Take a LEAP Into Fundraising

Hey 2016 3-Day participants – you get something extra special this February to help you with your fundraising: a whole extra day.

That’s right, 2016 is a leap year, and we want you to be able to make the most out of February 29 with these fun fundraising ideas. For most of the challenges below, social media is the best, quickest way to reach a large group of potential donors with your message at the same time. So get posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – wherever your social circle gathers. This is the last time until 2020 that you’ll be able to use these particular fundraising gimmicks, so don’t miss this chance to take a huge leap in your 3-Day fundraising. 2015_SGK3Day_Dallas_GF_332

Get as many $29 donations as you can. This unusual dollar amount is just catchy enough that it will grab donors’ attention and they’ll want to be part of the action. Get 29 of these leap day donations and you’ll have $841, just like that!
A leap year has 366 days. Make it your goal to raise $366 in one day on February 29. Again, an unconventional, catchy dollar amount tends to pique interest and get people involved.
On February 29, you get an extra 24 hours. See if you can get 24 donations in that amount of time. Ask your donors for a specific amount to make it easy. Getting 24 donations of $50 each will get you more than halfway to your $2,300.
Put on your favorite 3-Day victory shirt, team t-shirt or anything pink and have someone snap a picture of you doing your most dramatic leap. Post it to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on February 29, and every time someone Likes/Hearts/Favorites the photo, send them a direct message and ask them for a donation. Want to take this photographic fun to the next level? Snap and post a different leaping picture every day between now and the 29^th. By the time your friends and followers see two or three of them, they’ll be anxious to know the story behind the photos, and you can use that curiosity to open the conversation about donating.
Make your own personal list of 29 reasons why you take part in the 3-Day and share the list with your donors. You can make your list funny, sentimental, powerful, or any combination, as long as you make it personal. Send it out all at once as an email, post Facebook status updates throughout the day on February 29. Or if you’re feeling really ambitious and are savvy with moviemaking, put your list into video form and share it that way (video posts on social media are considerably more successful at reaching followers than text-only posts).
Leap year comes once every 4 years, so use this February 29 to remind your donors that they can break their donation up to 4 monthly payments. Being able to pay in installments over several months often compels donors to give even more than they would have with a one-time donation.
Mile 29 of the 3-Day is at roughly the halfway point of Day 2. Set a personal fundraising goal just for February 29 (aim to raise $500 in that one day, for example), and tell your donors that if they get you to that goal, you’ll do something funny/crazy/playfully embarrassing at Mile 29. What kinds of things could you do? Let your teammates attack you with silly string; choreograph a song and dance routine and perform it at the Day 2 lunch stop; stop at mile 29 and write your Leap Day donors’ names on your arms and legs in Sharpie… You know yourself best, so pick a payoff that’s good for you, but try to go a little (or a lot) out of your comfort zone and make it entertaining. Whatever you decide to do, be sure someone is taking video for you to share with your donors and supporters.

Got any other Leap Day fundraising ideas? Share them in comments! And keep an eye out for a shareable Leap Day graphic we’ll be putting up on the 3-Day’s Facebook page next Monday.

3 NEW Ways to Talk a Friend Into Walking With You

This is the time of year when many 3-Day walkers are focused on recruiting new walkers and growing their teams. A lot of us could quickly identify one or more friends we would love to bring into the 3-Day family, but convincing those people to make the commitment to the 3-Day is not always easy. We’ve already given you 3 Ways to Talk a Friend Into Walking With You, and if that didn’t do the trick, we brought you 3 MORE Ways to Talk a Friend Into Walking With You. But just in case, we’ve got a few more suggestions to help you turn more friends into teammates.

Arm Them With Facts – Committing to walk 60 miles and raise $2,300 for Susan G. Komen is huge, and putting that much time and energy into something is a personal decision that everyone should give careful consideration. Komen is a well-known leader in the breast cancer cause, but that alone may not be enough information for some. Fortunately, we have extensive and detailed information about how Komen uses the funds it raises and how the 3-Day specifically has been instrumental in major breast cancer advances since 2003. If concerns about Komen are what’s keeping your friend from registering, direct them to The3Day.org/Komen, or have them call a 3-Day coach at 800-996-3DAY to have their questions answered so they can join the 3-Day with confidence and clarity. 2015_3DAY_SEAsun_EDB (369)

