Once you become a Team In Training^®^ (TNT) member, you will hopefully give some thought as to how you are going to reach your fundraising goal. We understand that raising this much money can be a bit intimidating, but you can be successful if you plan ahead, start early, use the resources given to you, be creative and have fun!
The No. 1 way of raising money in this program is through a personal solicitation letter. This is a letter that you send to extended family, current and past friends, neighbors, old college roommates, your favorite teacher from fourth grade and just about anybody else that you can think of.
However, just sending out letters does not guarantee that you will reach your fundraising goal. Everybody is a bit different, and you may need to also think of an alternative way to raising money through corporate sponsorships and special events.
The Process
What makes the solicitation letter so successful is how little time it takes to send to a lot of people. Once you get your letter written, copied, placed in the envelope, and sent out - all you have to do is wait about two to three weeks before you see the first of hopefully many donations come in. Be sure to include your URL address to your online fundraising Web site powered by Active.com so your donors can donate online with ease. The donation process is pretty simple. You place your letter, a pledge form (with your participant ID number on it) and your URL address on your pledge for as well and your return addressed envelope into a standard envelope. Send it to everyone and let them fill out the pledge card.
Start Now
The key to a successful fundraising campaign is starting early! Re-commitment is only six weeks after each event's kickoff. Therefore, it is important to get your letters out at the beginning! Keep in mind it usually takes two to three weeks before the donations appear on your statement. If you wait too long, you will be recommitting to the program on the guess that people will give and not on what is already in your account. So - start now!
Finally, use our resources! Call your assigned team captain. Use the examples provided in the information packet you received, those on this site, and call the Team In Training staff for our advice and suggestions!
Writing a Good Letter
The key to a successful letter campaign is writing a good letter. Here are some suggestions to writing a successful fundraising letter.
- Make it personal
We all love to get personal letters, so make your letter personal. Let them know what else is going on in your life other than this event. Then slide into what the event is about and why you are personally involved.
- Use humor
Everybody loves a chuckle, so use humor where appropriate. Start your letter with something like "Have you heard that (your name) has gone off the deep end again. She is thinking about running 26.2 miles..."
- Short and sweet
Try to keep the letter to one or two pages. If it is too long, you will lose the reader's interest.
- Use your honored teammate
Let people know that you are not just training, but that you are training in honor of someone. Introduce your honored teammate to your donors. Let them know something personal about this child (e.g., favorite ice cream flavor) Finally, tell them the importance of research for children with leukemia (e.g., improved survival rates for acute lymphocytic leukemia)
- Ask
Very important! What separates this letter from normal letters is that you are asking them to act. Don't just tell them you are doing this, but that you need their help.
- Suggested giving levels
We recommend giving your donors suggested giving levels. If you don't put your overall goal into your letter, donors may not know how much you need to raise, and they will need the suggested giving level to gauge what size donation they think is appropriate. So ask them to donate $2 for every mile that you do ($54.40), or ask them to be a T-shirt sponsor (donate $60+ and their name will be written on the T-shirt you wear at the starting line.) Be creative. Finally, think about setting at least one high giving mark ($250 - $1,000). No one may give you that much, but if someone does - Congratulations!
- Set a deadline
We give you a deadline for your own fundraising, but we recommend you set a deadline earlier than that. People are always motivated by deadlines. This way you can assess your fundraising before the real deadline.
- Let them know how to donate
Tell them the procedure for making a donation. If they are confused, they are not likely to send a donation, so walk them step-by-step through the procedure. Be sure to include your URL address for your online donation Web site powered by Active.com so that people can easily donate online.
- Keep a list
Keep a list of all the people you send letters to. You can then compare this list to the bank statements and you will get to see who hasn't donated. This is important for the next step:
- Be prepared to send a reminder
A lot people will get your letter and say, "What a neat idea. Sure I'll help out," and then set the letter down - only to forget about it. The best way to send a reminder is to give training updates. Write to your donors and tell them, "Training is going well" and "I'm going farther this weekend (16 miles) than I've ever gone before." Let them know that fundraising is going well, but you still have a bit farther to go. Ask them nicely if they would consider making a donation in honor of your training. We have seen reminder letters that have been more successful than original letters for bringing in the money. You can also send an email reminder through your personal fundraising Web site to remind people to donate or thank them for donating.
Send a thank-you card. It is really nice to receive a note that says that your donation was important, not to mention that your donors probably want to know how you did. A good thank-you card will set you up well for the next event you do with us!
These are just suggestions of things we have seen work over the past few years. Of course, the final letter needs to come from your heart and hand. Please call your team captains or TNT staff if you want us to review your letter before you send it out.
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