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Let the fundraising begin!

Written by on March 28, 2011 at 10:27 am

I was in Columbia, South Carolina, for the weekend as my family there hosted our team's annual fundraising golf tournament. It is always a beautiful time of year down there, and a great time is had out on the course. My deepest thanks and love go out to my family for continuing to support the National MS Society by organizing this fundraising tournament each year.

Our family's team fundraising campaign is kicked off each year with golf tournament, which raises a significant portion of the team's funds. We are fortunate for so many wonderful personal and corporate supporters.

Now that we have entered our fundraising season, I look forward to reaching out to friends, family and new co-workers (if done selectively) to ask them to support our family's team at the upcoming MS Challenge Walk. As I've been mentally (and manually) organizing my "ask", and starting to compile a list of people to solicit, I am eager to take advantage of the online tools in my Participant Center.

While its functionality (and ease) is great, I don't it to lull me into laziness in my solicitations. It would be easiest to import all the email addresses from my contact list into my Participant Center and shoot out a generic email to all, asking them for money. While there is a group of people to whom I will send such an email, I'll avoid this approach for just everyone. When you think about it, there are some people who should be sent an individualized email or letter. I mean, isn't the money they give valuable enough to take another moment to send them a special correspondence. I think it is.

The point is this: think about each person to whom you are soliciting. If someone falls into the category of receiving a more general email, that is fine. But if you come across someone who for whatever reason prompts your mind (or heart) to pause and suggest you send a personalized correspondence, follow your instincts and go that route. If you need help writing your letter, check out our advice and templates. The extra minute it will take to send them a personal solicitation may just turn out to be your biggest donor because of the attention and care you showed them. The money they give is worth your investment of time.

Todd is formerly the Director of Development for the Greater New England Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In addition to reading his blog posts, you can also find Todd on Twitter.

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Fundraising at a new job?

Written by on January 24, 2011 at 12:33 pm

As you may know, I am in a new professional capacity this year and as such am learning the currents around my new office environment at the Harvard College Fund. This change also means that I will be able to return to walking again at the MS Challenge Walk in September with my family's team, Krohne's Buzzards!

One of my fundraising goals this year is to solicit my new colleagues for financial support for the Challenge Walk. But I don't know quite how to do that yet. There are so many new (and unforeseen) turns in a new job, but also I know that there are a ton of generous and supportive people at Harvard. How/what/when/where can or can't I ask them to contribute?

As the year goes along, I hope to uncover many of these answers and will keep you posted. Maybe it will help as you fundraise "around the water cooler". In the meantime, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to share.

Todd is formerly the Director of Development for the Greater New England Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In addition to reading his blog posts, you can also find Todd on Twitter.

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Crossing the first finish line

Written by on August 27, 2010 at 11:08 am

So we're only a few weeks from the Challenge Walk, and something I hoped but never thought would happen has happened: I completed my fundraising goal.

It's not that I thought it was impossible to raise $1,500 — I know people who've done this walk before, and overachievers like Ken set their goals thousands higher than that minimum. I just thought it was impossible for me. I have a small family, my friends are all starving graduate students, and "spare time" in which to do fundraising activities is about as foreign to me as sub-Saharan Africa. I depended almost exclusively on my solicitation letters — and yet, somehow, it all worked out. I reached my goal.

With that strange sense of calm, I can look back at what I did and see how it worked. I sent about thirty solicitation letters, and about twenty of those recipients donated. The few no-replies were mostly long shots — cousins with burgeoning broods of children whom I rarely see. For the most part, my family has been exceedingly generous about an event they are actually quite far removed from. (Is there a prize for having the most non-regional sponsors? Because the vast majority of my donations are from Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska!)

But I also wouldn't be even close to my goal if it hadn't been for the non-solicited donations from friends. In one day, a single, unexpected cash donation moved me from "I might get close…" to "I'll definitely reach my goal!". I also earned some bonus bucks through MS-related events that haven't tallied into my count yet. A friend of mine who thought I still had another hundred to go was pleasantly surprised to learn he had actually put me over the top!

Another factor I've started noticing is my Facebook counter has been getting me some last-minute donations. Apparently, people find a cause more irresistible if you actually look like you're going to succeed in meeting your goal. Because those bonus bucks are still out there, I've gotten a few donations even after reaching $1,500, which gave me a new goal: to actually raise the money I'd gotten in fundraising remission. It would be an amazing sense of accomplishment if I could actually "cancel out" the bonus bucks I thought I'd have to rely on!

I started this fundraising process thinking I'd be very lucky to make even half of the minimum, and I solicited without really expecting much response. But the one thing that has kept surprising me throughout this endeavor is the unexpected generosity people will show for a good cause. This Challenge Walk has given me a renewed hope — not just that people with MS can have better lives, but that we all can when we work together toward a worthy goal!

Kahmmie is a first-year walker and has just started to get involved with the MS community, with the inspiration of her significant other, Ken, this site's webmaster. She currently lives in the Boston area and attends graduate school full-time.

