Fundraising Friday: Tips to Earn More 3-Day Gear

Throughout the 3-Day, from our route signs to our Bank of America Breakfast of Champions to our Closing Ceremony, we work hard to consistently honor everyone who reaches their fundraising goals. Every dollar you raise makes a huge difference in the fight against breast cancer and every dollar should be celebrated.

To deck you out in 3-Day gear, we have all new 3-Day Rewards in store for you as your reach certain fundraising milestones! What can you look forward to? Well, we have a whole lot of fun…

There’s a 6-Pack of Shoelace Tags to add some extra pink fun to your kicks on event. You only have to raise $2,500 to earn these!
If you fundraise $3,500, you’ll be awarded festive 3-Day socks that will spice up your next training outfit!
A cool 3-Day visor will be yours when you fundraise $5,000 for the 3-Day! What better way to find some shade while you walk, but still leave room for a fun 3-Day hairstyle?
When you hit the $7,500 mark, you’ll be rewarded with a 3-Day fleece blanket. It will keep you warm all fall and into the holidays!
If you’re a real fundraising superstar and hit the $10,000 mark, you’ll receive a packable pullover! We know many of you travel for the 3-Day, and this jacket will be a lifesaver for you. It conveniently packs into its own zippered front pocket, it’s unisex and water-resistant, PLUS it has a hood with adjustable drawstring. It’s great for training walks and your 60-mile weekend.
Aside from rewards for yearly fundraising, we also have rewards based on your lifetime fundraising efforts, including a 3-Day vest for when you raise $50,000 and a travel bag for when you raise $100,000 in your lifetime with the 3-Day. Keep working towards those big goals! Additionally, when you raise $100,000 or more or your team raises $1,000,000 or more, you will become a part of the Susan G. Komen Lifetime Commitment Circle and among other things will be forever-honored with your name or team name on the 3-Day recognition wall in Dallas, TX.

We hope this list adds some extra spark in your fundraising plans for the rest of the year and help to propel you towards whatever your fundraising goal is for the year!

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out our 2019 3-Day Fundraising Handbook! It is chock full of all kinds of information, fundraising tips and tricks.

It will first walk you through setting your initial goal, and get you jump started with your fundraising outreach. Just getting started can be difficult for some people. Once you’re on a roll, it’s easier to think of fun new ideas or band together with your teammates for a fundraising event. But that first step can be tough. It’s all about the ask.

From helping you brainstorm a list of donors to providing advice from 3-Day mainstays like Coach Gayla, this handbook can be your guide through every step of the process. It also walks you through important support tools like your Participant Center, online fundraising page and our 3-Day app.

Not to mention, this handbook can be useful for your supporters as well! You can learn about the difference that Susan G. Komen is making in local communities. These facts are super helpful in crafting your fundraising letters, or to hand out at team building and fundraising events.

And that’s not even everything! If you’ve never read the Fundraising Handbook before, this should become your go-to as you continue fundraising for the 3-Day. It will help you reach your goals and put you on the path towards earning one of our amazing fundraising rewards as well.

Also, feel free to share your personal fundraising tips in the comments below! There is no such thing as too many ideas!

How to Fundraise for the 3-Day, from Start to Finish

Are you stumped on how to get started on your 3-Day fundraising? Or perhaps you’ve sent out that first fundraising email or set up your Facebook Fundraiser and aren’t sure on the next step. Or have you hit a plateau right before the finish line? Wherever you are in your fundraising journey, our 3-Day Fundraising Handbook is a guide for your next steps.

You can read it online at The3Day.org/FundraisingHandbook or download it in PDF format to read on your eReader at your leisure.

So whether you need to know the basics, or are looking for answers to specific fundraising questions, our Fundraising Handbook is the first place to look.

If you need any more fundraising tips, you can check out the “Fundraising” tab on our blog! Here are some recent highlights:

Five FUNdraising Friday Ways to Celebrate Spring

It’s the first Friday of spring, so that means that all our 3-Dayers should be smiling wide and getting excited for a fun weekend ahead. Hopefully you’ll be spending some of that spring weekend time training and fundraising for the 3-Day. There’s nothing like a sunshiney morning and a free day ahead to remind you of just how much you can get done when you put your mind to it! And we know that all our 3-Dayers are some of the most committed, amazing people out there.

So, let’s make the most of today, this weekend, and this spring! We’ll be covering training, team building and fundraising tips all season long, starting with these Five FUNdraising Friday Ideas:

Get moving (any way you can!)

Start by asking your yoga or pilates teacher, spin instructor, boot camp leader or personal trainer for a donation. Then, move on to the rest of the class! See if you can make an announcement before or after class or keep a donation jar at the gym check-in area.

You can even take it one step further by asking your instructors to host a special outdoor class where the proceeds will go to your 3-Day goal. Imagine starting your Saturday with a relaxing yoga class in the park, or a challenging boot camp on the local high school soccer fields. You’ll be getting your sweat on and earning donations toward your 3-Day goal at the same time!

Save a “pear”

Get a grocery store or local farmer’s market to donate some pears and then set up a table outside with a sign that says, “Save a ‘pear’—make a donation to the 3-Day.”

You’ll make people giggle, and probably get some happy-hearted donations while you’re at it!

Set a springtime challenge

Post it on Facebook. (If you haven’t set up a Facebook Fundraiser yet, now’s the time!) Email it out to your friends and family. Put up a sign in your cubicle. Shout it loud and proud that you will be doing something crazy if your fundraising goal is met before spring is over. Spring officially ends on June 20 so that leaves everyone lots of time to make some big ole’ donations.

Then, go wild with whatever challenge you set for yourself, and make sure to tag us in all the pictures!

Take advantage of tax season

Tax season is no one’s favorite time of year. At least no one we’ve ever met! But, it’s the perfect time to remind people that donations to the 3-Day are tax deductible. Send out emails and fundraising letters reminding your potential donors and asking them to contribute part of their tax refund to a good cause like the 3-Day. They’ll be putting that found money to good use, plus they can deduct it on next year’s return. It’s a win/win.

Stay caffeinated, 3-Day style

Host a get-together at your home or at a local coffee shop. Ask your favorite coffee shop or cafe to donate coffee (and maybe some goodies!), then invite your neighbors and friends to spend an afternoon learning about the 3-Day from you. This can also be used as a team building activity if you invite some potential new 3-Dayers!

Let anyone who attends know they will have a chance to pay tribute to someone affected by breast cancer by being featured on the shirt you wear on the 3-Day. Suggest a donation of $20 (or more!) to be listed. You can also get creative and have them sign pink ribbons to be attached to your shirt, or pink buttons, instead. You’ll have the coolest shirt on the 3-Day!

What are your fundraising plans for the spring? Share them in the comments so we can spread ideas across our 3-Day family!