, press 2 MSmidamerica.org. Walk MS Team Captain Guide

Transcription

1 , press 2 MSmidamerica.org Walk MS Team Captain Guide

2 October-December 2008 Confirm Team Name. Register yourself as the Team Captain. Create your team page at msmidamerica.org. Establlsh team goals (# and $). Start recruiting teammates. Look into ordering a team t-shirt. Ask your employer to sponsor your team. January 2009 Keep recruiting! Check to make sure current teammates are properly registered to your team. Attend Walk MS networking event. Hold a kickoff party at work to introduce and recruit new teammates. Hold a team fundraiser to boost your total. (Contact us for ideas.) Ask your employer to match your team s donations. Have teammates send out s and letters (50 s and 25 letters, per teammate). February 2009 Check with your employer on the status of sponsorship or matching gift. Use company s and newsletters to create more team interest. Set up a pledge poster at work. Show how much you have collected to date and track how much more you need to reach your goal. Have teammates send out 2nd round of s and letters (25 s and 25 letters, per person). Walk MS Team Timeline March 2009 Have your teammates recruit one friend to join your team. Attend Walk MS fundraising networking event. Remind your donors to ask their companies about any matching gift programs. Remember to send short thank-you notes to those that have already pledged money to you. April 2009 Collect any funds to turn in at the Walk. Send last minute invites for people to join your team. Discuss details of the Walk with your team (when, where, what to bring). WALK MS TIME! Establish a meeting time and place for your team at the start of the Walk. Stop by the Team Photo area to get your picture taken. After the Walk Congratulate your teammates for their hard work and dedication to Walk MS. Thank all your donors. Personalized thank you notes and/or phone calls are a great way to show your appreciation. Collect any outstanding pledges. Hold a thank you celebration and invite all teammates and donors. Table of Contents Event Dates and Office Locations... Page 1 We are people who want to do something about MS NOW... Page 2 Moving Together... Page 3 How to Build Your Page... Page 5 Raising $ Has Never Been Easier!... Page 6 Goal Setting... Page 8 Matching Gifts FAQs...Page 10 Fundraising Ideas Notepad...Page 11 Wakl MS 2008 Top Teams...Page 12 For more information and team resources, please go to MSmidamerica.org and click the Walk MS icon.

3 Walk MS 2009 Dates April 4 Johnson County Lawrence Manhattan Springfield St. Joseph Willard Contact Us April 18 Bolivar Branson Kansas City Metro Maryville Salina Topeka April 25 Chillicothe Emporia Joplin Marshall Neodesha Sedalia Seymour Mid America Chapter Office/Kansas City Branch 7611 State Line Road, Ste. 100 Kansas City, MO info@nmsskc.org (913) or and press 2 fax: (816) Eastern Kansas Branch 5350 SW 17th St. Topeka, KS eventsek@nmsskc.org (785) or and press 2 fax: (785) Ozark Branch 1675-J East Seminole Springfield, MO eventsoz@nmsskc.org (417) or and press 2 fax: (417) We are people who want to do something about MS NOW About MS Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide. About the National MS Society The National MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at or St. Joseph Branch 2921 N. Belt, Suite L1 St. Joseph, MO eventssj@nmsskc.org (816) or and press 2 fax: (816)

4 Moving Together: 3 Simple Steps to Starting a Team As a part of the MS movement, you and your team are committed to a world free of MS. We re committed to you and the success of your team. 1. Recruiting Team members can be anybody friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors and they can all easily register as walkers online at MSmidamerica.org. Whether you re a corporate team or a team of family and friends, just be sure to ask everyone you know. 2. Raising Money Fundraising comes more naturally when you make it personal. If your team is walking for someone with MS, ask them if they would be willing to tell their story. Just be sure to follow that with a statement about how much progress we ve made in treating the disease. Don t forget to ask everyone who sponsors you if their employer offers matching gifts! 3. Really Having Fun! Being a team captain is an opportunity to share a great experience with friends, family members or co-workers a community coming together for a common goal! As a leader, it s up to you to remind your teammates of why they registered. Walk MS can be more than a fundraising event it can be a celebration of how far we ve come together! Register yourself and your team members! Go to Click Register and choose your event location. Choose to Create a team and become its captain. - Enter in your team name, type and fundraising goal. - Make a self-pledge to get working on your fundraising. - Set your fundraising goal. (Don t be afraid to dream big and make a world free of MS!) - Then click Next Step. 4. Fill in your name, address and other information. Be sure to read the registration questions carefully. Then click Next Step. 5. Finally, read and approve the waiver to finish your registration. Click Next Step to confirm your registration for our 2009 event. Your registration will be confirmed via , and you ll be redirected to your Participant Center. Here you can update your personal or team page, send s to family & friends and monitor your fundraising progress. When your team members sign up, they choose to Join a Team. Then follow the same steps and get access to their Participant Centers so they can start fundraising right away! 3 4

