Your contact list or network

• Create a list of contacts to help you, whether they can donate or help you spread the word of your fundraising.
• Don’t limit yourself to email, use your offline address book as well.  Grandma may not have an email address.  Create a separate list of people who should receive a letter by regular mail.
• In any situation, you can always turn to your family. Ask them to make a contribution or make a list of contacts that you can reach out to with their assistance.
• In addition to friends and family, reach out to people where you work, where you go to school, where you volunteer, to alumni groups and to people connected with your children’s activities – anyone who might donate.  You’ll likely be surprised by who will make a donation.
• Encourage your donors to ask their networks to support you.

Your fundraising web page

• Tell your story in a personal way.  Don’t be shy.  Explain why you are passionate about supporting the Children’s IBD Center.  The text on your page should explain why you are participating, why it’s important to you, what the Children’s IBD Center does, and how donations will be used.  (See Crafting Your Message for text and information you can use.)
• Explain the impact donations can have on the Center.
• Add photos or video.  Short videos draw interest and can give a wonderful personal touch.
• Include a link to www.ibdkids.org so your contacts can learn more about the Center.
• You may also want to include the Center’s address for those who would rather send a check than donate on-line.

The Children’s IBD Center at Mount Sinai
One Gustave L. Levy Place – Box 1656
New York, NY 10029-9988

• Set a challenging but attainable fundraising goal; donors want to feel they are making a difference and see it.  It’s best to set a “stretch” goal – one that’s challenging to attain, but not impossible.  As you come close to reaching your goal, set it higher.  You want to avoid having a prospective donor decide not to donate because the goal has already been reached.

Your initial email or letter

• Aim to do four things with your message: (1) elicit an emotional response, (2) make the request personal, (3) make it urgent, use a deadline perhaps, (4) clearly ask for what you want.
• Making it personal.  If you can, it’s best to send separate, personalized emails when you start.  Briefly explain why supporting the Children’s IBD Center is so important to you.
• You may want to craft different messages for different groups of people.  For example, when writing to your contacts from an athletic club you may want to emphasize the athletic challenge of the marathon, while your message to a religious group or a place where you volunteer might emphasize how donations benefit children with IBD.
• Your subject line should be simple and related to the cause.
• Be sure to include a link to your fundraising page and make it stand out.
• Educate your donors about pediatric IBD and the Children’s IBD Center, and stress the benefits of contributing.
• If you are emailing, ask your contacts to forward your message to others.

Updates

• Do send updates.  While you don’t want to “spam” your contacts, it is good for donors to feel involved and for potential donors to be reminded of what you are doing.
• Have a reason for sending a message, like you would if you were sending a message to a friend.  Some examples: a description of what training is like, an announcement that you have reached a training or fundraising milestone such as your first 16 mile run or 50% of your fundraising goal, a description of your efforts to overcome an injury or setback.
• Fundraising and a link to your page can be a very small part of your update or even simply a line or part of your signature at the end of the message.
• The fundraising timeline shows only two updates, but feel free to send more as you train and work your way to the marathon starting line.

Thank you messages

• Write thank you messages as you receive donations.
• In the thank you message, let your donor know about your progress toward your fundraising goal.
• Tell your donors about the impact their donations have on your commitment (e.g. “Your donation helps motivate me to get out of bed in the morning, lace up my shoes and do my 5 mile training run”).
• The thank you message is an excellent time to ask your donor if his or her company provides matching gifts.

Matching gifts

• Matching gifts can be a great boost in helping you to reach your fundraising goal as well as to the total amount that Team IBDKids raises for the Children’s IBD Center, so ask your own manager or HR department about matching gifts and ask your donors as well.
• You can mention matching gifts on your web page, in the emails or letters you send to your contacts and in your thank you messages.
• Your donors will usually need the following information to complete matching gift forms:

Our official name:  Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Children’s IBD Center
Our Tax ID number (or EIN #):  13-6171197
Our mailing address:

The Children’s IBD Center at Mount Sinai
One Gustave L. Levy Place – Box 1656
New York, NY 10029-9988

• Let Team IBDKids know if you have secured a matching gift so that we can make sure it is entered into your off-line donations and credited to your fundraising goal.

Additional Fundraising Ideas:

• Create a flyer announcing your commitment. Prominently display the link to your site. Post flyers in locations you frequent e.g. place of worship, gym, Laundromat, local businesses, schools, your apartment complex, and break room at work.  (If you would like help making a flyer please contact us.)
• Extend your network by asking local businesses and neighbors to donate.  It may help to produce a flyer about your run, as noted above.
• Host an event. Plan a party at a local bar, restaurant, or your own home.  Ask for a cover/donation which will benefit your cause.  Use the opportunity to educate attendees about pediatric IBD and the Children’s IBD Center at Mount Sinai.
• Get the whole family involved.  Kids like to participate and can be great advocates.  Activities for younger donors might include a lemonade stand, a car wash, handing out jars to donors to collect change for a month, a penny collection drive at their school,or other ideas they come up with themselves.
• Include a tagline and link to your fundraising page in your Outlook email signature.
• Try setting suggested levels of donations on your fundraising web page such as $52.40 ($2 for every mile in the marathon) or $5 for each week of your training program ($100 for 20 weeks of training).  Or you might offer to dedicate a particular mile of your run to a donor who makes a significant contribution.  Be sure to make clear that donations of any size are welcome.
• Use Facebook, Twitter or other social media to get the word out about your run by posting updates on your training and fundraising.  Include a link to your fundraising web page.