We’re dedicated to helping organizations like yours make the most of this fundraising endeavor! It will cost you nothing except your time and enthusiasm. We organize the event, all you have to do is get the word out to your current supporters, asking them to walk with your team and/or make a donation to support your efforts! …So how do you do that? Read on for some tried and true tips and ideas!
set a goal and make a plan
DESIGNATE A POINT PERSON AND/OR COMMITTEE Your Pride Stride efforts will benefit the most from an organized plan. Depending on the size/dynamics of your group, you should designate a ‘Team Captain’ or gather a Committee to drive your Pride Stride efforts forward. This group is responsible for creating and communicating the plan for fundraising and day-of logistics.
SET A FUNDRAISING GOAL How much money does your organization want to raise? This is perhaps the most important question of all and setting your fundraising goal will give your supporters the big picture, helping to drive pledges and interest in your cause. Be realistic but aim for something just a little bit higher than what you think your group can raise. Do you normally raise $1,000 in Pride Stride? Set the goal for $1,250 this year! Never participated before? Estimate the number of people you want on your team and figure that each will raise $50 to $100 each and go from there! (Note: These are just examples! Organizations participating in Pride Stride have raised as much as $5,000, $10,000 and well over $15,000 so be sure to set goals based on your group’s circumstances.)
DECIDE WHAT PROGRAM/ACTIVITIES THE FUNDS WILL BENEFIT Groups with the most Pride Stride fundraising success report that folks are far more inclined to make a pledge or participate on the team when they know how the funds raised will be used. Your group should pre-determine how funds raised will be spent. Will they benefit a specific program? Purchase special equipment? Whatever it is, share your goal and how funds raised will be used, with your team and supporters often.
CREATE YOUR TEAM SPIRIT Pride Stride is a fun event filled with community and team spirit. Don’t forget to make a plan for your team that will boost the fun factor and get everyone excited about your cause and all the pledges each team member collected! Some ideas? Have a team launch party to get the energy up and share fundraising ideas. Brainstorm some fun team costumes or uniforms like specially printed t-shirts, silly hats, or a team color. Don’t forget to plan for a team photo on the day of the event! This photo can be used in future communications with your supporters (like thank you notes and newsletters!) and will capture the memory for years to come.
get the word out!
TELL YOUR SUPPORTERS As soon as you can, begin getting the word out to your supporters via email and social media. For those who don’t want to raise funds online, make pledge sheets easily accessible. The fastest way to do this is through the channels you currently use to communicate with them. Do you send out regular emails/e-newsletters? Be sure to include an announcement about your participation in Pride Stride and include a link to join your team. Have an upcoming meeting or team practice? Print and handout a flyer with all the information needed to join your team and start collecting pledges.
UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA If your group isn’t already using social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.), now is a great time to start! It costs nothing and there is likely an audience out there just waiting for you! Use your social media accounts to spread the word! Be sure to ‘like’ or ‘follow’ the Gloucester Pride Stride Facebook and Twitter pages so we can engage with you online. Like, share, and/or re-tweet our posts to help collectively spread the word about Pride Stride.
MAKE IT EASY Convenience is everything! Be able to tell your supporters how they can join your team and/or donate to support your team in a quick and easy way. You may want to set up an online form where supporters can sign up for your team and download the necessary materials. Be sure to ask for their contact info so you can send them team updates and check on their fundraising progress. Members on your team will likely need some encouragement to begin collecting pledges. Provide examples of how they can ask for pledges and be accessible in case they have any questions. Pledges can come from anywhere and supporters do not need to live locally! (It’s totally okay to ask Aunt Sally in California for a Pride Stride donation pledge!)
Most often, pledges come from these key groups: family, friends, neighbors, church groups, school groups, work colleagues, clubs and fraternal organizations. You may want to provide your team members with a sample email or letter that they can customize and send out or work together as a team to organize a team fundraising event.
maximize your fundraising efforts
CREATE FRIENDLY COMPETITION A little friendly competition can really spice up your Pride Stride fundraising efforts! Set an internal challenge to see which sub group of your team can raise the most in pledges. (For example: Board Members vs. Staff, Team Members vs. Parents, or Teachers vs. Parents.) Keep it light and fun and don’t forget that the funds raised by either side will ultimately benefit the same cause.
