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.

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 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 an alumnus of the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.