Fundraising Amounts Participant Center Fundraising Tips Fundraising With Social Media Company Matching Gifts
Fundraising Amounts
The primary purpose of the Hirshberg Foundation Training Program is to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research and assist our participants in achieving their training and fundraising goals. Our mission is to provide a safe, enjoyable and rewarding experience for all our participants. All team members will receive our support, tips, suggestions and advice on how to successfully fundraise. The following guidelines have been developed to allow us to meet these high standards of training and cost-efficient fundraising.
We ask each participant to make the following commitment:
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1. Follow the Minimum Training Requirements. Choose to participate in our program, or train on your own.
2. Raise the minimum fundraising amount ($1,000) by February 1, 2016 and meet the fundraising timeline due dates.
| Upon Registration | $100 Commitment Fee is due upon signing up to participate on our team. Registration fee needs to be paid before training begins. |
| January 10, 2016 | $500 needs to be raised in order for us to process your LA Marathon Race Registration. |
| February 1, 2016 | $1,000. All fundraising minimums should be met at this time. |
If you have not met either the January 10th or February 1st fundraising commitments but would like to continue in the program, you can receive a fundraising extension by providing a valid credit card that will be kept on file until you reach your fundraising goal.
Participant Center
We encourage you to log in to your Participant Center and take advantage of its many great features. It's so easy to use and will likely be your most effective fundraising tool.
Click here to access your Participant CenterGetting Started
Step One: Click on Log In. If you are not already logged in, fill in your username and password and click log in. If you are logged in, click on 2016 Hirshberg Training Team to access your participant center.
Step Two: Get Started!
Here are a few ways that you can utilize your Participant Center to raise more:
- Set Up Your Personal and Team Page. To do this, click on the Personal Page or Team Page Tab and start to edit. You can upload one photo or insert the link to one YouTube video that will be displayed on your page.
- Create a friendly personal page URL. At the top of the Personal or Team Page tab, you will find your url. If you click on "URL Settings" you will be able to create a friendly URL.
- Upload contacts and send e-mails. Click on the email tab. Here you are able to select an e-mail template to get you started, personalize your email, add contacts and send away!
- View your progress and update your goal. By clicking on the progress tab, you can view how much you have raised, update your fundraising goal and enter offline gifts that you have received.
Fundraising Tips
Tell Your Story! The most effective way to fundraise is to tell others about your story. Why are you fundraising? How has pancreatic cancer affected your life? Why should people make a contribution to you instead of going to see a movie?
The number one way to share your story is through email. While not everyone checks Facebook daily, most people check their email pretty regularly. What makes a personalized email so successful is how easy it is to send to lots of people at once.
Tips For A Great Email
- Make it personal. Share your story, tell them why you are involved and convince them to be as well.
- Keep it short and sweet.
- Give them the facts (about Pancreatic Cancer and the Hirshberg Foundation). People are more likely to donate to something they understand. We all know the pancreatic cancer facts speak for themselves, let people hear what we are fighting. Here are some facts to use:
- Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest of all cancers
- There is no early diagnosis and no cure
- Pancreatic cancer survival rates are dismally low
- Life expectancy after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis is incredibly short
- There are only a handful of drugs currently used to treat pancreatic cancer
- The Hirshberg Foundation, founded in 1997 is devoted to finding a cure for pancreatic cancer
- The mission of the Hirshberg Foundation is to find a cure for this disease
Ask! It is more important than you think. What separates this email from others is that you are asking them to act. Don’t just tell them what you are doing; ask them for their help (by joining your team, sponsoring you, etc). Be specific with ways they can contribute.
Keep track. Emails sent through your Participant Center can be easily tracked. This way you will get to see who has or has not donated.
Send out thank-yous. It is really nice to receive a note that says that your donation was important. Let them know all you accomplished and that you appreciated their support. A good thank-you card brightens anyone’s day, and makes your donors more willing to give again in the future!
Fundraising With Social Media
Social Media is a great tool to help spread the word about your amazing commitment to run a marathon and raise funds for pancreatic cancer research. Announcing your goals helps make them a reality, and you never know who will donate. Here are some sample Facebook posts to help you fundraise! (Be sure to include your personal webpage URL and a photo)
Announcement Posts:
Company Matching Gifts
One of the smartest ways to give is through a matching gift program, where a company, or individual, will match donations to charitable organizations. These matches are often dollar for dollar, which doubles your charitable donation power!
1. Check with your company’s human resources or payroll department to see whether it offers a matching gift program.
2. As for donation guidelines and a list of eligible charities if your company does offer a matching gift program (also ask if charities can be added and what is needed for that process).
3. Watch for matching opportunities through community or Internet fund-raising efforts if your company doesn’t offer a matching gift program.
4. Decide how much you want to donate to your organization.
5. Donate through the matching gift program, filling out the appropriate forms to ensure that the match is donated.