Shannon's Tip of the Week With over $10,000 raised in 2009, Shannon Gilmartin was the Top Individual Fundraiser for the inaugural Dempsey Challenge. Along with donating her time to moderate and assist others in meeting or exceeding their fundraising goals with a monthly Fundraising Live Chat, Shannon will offer a Fundraising Tip of the Week you can find right here each Friday. Thanks Shannon! 7/23: A gift that keeps on giving If you have a birthday or other holiday that falls during your fundraising times, if people ask what you would like as a present, ask for a donation. It will make you both feel good and benefit many who need it. 7/16: Hit the Road! Make yourself (or buy one) a shirt that says “Ask me why I run (or ride)” and wear it while you are riding, running or any other activity. When folks ask you about it, make sure that you tell them you are training for The Dempsey Challenge, who you are running/riding for,etc. and be sure to mention that you are collecting donations to help Cancer Patients. You might just get a donation, a teammate, or at least you are giving the event some extra exposure. 7/9: Focus, Focus, Focus With fundraising ending in just about 2 and a half months, break down your goal into managable chunks and figure out small ways to make your big goals come true. Try and give yourself a goal for the end of each month, instead of worrying about the end goal all at once. Slow and steady wins the race! 7/2: Don’t give up You will run into stretches that seem like you will never see another donation. It’s frustrating to hear the words “no” or not get a response to a donation request or a fundraiser event. However, it just means it’s time to regroup. Take a step back and find a new way to continue your fundraising with a smile on your face. Remember, every dollar really does make a difference! 6/25: Cancer Card Campaign Share your cancer story, (be honest, be real, tell people how you really feel about what you are doing), ask them to share their cancer story with you a special card made just for them and include a small donation card for them to make donations to your Dempsey Challenge efforts. Mail them out to family and friends, or take a evening walk and hand deliver to your neighbors. You'll be amazed at how many people will be touched by your story and be willing to share theirs. 6/18: It’s a Cake Walk in the Park Something fun and creative, who doesn’t like cakes and cupcakes? Get some bakers you know (or ask local bakeries to help too) to donate some cakes & fun Cupcakes. Invite the community to a Cake Walk. Participants pay to enter and you sell a set amount of tickets (you can make the donation fee be whatever you want to set, but be reasonable and you will get more participants) and then hopefully everybody will walk away with the cake they want or at least some sweet treat. 6/11: Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime If you have some free time, and want to earn donations, why not try taking on some tasks. Ask friends, family and neighbors, or even advertise locally to wash cars, mow lawns, weed gardens, clean/vacuum pools, or other outdoor work that comes with summertime. If you have the skills and the time to do these tasks, you could be seeing GREEN for your Dempsey Challenge fundraising efforts. 6/4: Pennies from Heaven Ask your family and close friends to collect their pennies (and maybe other coins) for a month or so and donate them to you. Make a collective donation to honor a loved one(s) who have fallen to cancer... 5/28: Break it down Step back for a minute and look at your fundraising goals. Figure out what you need to do to get there. We have just about 4 months left for fundraising. How are you doing? How much per month or per week does your goal break down to? It is much easier to look at a goal of say $25 per week than thinking of it as $400 more. So step back, break it down, take a breath, and jump back into your fundraising. And, as always, I am here to help! 5/21: Staying Motivated Working as a team can help you stay motivated. So, whether you are on a team or fundraising individually but know others who are too, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Share Ideas, Brainstorm with others who have done things like this before, and people who haven’t. Don’t forget to check out my monthly live Fundraising Chat Wednesday, May 26th at 8PM EST. Bring your questions, I am ready to help! 5/14: Go Big or Go Home Think Big! Can you pull off a fundraiser event for your fundraising or your team? How about a BBQ (get local businesses to help you/contribute supplies) or a bar benefit, a sporting event or other fun evening where people can come have fun while supporting your cause. Not your style to do something big? Try a small home party instead…Example? Last year, I hosted a Ladies’ Night In Fundraiser in my house with drinks & snacks, prizes, movies, and a massage therapist (friend who donated her time) and made almost $500 for my Dempsey Challenge Fundraising efforts. 