5 Create A Team Web Page (Recruit More Team Members and Raise More Money!) Now that your team is registered, you have the opportunity to use a FREE team page on our website. It s simple & easy! Go to Enter you user name & password at the top of the page to log into your Participant Center. If you need yours, just contact us at , press 2. Choose your event. That will open your Participant Center. To update your team page, click My Team. Change the way the page is laid out by adding photos (must be in.jpeg form and under 200kb), moving the status bar, changing color schemes, etc. To change the text on the page, choose Click here to open this page for editing. The more dynamic and interesting you make your page, the more your team members will use it. So tell your team s story! You can preview your page while you make changes. However, click Save my changes first. Then you won t lose any work. After you click Save my changes, they are final on your personal page. The team page is a great way to raise A LOT of money. You can send an to your team or monitor your fundraising progress. So update it early and often so your team members are inspired to keep up their hard work! If you have any questions, give us a call at , press 2 or info@nmsskc.org. We re here to help! Raising $ Has Never Been Easier! Ten Great Things About Our Online Team Tools 1. Post your team pictures online 2. Include your company s logo 3. Set up a simple URL for your team page 4. Set a fundraising goal that everyone can see and support 5. Download your team roster 6. your entire team at once 7. Track your team members fundraising progress 8. See your real-time team fundraising total 9. Track and thank your donors 10. Easily update your page and photo **Bonus** Ask your company about matching gifts. They can double your dollars with very little work! See page 12 for FAQs. Simple Steps to Online Success 1. Set up your Team Page Your team page is your invitation to the world to become involved in the movement. We re here to help you reach your goal. Please let us know how we can help! By setting up a team page you are setting up your team for success. Here are a few hints to help make your page one to remember: Make it personal Put in a picture of you or your team. Write the story of your team and how you are moving together toward a world free of MS. While there is sample text available, nothing is more compelling than your own words. Provide links to your Team Page Keep your page current to generate interest. Give updates on how close you are to your fundraising goal. 5 6

6 Even More Simple Steps Create your team page URL shortcut By doing this, you will be able to easily direct people to your team page. Put a link to your fundraising page in the signature of your Recruit members online No need to collect paper or spend hours on the phone. Your team members can quickly and easily register themselves online. Have people join your team from your team page. Or, use the Participant Center tools to send a team registration link via . You can also download your Outlook contact list into the tool. (This tool also can help you to track when s have been opened by a recipient.) 3. Fundraise online Now for the fun part! After you send your personal out to all your friends, family and colleagues, you can watch your up-to-the-minute fundraising tracker. Our online tools also make it simple for your supporters to donate online to keep you moving forward toward your fundraising goals and a world free of MS. 4. Encourage team members to use online personal pages Once you see what the tools can do for you, encourage your team members to log onto their Participant Center. Make it fun by giving incentives to your team members to fundraise online a pair of movie tickets to the team member that raises the most in a week, or a gift card to every team member who gets at least five gifts online. Be creative and ensure that your team not only reaches their goals, but has fun along the way. GOAL SPREADSHEET # of Walkers on 2008 Team: Team Size (multiply) Less than 4 X members X members X members X 1.25 Goal for Walkers in 2009: Take total and multiply by X $225 (In 2009, we want our average Walker to raise at least $225 Team Goal for 2009: If your 2008 Team Fundraising amount is higher than the above amount, then please take your 2008 total and multiply by Enter amount here: Take 2009 Team Goal and divide by your 2009 Walker Total: $ /per person goal Share your goal with your team and work hard to exceed them! Fundraising is a TEAM EFFORT! 7 8

