Tag Archives: Love

Valentine’s Day Themed Fundraising Ideas

2-10-flower-drf

With one week until Valentine’s Day, the countdown to love is on! Aside from all the fun and romance of the holiday, this time of year is also perfect for 3-Day fundraising efforts. Spread the love, and help raise funds for the fight to end breast cancer, by tailoring your fundraising efforts to the holiday. We have some ideas from our team to get you started!

pasta-valentine-card_gal

Send out unique fundraising letters:

Take your 3-Day fundraising letters up a notch with a special Valentine donation request! These pasta-decorated cards are easy to make and will put a smile on everyone’s face.

You can also sell the cards for people to send as their own Valentines.

Spread love you can wear:

Make and sell festive paper flowers or hair bows that you can wear throughout your 3-Day walk. Encourage people to buy a pin or bow and then you can take photos of yourself sporting the donations over the course of 60 miles.

race_1271_photo_25718244

Try some puppy love:

If you have a pooch, set up a dog kissing booth in your front yard! You can always do your own, personal kissing booth too, but people will love a kiss from your furry friend. Accept donations for a smooch, and put them towards your 3-Day goal. Thanks to coach Joanne Taylor for this fun idea!

Or kisses of a different kind:

Eileen Barnick, Twin Cities 3-Day coach, suggests filling small mason jars with a variety of Hershey’s Kiss flavors and selling them as sweet Valentine fundraisers. You can even decorate the jars and accompany them with notes like:

“Hugs and Kisses just for you!”

This idea can also apply to chocolate heart shaped candy, cinnamon heart-shaped candy or even candy hearts (which come with ready-made notes).

xs-and-os-cupcakes

Photo via Martha Stewart

Get your foodie on:

If you’re an expert baker, or general culinary extraordinaire, you can try any number of love-filled cupcakes and host a bake sale next weekend…right before Valentine’s Day! If you’re not as comfortable in the kitchen, you can still spread sweetness with this Oreo cookie bark recipe.

You can then take a leaf out of Michigan coach Ann Love’s book and ask for an extra donation to hand deliver the baked goods to loved ones for the holiday. Baked goods are the best kind of snail mail!

participation-center

Personalize your Participant Center emails:

There is a special email template in your Participant Center with a Valentine-themed fundraising message and photo. Log in to your Participant Center, click Compose Email in the right-hand menu, then select “Create Your Own Message” and the “Valentine’s Day Fundraising Ask” layout. Add your personal message and a sweet Valentine’s note and photo will appear at the top of your emails.

How are you celebrating the holiday? Tell us your fundraising ideas, or just spread some love, in the comments!

ribbon

Love is in The Air: a Guest Post by Dr. Sheri

There are times when we feel lonely although we are surrounded by many, feel sad although we have so many things that make us happy or feel unloved although we know that to be the furthest thing from the truth. When I have these occasional moments, I stop, think about my Susan G. Komen 3-Day family and almost spontaneously a wide smile instinctively envelops my face. The reason is simple…it’s LOVE! Sometimes just the thought of the love we have received is enough to get us through a difficult day.

Love and be loved on the 3-Day.

Love and be loved on the 3-Day.

Our work and sacrifice on the 3-Day is grounded in love, by which I mean the capacity to extend ourselves for the sake of another person. Our work in the 3-Day community stretches us to understand, respect, and support each other, teaching us why learning to love is one of the most demanding disciplines we can choose. During every 3-Day, love is definitely in the air and you will carry that love with you long after your 3-Day has ended.

Dr. Sheri embraces a last walker on a 2014 3-Day.

Dr. Sheri embraces a last walker on a 2014 3-Day.

Keeping that love in your heart and in your mind when you are faced with difficulty is the basis of gratitude. When you are having trouble feeling gratitude, ask yourself, “What is more important? To value what I have or to value what I do not have?” Gratitude is valuing what you have. Ambition is valuing what you may or may not have in the future. If you drown the voice of gratitude in the roars of your ambitions, all you will be left with is a great deal of noise. Why? Because often ambitions are endless, whereas gratitude is the response to everything life has given you, everything you already have. Don’t get me wrong, having ambition is a good thing; it keeps us moving forward and allows us to reach our full potential. But be sure your ambitions never overshadow your gratitude for what you’ve already accomplished and what you’ve already been blessed to receive.