Tell your network what you are doing
No matter what the reasons are, you are committed to the cause and your people like to hear your whys, whats, and hows. They want to know how you feel about the cause and what motivates you to act. So tell them. They’ll feel like they’re a part of it with you. They’ll share your motivation and together you’ll share the bond of making a difference.
Remind them of the childhood cancer challenge
People forget, and sometimes don’t know, that children get cancer too. Remind them. In Canada, approximately 10,000 children are living with cancer and its long-term health effects. A staggering 1500 (approximately) are diagnosed each year and we lose 1 in every 5 of them. These are hard facts to face but solutions don’t have a chance if we don’t face the problem. Knowledge is vital in the fight against this disease because without it we stay in the dark as do all the solutions.
Inspire them
If you’ve done any of our events before you’ve probably met some of our children and family ambassadors – re-tell their stories. Make your audience aware of what a difference they’re making in the lives of these children. Coast to Coast Against Cancer funds four main areas of support in the childhood cancer sphere:
Survivorship & Palliative Care, Research, Financial Assistance, and Family Support Programs.
We can’t list all the programs we support in any given year, there’s simply too many but here are some inspiring examples of what you and your network are funding:
- High Ropes Course: you have rebuilt a camp’s 20-year old ropes course with a state-of-the-art course that accommodates wheelchairs and dozens of children at any one time.
- Financial Assistance: the financial burden of having a child in treatment and having a child with long-term health challenges from their treatment is crippling. It is estimated that a family can lose up to 1/3 of their after-tax income during the time their child is in treatment. You fund financial assistance programs filling in that vital financial gap to families across Canada.
- Terry Fox Profyle: this pan-Canadian project provides children with another chance to beat their cancer when conventional treatment options have run out for them. If Terry Fox were diagnosed today he’d probably survive. In the last 50 years, the childhood cancer survival rate has increased from 10% to over 80%. Your contributions to this cause have directly affected that outcome. But as impressive as that is, we’ve still got work to do.
- Sending Kids to Camp: it’s been said that medicine saves lives but that camp saves families. Parents can breathe and relax again while their child can have fun in a safe, understanding, loving and enriching environment.
Sending emails is your most effective tool to achieve your fundraising success. On average people who send out 15 emails to friends and family raise 142% more money than those who rely on word of mouth. If you can, use a personal story when creating an email, tell people why you are riding/who and what you’re riding for. This creates an emotional and personal connection to people and the cause. Once you’ve received donations keep your supporters informed with monthly updates. Once someone supports your efforts they are on the journey with you – they want to see you achieve success.
Use Matching Donations Email
Lots of companies will match employee fundraising and donations, this is the easiest way to double-up on your efforts! Ask your HR contact for details, it is usually a very easy process to set up. In turn, we credit all your matching donations to your fundraising efforts.
If your company doesn’t participate in a matching donations program you can create your own! Your community will be filled with people and local businesses who want to engage for the greater good. Ask around your community to find those willing to match your fundraising efforts, maybe there’s a cap of eg. $1,000 on it to help entice them to make a difference.
Sharing is Caring!
Along with email, sharing on social media increases your chances at being seen and heard. Mobilize your online community with stories, motivation, inspiration and always include a link to donate. Keep it personal and keep it short! Hashtags to include in your IG/Twitter posts:
#beyondkidscancer #childhoodcancer #fundraising #gogold
Fundraising Challenges and Incentives
Whether it’s a personal challenge or group challenge, this is a great push for everyone involved. Personal challenges are great habit builders as it trains us to internalize goals and create self-motivation. Group challenges with co-workers, friends, family, and team-mates don’t have to be competitive, they can fun and team-building.
Examples of some challenges are:
10,000 Steps – 10k steps a day for x days
Book Exchange - $x per entry and per exchange
Food Truck Party – rent food trucks for the day/night and x% goes to cause and why not partner it up with Game Night?!
XXX for the Kids– create your own unofficial sporting event – 5k/10k/swim/hockey/pool night etc – entrants pay a fee.
Raffle/Silent Auction – these always take some work to get the items from local businesses donated but they often raise a lot of money in a short amount of time.
50/50 Raffle – this is an easy one! 50% to the winner and 50% to the cause
Incentives – these are just for fun and to show your commitment to the cause! When you reach 50% of your fundraising goal commit to doing X when you reach 100% commit to doing X