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Fundraising Tip #13: Soliciting friends of friends

Written by on August 4, 2010 at 12:41 pm

Most of your fundraising solicitations are sent to first-degree contacts: your friends, your family, your co-workers. But many more people are affected by MS, and that which affects your loved ones affects their loved ones, too. Why not expand your network and reach out to these second-degree connections?

In my case, I walk for my mother, who was diagnosed with MS in 1990. My three older brothers are unavailable to join me in the MS Challenge Walk, but their motivation to fundraise is no less than mine. I wanted to ask them to send a solicitation letter to anyone they knew that I might not — but then I figured, I'm already sending more than a hundred letters myself, I'm set up for such a process, why not do it for them? I instead asked my brothers for names and addresses from their rolodex. I then prepared a different letter to those individuals. Instead of beginning with:

"I am writing regarding this September, which will mark my sixth participation in the MS Challenge Walk, a two-day, 30-mile event that raises money for and awareness of multiple sclerosis, which affects my mother."

I wrote:

"I am writing regarding this September, which will mark my brother Ken's sixth participation in the MS Challenge Walk, a two-day, 30-mile event that raises money for and awareness of multiple sclerosis, which affects our mother."

I continued to make these little changes throughout the letter, constantly referring to myself in the third person, and ended by signing by brother's name. After getting final approval of the letter from my bros, I mailed the letters with self-addressed stamped envelopes directed to me. Sure enough, a week later, those envelopes started coming back with checks in them: "I got your brother's letter and am happy to help you in your walk for your and his mom!" Now that I've made that initial contact, I can (and have) solicited these same people for future walks under my own name.

Note that I am not promoting identity theft or forgery. Pretending to be someone else requires a friend or relative's full permission and cooperation, and they should be kept abreast of who you are soliciting and how.

Online networks like Facebook and LinkedIn help us meet friends of friends, but "social networking" works in the real world, too. Ask your siblings, parents, co-workers, and friends to fundraise on your behalf, and leverage your connections to bring us that much closer to a world free from MS.

Ken, a Worcester resident, joined the MS Challenge Walk in 2005, more than a decade after his mother was diagnosed. After walking for three years and 150 miles, he switched to the support crew and now rides his bicycle along the trail, providing whatever encouragement (and snacks!) he can to the 600 walkers. He is also on the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.

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Money motivation

Written by on July 30, 2010 at 1:04 pm

I'm not sure if it's a Midwestern sensibility, a sense of shyness, or just plain pride, but I have always felt awkward asking people for money. I knew this long before I signed up for the Challenge Walk, so from the start, I knew that the solicitation and fundraising aspects of the event would be my biggest trial.

On any given day, if you gave me the choice, I'd probably be more comfortable walking an extra 30 miles than asking for donations! But that's not the way this walk works, and the bar is set high with a requested $1,500 minimum per walker. So not knowing what else to do, I followed the lead of my boyfriend (a long-time walker and bike crew member for this event) and started writing solicitation letters.

Those who received my solicitation were, without exception, family in some way, and I have the extra challenge of not living near any family. Could I really expect people who live over 1,000 miles from New England to care about this walk? What's more, I know that some of them are having a hard time making ends meet right now; could I in good conscience even solicit them in the first place? With all these questions weighing on me, I became worried that I should start eliminating prospective donors from my already small pool. What's more, I was becoming convinced that there was no possible way to hit that fundraising minimum.

But Ken, kind and sometimes even wise man that he is, gave me a small but intrinsic piece of advice — it's not my place to decide whether someone else can afford to donate, or to decide how big a priority charity is for them. All I can do is offer the opportunity and see who wants to take it.

With that in mind, I rallied my courage, stamped a bunch of envelopes, and dropped them all in the mail before I could change my mind. Now that some donations are coming back, I'm seeing his point: some of the donations are much bigger than I expected. A few are a little smaller. But overall, I'm surprised by the level of generosity my family is showing to this walk — even if they aren't anywhere near New England and don't know anyone who has MS, many of them still want to support me in my pursuits, and for some of them, that's reason enough to contribute. For others, perhaps they're glad to know that I'm spending my spare time promoting good causes. I may not know each person's motivation for donating, but I do respond with all the gratitude I feel for their support.

Though that $1,500 goal is still very lofty, this first round of fundraising has given me the motivation to look for other opportunities to close the gap. I don't know if I'll be selling my home-grown cucumbers, hosting a back-to-school party for my classmates, or just outright begging, but I'm going to do what I can to raise money for this cause. Whether or not I make the minimum, I can walk proudly if I know I gave it my best effort.

Kahmmie is a first-year walker and has just started to get involved with the MS community, with the inspiration of her significant other, Ken, this site's webmaster. She currently lives in the Boston area and attends graduate school full-time.

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Fundraising Tip #11: Send reminders

Written by on July 21, 2010 at 10:42 am

With the MS Challenge Walk less than two months away, chances are you've begun your fundraising in earnest. Depending on when you started, now may be a good time to remind your potential donors of your progress toward your goal and that you need their help to reach it.