5/7: Use what you know Are you crafty? Do you bake the best pies in town? Do you grow tons of veggies in your garden, but have too many to use yourself? Use your particular skill set to earn donations for your fundraising. Me? I like to bake cakes. So, last summer all the cakes I sold, I donated the profits to my Dempsey Challenge fundraising. 4/30: Try being a Social Media-Butterfly Reach out to friends and strangers alike via Social Media outlets. Tout your fundraising efforts on Twitter, Facebook or other sites you belong to. Put a link straight to your donation page. Make it easy for them to find you and donate! 4/23: Change a habit – Change a life Do you have a habit that you could probably do without? Stopping at the fancy coffee shop every day for a $3 cup of coffee instead of making your own, a $4 ice cream treat that you would be better off without? Hitting the snack machine at work for the $1 chips you really don’t need every afternoon? Try giving that up, just once a week and donate your money to your fundraising efforts instead. Don’t go it alone, reach out to friends and family, and ask them to join you in pledging to give up one guilty pleasure a week and instead donate the money to your Dempsey Challenge efforts. The money you save on these items can go to help the patients at the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, and it can add up quickly! 4/16: Kick Cancer in the Can Hold a can/bottle drive at your school, church, playgroup, etc. (assuming you live in a state with cash bottle returns) People are usually more than happy to let someone else do the bottle returns. Many places have restrictions on how many you can return per day, so check before you lug them all out! 4/9: Make a Difference with Change Put a piggy bank, jar, bowl or other collecting vessel on your nightstand. Before you go to bed at night, clear out your change and watch it add up. 4/2: The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker Ask the local businesses that you frequent for a donation. Ask your Dentist, Dry Cleaner, Corner Store Owner, Favorite Pizzeria, the places that you frequent. If you are a well known face in their business, they might be willing to help with a donation. You never know unless you ask. 3/26: Let your donors get to know you Your personal fundraising page on The Dempsey Challenge Website is a very useful tool. So, add a picture, update the description to include who you are and why you are doing this. People want to know WHO they are supporting and WHY. By updating your page you are allowing your donors to see why this cause is important to you and this can be a deciding factor for them when deciding about a donation. 3/19: Honor the Warriors Ask friends and family to donate in honor of someone who is fighting or has fought the disease. Offer to carry their loved one’s name or picture with you on your ride/run. (Last year, I had all the pictures saved to my cell phone, so I had them all with me as I rode) 3/12: Spring Cleaning = Cash Do you have stuff around that you know you need to part with? Have a yard sale or sell items on ebay. You will likely get more support if you advertise that your sale is going to your fundraising efforts too. 3/5: Get the Word Out Many stores, such as grocery stores, department stores, etc. have bulletin boards for customers to post things on. Check with them about their rules and ask if it’s ok to post a brochure or two about what you are doing. You can even put little tear of strips on the bottom with the donation website so people can take it home if they want to help by making a donation. 2/26: Ask the People Closest to You for a Donation It may seem like a simple piece of advice, but 9 out of 10 people who don’t donate give the reason as simply “I wasn’t asked.” For some people all that it takes is a simple explanation of what you are doing, and they are more than willing to give a donation. 2/19: Make a Game Plan Figure out how much money you want to raise and how you plan to go about doing it.  Make a list of who you will ask for donations, and how you will ask them for their donation (email, snail mail, face-to-face).  Also plan your time frame.  If you are starting your fundraising months ahead of the event, you may want to spread out your requests. 2/12: Make a Donation to Yourself People want to see you believe in the cause you are asking them to donate to, so kick start your fundraising campaign with whatever size donation you are comfortable with.