Monthly Archives: August 2014

Meet the Philadelphia 3-Day Coaches!

Every Susan G. Komen 3-Day® event has a core team of three coaches, each of whom plays a different role in helping our walkers and crew members prepare for the Komen 3-Day. For months, these dedicated staffers have been having personal conversations with walkers to help them with their training and fundraising, have hosted dozens of local events to bring participants together and build a community of encouragement, and have organized and inspired the amazing team of crew captains and crew members.

Let’s meet the coaches for the Philadelphia 3-Day®!

Joanne Harrington – Philadelphia Local Events Coachsusan g. komen 3-day breast cancer walk blog philadelphia coach joanne

Describe your job in 10 words or fewer. – “Coordinate everything to welcome our walkers to the 3-Day.”

We’re a couple weeks from the Philadelphia event. What’s a typical day like for you these days? – “I’m insanely busy here! I’m firming up private cheering stations and mobile cheering squads, gathering bakeries for baked good donations, answering questions about ceremony flag bearers and generally just putting on the finishing touches.”

What are 3 things that we didn’t know about you? – “1) I have two lovely granddaughters: Abby, age 9 and Caroline, age 5. Unfortunately, they live in Maryland so I don’t get to see them as much as I would like; 2) I am a Philadelphia Eagles season ticketholder. E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES! LOVE my birds! 3) I have been on 16 cruises.”

 

Jen Haber – Philadelphia Participant Coachsusan g. komen 3-day breast cancer walk blog philadelphia coach jen

Describe your job in 10 words or fewer. – “Answering all things 3-Day-related on a daily basis.”

We’re a couple weeks from the Philadelphia event. What’s a typical day like for you these days? – “Busy! My days are filled with interactions with participants. I’ve gotten to know many Philadelphia walkers through the emails and calls I am receiving. It’s that time of the event season when I am helping with matching gift questions, assisting with online check-in and providing last-minute event details. Everyone has a story that connects us to this cause and I love hearing them. The conversations I have each day are very important to me because they remind me why we are all working so hard to make an impact in the fight against breast cancer.”

What are 3 things that we didn’t know about you? – “1) I live in Southern California and have two dogs who love coming to visit the San Diego 3-Day every year; 2) I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Poland, where I organized my first breast cancer awareness walk and where my passion for this cause began; 3) I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years until very recently. My carnivore husband couldn’t be happier!”

 

Melanie Toner – Philadelphia Crew & Volunteer Coordinatorsusan g. komen 3-day breast cancer walk blog philadelphia coach melanie

Describe your job in 10 words or fewer. – “Supporting our amazing captains and crew members to rock on event.”

We’re a couple weeks from the Philadelphia event. What’s a typical day like for you these days? – “I spend most of my day working on communicating final details to crew captains and supporting the crew. My goal is to ensure the crew feels confident and prepared on event. The days are long but it’s all worth it. I’m looking forward to seeing the hard work pay off!”

What are 3 things that we didn’t know about you? – “1) I’m a lefty; 2) An ‘intimate’ family event in my family involves 35-40 people; 3) You will likely find me singing to myself on event – something I do when I have a lot to accomplish and need to focus.”

 

Going to be at the Philadelphia 3-Day? Come meet coach Joanne at a special meet-and-greet on Friday and Saturday in camp, 6-7 p.m., in the 3-Day Lounge.

The Life Cycle of a Matching Gift

There are hundreds of fundraising tools, tips and ideas available to Susan G. Komen 3-Day® participants who are working toward their fundraising goals, but I am consistently surprised at how underused matching gifts are. Matching gifts are a way for a donor to double his/her donation, but for some reason, many people don’t pursue the option. Perhaps it’s from a lack of understanding about how the process works, or a misconception that it’s too complicated or time-consuming. I’m hoping to clear some of that up here.

In general, a Komen 3-Day matching gift works like this:

  • Meet Petunia.
  • Petunia has just made a $100 donation to her sister Daisy, who is raising money for the 3-Day®. She’s very proud of what Daisy is doing, and wants to support her as much as she can.
  • Petunia works for Awesome, Inc., which has a company matching gift program. Many companies (especially larger corporations) offer matching gifts as a way to inspire their employees to give charitably.
  • So, Petunia goes to the Matching Gifts info page on the 3-Day website (The3Day.org/Matching) to look up Awesome, Inc., and confirms that they do match with the 3-Day. Hooray! The Matching Gifts page has info about how Awesome, Inc.’s matching process works, so she submits a request for Awesome, Inc. to match her $100 donation with $100 of their own.
  • Every company’s matching gift process is unique, but in most cases, the company will use an online matching gift portal (such as EasyMatch or CyberGrants) to process requests. Some companies use paper forms that must be mailed in. Petunia confirms that Awesome, Inc. uses an online process, so she logs in and enters the correct information about her gift. She makes sure to specifically designate the Susan G. Komen 3-Day as the recipient of the matching gift (as opposed to her local Susan G. Komen® affiliate or Komen headquarters), and includes Daisy’s full name and the city where she’s walking, to make sure Daisy gets credit for the match.
  • The 3-Day matching gifts team receives notification of the match request from Petunia/Awesome, Inc., and once they have verified Petunia’s original donation, they will approve the match and send approval notification back to Awesome, Inc. This process can take up to 4-6 weeks, but is usually much faster.
  • Even though Awesome, Inc. may not send the matching funds to the 3-Day right away (many companies only pay out matches once a quarter, or twice yearly), credit for the matching gift will be added to Daisy’s fundraising total as soon as the match is approved.
  • And just like that, Petunia’s $100 donation has doubled, and twice as much money goes back to Susan G. Komen® and the fight to end breast cancer – the cause that the sisters care so much about.