Join Forces – Perhaps you are just one person, trying to recruit one or two friends to walk the 3-Day with you. Consider joining with an established team and get the power of more people behind you. In every 3-Day location, we have dozens of teams who are open and welcoming to new team members. If you’re registered and trying to get a friend to sign up with you, join one of the teams in your city and let them give a warm welcome to your friend. Who could resist the openhearted invitation of a friendly 3-Day team? If you need help finding one of these open teams, search the 3-Day Friend Finder at The3Day.org/Friend or call the 3-Day coaches at 800-996-3DAY and they’ll happily help you find a good fit. 2015_3DAY_TCFri_EDB (79)

Tell Them They Can Travel For FREE! – This might be the most enticing carrot you can dangle in front of your potential teammates: the opportunity to travel to a 2016 3-Day event for free. There are some parameters on our two travel programs, so be sure to read up on the fine print here, but the basic gist is that the 3-Day will pay for round-trip airfare for any first-time walker (never registered before), or any past walker who hasn’t participated since 2014, if they don’t live near a 3-Day. These travel programs are also for a very limited time, so if you plan to use them as a recruiting tool, don’t wait another minute!

Your Dollars at Work: 3-Day Funds and Komen’s Mission Objectives

Participants often ask me how 3-Day funds are put to use. It’s a logical question: If you’re working hard towards raising at least $2,300 each year to walk, you want to know how those dollars get put to work.

If you’ve done the 3-Day before, you’ve probably heard that 25% of the net proceeds goes to local Affiliates to fund community education and treatment assistance programs while 75% of the net proceeds is used by Komen on a national basis to fund research programs and global strategies. But what does that really mean? Here’s some detail to help make this more concrete.

First, let me explain how Komen is structured: There is the national office based in Dallas, which receives funding through national partnerships, individual giving, and national programs like the 3-Day. And, there are also more than 100 Komen local offices called Affiliates, that receive funding through local events like the Race for the Cure, sponsorships, etc.

The funds you raise through the 3-Day (managed by our national office) and the Race for the Cure (managed by our local Affiliates) are unique as both programs have global, national and local impact.

At the end of each 3-Day season we total all of the funds raised on a national level to distribute to the national and local mission. So, the 3-Day’s local proceeds (that 25%) are divided at the end of each season among the 7 host city affiliates, so that 3-Day dollars have a direct impact in 3-Day cities. In most 3-Day cities, there is a single affiliate office, but in Dallas and Michigan, there are several who divide the funds to maximize reach and opportunity in their respective service areas.

Why is this important? Susan G. Komen has funded nearly $889 million in research and nearly $2 billion in community grants. Through this, we have made great strides in decreasing mortality rates from breast cancer, increasing 5 year survival rates, and improving access to screening and treatment for countless women and men. It is this combination – a balance between funding community needs and research priorities – that is so important, and a big reason that 3-Day and Race for the Cure funding is so unique.

In the coming year, a few of our primary mission goals are:

We are focusing major research efforts on metastatic research, primarily what causes the disease to spread from the breast.
- Nearly half of Komen’s funding in 2015 went to metastatic research (23 grants, $16 million)
We are collaborating with other national and international breast cancer organizations to refine goals and minimize redundancy
We are working towards making health resources equally available to all, with a focus on disparities and why the risk of breast cancer is higher amongst African-American women.

Komen President and CEO, Dr. Judy Salerno, said at the Komen Impact Forum in Dallas, “I believe that in a generation we will see more treatments and more cures. You, [our 3-Day community], have been a part of this every step of the way. And we must support you so that we can be successful in achieving this goal.”

We want to make it easier for you to talk with your supporters and donors about Komen’s mission in action. So we’re creating a library of sharable resources on The3Day.org/Komen. The first set is available today: Three infographics talking more about 3-Day funding and our mission in action. (Note: these infographics are in .jpg format below, which you can save to your computer and share on social media. If you would like printable .pdf versions of the infographics, you can find them here.) 3DAY_2016_KomenInfographics_3 3DAY_2016_KomenInfographics_2 3DAY_2016_KomenInfographics_1

Soon, we’ll be sharing more specific details of how each local 3-Day affiliate is putting Komen funds to use in that 3-Day city.

This is just the start of the tools you have told us you need. This will be an on-going project from here forward as your needs change and the 3-Day program begins to grow. As I mentioned in my last blog post, we are forming a 3-Day advisory council (2 participants from each 3-Day city) to help you, the 3-Day family, have a collective voice as we work to meet needs, improve your event experience and grow the 3-Day into the strongest program it can be.

Stay tuned to the blog for more info! Thank you for being you!

– Chrissy Mathews