!

 



Thursday, April 12, 2012

Use Your Tools to Make Asking Easier...

Sometimes I think the hardest part of fundraising is getting started.  It often seems like a daunting task (especially if you've set a big goal and have no online contributions listed on your total board - gulp!).

To help you over the hurdle of "where do I start?" today's post is a quick overview of some of the tools available to you via the Relay For Life website. Login and click on the "My Relay Center" link to get yourself here:


OK, let's check things out by the color coding.   

First, the items in the row under the yellow text.  These are some fundamental tools that will help you get your message out into the world.  Click on the box (or boxes) that seem most interesting to you in terms of getting the message out.  Not much for writing letters ... or communicating with all of your friends on Facebook? Click on the Fundraise with Facebook box to access tools specifically aimed at letting all of your Facebook friends know that you need help meeting your fundraising goals.

Not interested in Facebook?  Click on the Ask For Donations box to access tools to craft an email message to your personal and/or business contacts requesting a donation.  You can draft your personal message - or a series of messages, enter your contacts and manage your email notices to your contact base...all from one place in your Relay Center. 

Want to prime the pump to get your fundraising efforts kick-started?  Click on the Donate to Yourself box to enter a personal donation to show everyone that you are financially committed to RFL as well as personally involved with your participation.

The last box will quickly take you to your personal page, where you can post your photo, the Reason You Relay (your personal message encouraging your donors to contribute to RFL) and where you can enable a status thermometer, a donation honor roll and even a blog feature to update comments when you log in to your page.

Under the fundamentals (some of my favorite standbys) is a row of application tools that you can download.  Facebook, mobile apps and a personalized fundraising badge for your email account(s). 

Before we wrap up for today, I want to call out the Fundraising Tools tab at that top of this landing page.  Clicking on that tab will take you to more tools (including videos and ecards) and to some specific ideas about how to use the tools to generate donations. 

We'll come back to some tips to help you leverage the tools in this section in an upcoming post.  But don't worry about waiting for me.  Definitely start clicking on the online tools and start fundraising with any or all of the tools that work for you.  There's a little something for everyone out there!

Happy Fundraising!