Since I walk for my mom, who has MS, I send my postal solicitation letter around Mother's Day every year. That's four months before the walk, which puts July at a halfway point to my fundraising deadline. By now, I have collected dozens of checks and online donations — yet less than half of the people I solicited have responded. I hope many more of them want to, but summer vacations inspire forgetfulness of more mundane tasks, and mail gets piled in the corner of the kitchen with my SASE at the bottom. A gentle reminder helps these friends and family avoid the "Oh, crap, I forgot!" moment that occurs when they realize in late September that you've already walked!

Since I have already reached out to my donors postally, I send reminders via email. You may do this via your Participant Center or regular email. If the latter, be sure to include a link to your online donation page. Just like including a SASE makes it easy to receive checks, providing a link makes it easy for donors to click and donate.

If you feel uncomfortable nagging your friends, remember that that's not what you're doing. You're providing them the opportunity to help someone they care about and be a part of something greater. Fewer people will begrudge you that than will help you meet your goal.

Ken, a Worcester resident, joined the MS Challenge Walk in 2005, more than a decade after his mother was diagnosed. After walking for three years and 150 miles, he switched to the support crew and now rides his bicycle along the trail, providing whatever encouragement (and snacks!) he can to the 600 walkers. He is also on the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.

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Fundraising Tip #10: Business cards

Written by on July 14, 2010 at 11:30 am

The captain of team Walk With Wendy recently recommended keeping all your letters, flyers, and tax information handy, as you just never know when the next fundraising opportunity will arise. Maybe you'll meet someone at a party, or have a co-worker stop by your office to ask for details, or find a corkboard on which you wish to leave a fundraising plea, or even see a friend's car in the parking lot and want to leave them a note.

Business cards

A business card with all your fundraising details could be just what you need to capitalize on unexpected opportunities.

You can have all this information at your disposal without burdening your pockets or purse with reams of paper by shrinking it all down to the size of a business card. Include your name, your team name, the event name and date, and your goal. To receive checks and other donations by postal mail, provide your name, address, and who to make checks out to; for online donations, list your Web site address. (Shrink it down to make sure it fits!)

You'll probably decide the content and layout of your card as you're designing it on your computer. You can make your own business cards at home — there are templates available for Microsoft Office, for example. You can also use a printing service such as VistaPrint, which offers 250 glossy, double-sided business cards for only $10. When I last took advantage of that deal, I found no hidden fees, such as shipping — though I did need to turn down offers to buy at least a dozen unwanted add-ons!

A succinct business card is no substitute for a thoughtful, personal, and well-written solicitation letter — but it could be just the thing you need to capitalize on opportunities as they arise!

Ken, a Worcester resident, joined the MS Challenge Walk in 2005, more than a decade after his mother was diagnosed. After walking for three years and 150 miles, he switched to the support crew and now rides his bicycle along the trail, providing whatever encouragement (and snacks!) he can to the 600 walkers. He is also on the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.

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Writing your solicitation letter

Written by on June 4, 2010 at 10:56 am

On May 12th, I mailed 106 solicitation letters with self-addressed stamped envelopes. Other than follow-up emails, this is my one and only method of fundraising. As with the last five MS Challenge Walks in which I've participated, it's proven effective: thanks to 41 generous donors, I'm currently more than halfway to my $5,000 goal.

Writing a solicitation letter is hard — especially if this isn't your first Challenge Walk, as you don't want to simply reuse the same letter last year. The more effort you put into crafting your plea, the more inclined your potential donors will be to read it and respond. This part gets harder for me each year as I try to find an approach I've never used before. Fortunately, I've found many successful themes.

I've tried being thankful: "I am grateful to be able to walk across Cape Cod for those who cannot."

I've been sarcastic: "Walking 50 miles is not something one does for fun. But the money raised in this walk goes to fund research for MS, and the sooner we find a cure, millions of people all over the world will suffer less from the effects of this disease … and then we will be able to stop walking!"

I've described some of the people who have inspired me on the trail: "I'm walking for Jeannie, who trained for last year's Challenge Walk so vigorously that she was able to stand up out of her wheelchair and walk the first two miles by herself. I'm walking for Marianne, who stands for endless hours along the walk route, hugging every walker who is fighting to find her a cure."

And this year, I've related one story from the trail in detail, as you can read on my Participant Center page.

Writing

Follow these guidelines to help you put pen to paper.

Whatever your tone, there are several essential facts to include in a good fundraising letter:

  • A brief description of multiple sclerosis. Not everyone knows what this disease is, who it affects, or how it manifests itself.
  • Your connection to MS. If you have a personal motivation, your donors will understand they're supporting not just a cause, but you.
  • A description of the MS Challenge Walk: where, how long, and your fundraising goal.
  • Instructions on how to donate, both by check and by credit card. The easier you make it for your donors to take action, the more likely it is they will.

Not everyone is a wordsmith, but not everyone needs to be. You can find two sample fundraising letters online in Microsoft Word format. To those, I would like to offer my own template:
Click to continue »

Ken, a Worcester resident, joined the MS Challenge Walk in 2005, more than a decade after his mother was diagnosed. After walking for three years and 150 miles, he switched to the support crew and now rides his bicycle along the trail, providing whatever encouragement (and snacks!) he can to the 600 walkers. He is also on the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.

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