Thank You for Creating a Fundraising Page

Welcome and Thank You!

Thank you for choosing to give your time and energy to help make our Support-A-Walk for Breast & Ovarian Cancer a success. We are so grateful for your help! The purpose of this blog is to share some ideas and tips to make it easier for you to help us make this year's Walk the best one ever!

The Support-A-Walk has TWO important missions: To raise funds needed for the FREE help Support Connection gives to those whose lives have been turned upside down by breast or ovarian cancer; and to bring attention to the needs of people affected by these diseases. Our hope is that one day there will be no need for such events, but until that time, Support Connection's goal is that no one should walk this path alone.


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

There's Power in Numbers



Hello again to all of our Firstgiving fundraisers. We are so grateful for your efforts on behalf of our 21st Annual Support-A-Walk on Sunday, October 4, 2015!

DID YOU KNOW? Support Connection does NOT receive funds from Relay for Life, the Avon Walk, Making Strides, Susan G. Komen, or any other national groups. We rely on YOUR donations to provide critically needed support services to women with breast and ovarian cancer and their families - all FREE of charge. So thank you!

THERE'S POWER IN NUMBERS!
Fundraising is easy when you REACH OUT to others. Here are some tips to increase your fundraising power: 

SMALL DONATIONS ADD UP WHEN YOU TARGET DIFFERENT GROUPS.
You don't need to ask for large donations when you think about all the different people you can ask. Check out these ideas: 

Five Easy Steps to Raise $500:
  1. Donate $50 to your own page.
  2. Ask 2 family members to donate $50.
  3. Ask 10 friends to contribute $20.
  4. Ask 2 businesses that you frequent to donate $50.
  5. Ask your boss for a company donation of $50.
Five More Easy Steps to Reach $1,000:
  1. Ask 3 more family members to donate $50.
  2. Ask 5 co-workers to contribute $20.
  3. Ask 5 neighbors to donate $20.
  4. Ask 5 people from your place of worship for $10.
  5. Ask 10 people in your social circles (book club, gym, carpool) for $10.
YOU CAN ALSO ASK FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO JOIN YOUR TEAM:
Give them the link to YOUR fundraising page, and tell them to:
  1. Click "Join Team" on the bottom right side of the page.
  2. Follow the steps to set up their own fundraising page.
  3. Your Team name will be on their page!
  4. Now they can ask people they know to donate to your Team.
  5. For a Team Info Guide, click here.
Thank you!   

Thursday, July 16, 2015

How to Ask for Donations

Thank you again for creating a Firstgiving page to raise funds for the21st Annual Support-A-Walk on October 4, 2015! Your participation will help women with breast and ovarian cancer and their families receive support and services from our Peer Counselors, who are fellow survivors.

HAVE YOU ASKED PEOPLE TO DONATE YET? It's never too early  to start! We rely on these donations year-round to sustain our free services. So far, we have 18 Firstgiving fundraisers. Of those, only 7 fundraisers have reached out for donations and have already raised almost $7000.

Need tips about asking for donations? Here are just a few:

ASK EVERYONE YOU KNOW: Email everyone in your address book and ask them to donate.Remember to include the URL to your fundraising page. ("http: //www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/etc....") For ideas on what to say, click here. 

TELL EVERYONE WHY YOU CARE: One woman wrote on her page "Without Support Connection, my incredibly difficult journey would not have as many high points. It is important to me that this resource is available to others, and your donation will make that happen." She explained her personal connection to our cause. Maybe you or someone you know has been affected by breast or ovarian cancer. Maybe you've volunteered for us. Maybe you just want to make a difference in the lives of the people we help. Share your commitment, your passion!

SET A GOAL: Choose a fundraising goal (you can post it on your page) then ask people to help you meet it. Set a goal you think you can reach. As you get close, update friends and family; ask them to help you reach or surpass it! 

ENCOURAGE DONATIONS OF ALL AMOUNTS: One young lady raised $500 in one week by telling her friends: "If everyone could donate $5, it would make a huge difference." She compared a $5 donation to the cost of a sandwich. (PS: Plenty of people donated MORE than $5!)

Thank you! 

Monday, July 6, 2015

How to spread the word

Thank you again for deciding to raise funds online for the 21st
Annual Support-A-Walk on October 4, 2015! Your participation enables us to help women with breast and ovarian cancer and their families through our unique model of free, confidential programs that are created and provided by fellow survivors. 

It's never too early to start fundraising! Your donations are put to work as soon as we receive them to sustain our programs all year round.

To support your efforts, here are some tips about spreading the word:

SEND EMAILS THROUGH YOUR USUAL EMAIL ACCOUNT: Email everyone in your address book:
  • Write a note about your reasons for fundraising. Don't know what to say? Click here for some ideas.
  • "Copy & paste" the URL or page address of your Firstgiving page into your email. The URL is at the top of YOUR page, and looks like this: http: //www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser.... The people who receive your email will click the link, see your page, and donate.  
SEND EMAILS THROUGH FIRSTGIVING: Firstgiving has great email tools. There are 2 options:
  1. Sign in to your account at Firstgiving.com and click "Edit." Then select "send your page via email." Follow the steps to add or select email addresses and send your messages!
  2. OR: While viewing YOUR fundraising page, click the Email icon at the top, then simply create your email. If you use Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail, you'll find easy shortcuts.
SHARE ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: There are 2 ways to share on Facebook and Twitter:
  1. Sign in to your account at Firstgiving.com and select "Edit." You'll find easy-to-use options here for Facebook and Twitter.
  2. OR: While viewing YOUR fundraising page, click the icons at the top for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE: Add your fundraising page address under your name in your email signature along with a message (for example: e.g. "I'm raising funds for breast and ovarian cancer support - please donate!") Your message is now in every email you send. One fundraiser exceeded her goal with this simple step! 

Thank you!