OFFER A PRIZE Depending on your group, a prize for the top fundraiser may be very enticing! The prize can be something of monetary or fun value. Prize examples may include a ‘get out of practice free card’, special gift certificate, or special activity. Expand the reward to the whole team if the fundraising goal is met. For example, maybe a key player in your organization will shave their beard if the fundraising goal is met? Maybe everyone in the organization will get to partake in a pizza party courtesy of the Board of Directors if the fundraising goal is met? The possibilities are endless so get your imagination going!
DON’T FORGET TEAM EVENTS Pride Stride pledges can be collected on the individual level by each team member but you can also increase funds raised with team events. Just apply all funds raised through the event to your Pride Stride team and submit the monies with a pledge sheet as you would an individual pledge sheet. Some examples of fundraisers might include: raffles, parties, restaurant fundraising night, bake sales etc. Spread the word about your event, clearly indicating that it is a team fundraiser for your Pride Stride Team. Want Pride Stride to help promote the event? Send us a poster and we’ll post about it on our social media channels too! Remember, we want to help your organization meet your fundraising goals!
SETTING UP ONLINE GIVING PAGE
ONLINE GIVING IS HERE TO STAY Pride Stride has incorporated online giving for two years. Reports from participating groups have been extremely positive and many said they felt they raised more than they would have if they were just using paper donation/pledge forms. Last year, more money was raised online than was raised through paper pledge sheets! If you are unfamiliar with raising funds online, we are here to help make the process as easy as possible. Here is a step by step guide:
We will set up your online team page using the information provided in the form and will send an email to the designated team captain when it is set up (usually within 48 hours of registering).
STEP TWO – SET UP YOUR PERSONAL FUNDRAISING PAGE
Once your online team page is set up, you will see your organization’s name and logo posted on the online giving platform. When you click on your group’s logo/image, you will arrive at your team’s main page. Bookmark this page and copy and paste the address into a document or email so you can easily send it out later!
Your team captain should be the first person to officially join the team online. Here’s how to do that:
Follow the prompts, filling in your first name, last name, and email address and uploading a profile picture. Then click ‘Sign Up’
The next screen asks you to complete the following. (You can always go back and revise these things later): personal campaign title; fundraising goal; campaign end date (Leave this blank or put in April 30, 2019 – a few days after Pride Stride); personal campaign story (Keep it fairly short and to the point – but be sure to tell friends and family members why this cause is so important to you and ask for their help to reach your fundraising goal!)
Then click 'Join A Team' and select your team/group from the drop down menu. Then click ‘Join Team’ to submit your selection.
Finally, click ‘Get Started’.
Your login information and more details will be sent to you via email within minutes. Note that you did not set up a username or password. The only way to access the admin portion of your online fundraising page is to follow the link in the email that will be sent to you. Keep this email safe and make it easy to find again in the future.
STEP THREE – INVITE OTHERS TO JOIN THE TEAM
Now it’s time to get the word out and invite your prospective team members to join the team!
Invite all those that you hope will walk in support of your cause to start their own fundraising pages. You can email them an invitation, with a direct link to your team’s page and now that you have set up your own page, you’ll be ready to help them set up theirs!
STEP FOUR – GET THE WORD OUT AND SHARE YOUR TEAM’S ONLINE PAGE
Share your fundraising progress with all of your supporters via social media, email, print, word of mouth etc. Anyone can support your team’s efforts by visiting www.gloucesterpridestride.com and clicking on ‘Sponsor A Walker’.
The team captain will receive an email notification once they have been assigned as official ‘Team Captain’ in our software. From this email, the captain can log in to the team page and make any preferred changes, including uploading a new team profile picture, writing the team story, and editing the team’s overall fundraising goal. (Please note that only donations received online will register in your team's online webpage fundraising meter.)
questions?
We are here to help! Contact us at gloucesterpridestride@gmail.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible (usually within 48 hours). Thank you!