The number one piece of advice we give to participants who are raising money for the 3-Day is to ASK, and that advice carries over into asking about matching gifts too. When you send out your fundraising emails or post on Facebook, be sure to remind your donors about 3-Day matching gifts and ask them to inquire with their employers about getting a match.

You can find more detailed information about the matching gift process, and a searchable list of companies that currently match with the 3-Day, at www.The3Day.org/matching. And as always, the 3-Day coaches are available at 800-996-3DAY to answer any questions you might have about the matching gift process or the status of a request that has already been made.

2014 Twin Cities Susan G. Komen 3-Day Wrap Up

This weekend, Twin Cities was filled with the power of pink as the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® passed through the many beautiful neighborhoods of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Though Friday morning started with gloomy skies, the brightness and enthusiasm couldn’t be dampened by the clouds. Dr. Sheri led us through a rallying and an inspiring Opening Ceremony at the Southdale Center in Edina, and from there, Komen 3-Day walkers began their magnificent journey and were soon welcomed to a New Orleans “Mardi Bras” themed pit stop at the beautiful Utley Park.IMG_9144

The Lake Harriet Band Shell was the first cheering station, and the Twin Cities Community came out in full force, complete with cheerleaders, candy, and coffee stations. Onward through Minneapolis, walkers and crew enjoyed a cheering station at the Parade Ice Garden and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Walkers took a lunch break at the lovely Loring Park, and after lunch, it was onwards to another pumped-up cheering station at B.H. Nelson Park, with impressive views of Minneapolis. After an incredible 18.6 miles, walkers and crew arrived at camp in Harvest Park in Maplewood, and during camp show, we got to meet the Twin Cities 3-Day top fundraisers and Milestone Award Winner, in addition to playing some fun games and hearing from an inspirational survivor, Sue N., who motivated us to start strong on Day 2.

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Day 2 on the the 3-Day® route started with balmy skies and cloud cover, and the friendly Twin Cities community came out in full support complete with puppies and babies in pink tutus at Holiday Inn Express cheering station. Vadnais Lake gave sore legs and tired minds some serenity, and a rocking cheering station at Ramsey County Island Park, complete with cheerleaders, helped our walkers put an extra pep in their step. The community came out again to rally walkers at Acorn Park in Roseville, and then, even conquering a few hills before lunch on Gramsie in Shoreview couldn’t dampen the excitement for lunch at Island Lake Elementary School.

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After hydrating and eating, walkers strolled across bridges at the picturesque Gervais Mill Park before heading back to Camp, where we heard from more amazing members of our 3-Day family, including Cassie of team Cassie’s Cups, who’s currently fighting breast cancer for the third time. Her moving story set the stage for Sisters Ashley H. and Nicole L., who again reminded us of the many reasons why we walk.  We ended the night with stars lighting up the sky as the 3-Day Dance Party kicked off, and then it was back into our pink tents for some serious slumber before taking on Day 3.

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A little bit of rain came down before Day 3 officially began, but the skies cleared up just in time to reveal brilliant blue skies, thick humidity, and a shining sun for our last 17.5 miles. The community came out to support the walkers at Northwood Park, passing out popsicles and iced coffee that were joyfully accepted by our strong walkers. The cloud cover lasted through Beaver Lake Park, where a serene lake shimmered in the distance as upbeat music kept our walkers pumped. Next on the route was Indian Mounds Park, and walkers were treated to sweeping views of the St. Paul skyline.

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After a beautiful photo opportunity sitting on Jody’s Couch, a Twin Cities 3-Day landmark for the past nine years, walkers moved on to pit stop 3.  Walkers fueled up and ‘rotated their socks’ at the 3-Day Speedway themed pit stop. The last few miles of the route stretched through beautiful downtown St. Paul, ending at the Minnesota State Capitol where the white and gold dome of the capitol building gleamed in the sun. Our 750 walkers, 225 crew members, and volunteers victoriously marched through the courtyard, and reminded us once again why these 60 miles and 3 days are so very important. The crowd of walkers, crew, volunteers and supporters danced joyously together, and celebrated an incredible $2 million dollars raised.

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