7 Goal Setting : Who Has the Most Team Spirit? Establishing a goal is an easy way to maintain motivation as well as give you and your team a benchmark for success. We encourage team captains to set goals for themselves and their teams, while keeping these tips in mind: Goals should be realistic, but significant; if it requires hard work to attain, it will be a source of pride for your team. Don t arbitrarily set a goal without input from the team. Having them believe in the goal from the word go will make your job as team captain that much easier. Don t forget to set both personal and team fundraising goals. Lead by example: Share your fundrasing goal with your team. Set a goal for team size as well as collective fundraising. Supporting more team members can mean more substantial fundraising! Don t keep your goal a secret! Use , team pages, and even internal company intranets and newsletters to communicate goals - and how close your team is to attaining them. If you are part of a large corporate team, have departments set their own goals to create some fun internal competition. If you would like more suggestions and guidelines for goal setting, please contact us at and press 2 or info@nmsskc.org. Matching Gifts FAQs What is a matching gift? A matching gift is a gift from a donor s employer that matches the donor s original gift. Most employers match dollar for dollar. How do I know if my employer has a matching gifts program? Ask your human resources staff or visit your company s intranet. Where do I get a matching gift form? Those are available only from your employer. If it s not clear whom to ask at your company, talk to your human resources staff. Some companies have an online matching gifts program so you don t ever have to fill out a form. Please read carefully the guidelines of your employer s matching gift program. Many companies only match donations given to educational institutions or arts and culture organizations, etc. Also, check to see if your company only matches your individual donations. Most companies match only donations from the employee and will not match the employee s fundraising total. Many companies also have a minimum amount that you must donate before they match such as $25. Please do not send in forms that cannot be processed. Please include your name somewhere on the form. This will enable quicker processing. Please do not date the form. Many companies have a 90-day policy on accepting forms and they go by the date filled in by the donor, not by the date filled in by the recipient organization. Many forms are turned in months after the donation has been received and by the time the form is processed it is too late to turn in to the company for a match. Don t forget to sign the form! It is an easy step to miss. Also, please fill out the form completely with address and phone number information in case there are any questions. Please turn in the form at the same time the donation/pledge is turned in. This makes processing faster as well. What do I do with the form when I ve filled it out? Refer to the instructions on the matching gift form, but usually the next step is to mail it to the Mid America Chapter (see addresses on page 3). 9 10

8 Fundraising Ideas Notepad Listed below are some ideas from other team captains, but you should feel free to add your own - and share them with other team captains! Offer to do something unusual (i.e., shave your head, sing karaoke in a costume of the team s choice, etc.) if your team reaches or exceeds its fundraising goal. Set up a drawing for the team, with each $50 raised netting you another chance to win a prize. (For friends: a special home-cooked meal for the winner and their family. For employees: a day off.) For company teams, reward the top fundraiser with a lunch with the president. Give the person who recruits the most additional team members a reserved parking spot for a month. If you work somewhere with lots of foot traffic, ask about Walk MS pin-up sales an easy way to quickly raise money for your team. Encourage everyone to brown bag it one day at work instead of going out for lunch. Have them contribute $5 to your Walk MS team. Hold your own silent auction with food and entertainment. Clean out the attic and basement with a garage sale and donate the proceeds. Ask your favorite restaurant or bar to donate a percentage of one evening s income to your team, possibly in return for sponsor privileges BE SURE TO ASK EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Top Walk MS 2008 Teams St. Joseph Branch, Corporate Teams Largest in Members: Team Altec 16 Top Fundraiser: Golden Girls - $1,573 Highest Pledge Average: IHP Industrial - $ St. Joseph Branch, Friends and Family Teams Largest in Members: Weeble Wobbles 36 Top Fundraiser: Kris Kruisers - $4,965 Highest Pledge Average: Kris Kruisers - $ Eastern Kansas Branch, Friends and Family Teams Largest in Members: Team Kelly 47 Top Fundraiser: Team Kelly $9, Best Newcomer (Largest New Team): Nerves of Steel Ozark Branch, Corporate Teams Largest in Members: Chasin for a Cure 43 Top Fundraiser: Chasin for a Cure $10,255 Highest Pledge Average: Chasin for a Cure $ Ozark Branch, Friends and Family Teams Largest in Members: Bella Mafia 61 Top Fundraiser: Friends for Hope $10, Highest Pledge Average: Mano Street Walkers $635 Best Newcomer (Largest New Team): Employee Benefit Design 16 Most Spirited: Crayon Box Avengers Kansas City Branch, Corporate Teams Largest in Members: Team Copaxone 89 Top Fundraiser: Team Copaxone - $4, Highest Pledge Average: Town and Country Bank - $ Kansas City Branch, Friends and Family Teams Largest in Members: Holdman s Heroes 79 Top Fundraiser: Team Grace Covenant - $10,647 Highest Pledge Average: LA s Anchors - $ Best Newcomer (Largest New Team): Main Team Most Spirited: Mann Clan 11 12