Fundraising Guide and Helpful Tips
Hello Virtual DinoMights Runners and Walkers!
We are thrilled you are joining us for this first-ever Billy Lindsay Run/Walk and although we hadn’t planned on it being virtual, we are making the best of it as we can.
So glad you are all planning on doing the Billy Lindsay Run/Walk with us and planning on raising some funds for DinoMights! This letter is meant to help you help DinoMights, especially as it relates to fundraise. We will make this as easy as possible. If you haven’t done so yet, please create your personal fundraising page ASAP at this link:
https://runsignup.com/Race/Donate/88884/BecomeFundraiser
INSPIRATION BY OUR DIRECTOR, SCOTT HARMAN
First, let me inspire you. Billy Lindsay is the namesake of our DinoMights rink. He grew up at the playground and found mentors in his sports coaches. His story embodies so much of who we are at DinoMights. We will be using funds from the run to help support our summer programming and to honor Billy Lindsay’s legacy.
This year our total summer costs may include transportation, ice time, power camp, and staff time and will be around $84,000. We would like to raise $50,000 of that specifically from givers that want to support our staff and programs. Despite the Pandemic, DinoMights is working diligently to serve a generation of young people that are incredible kids. Now more than ever we need YOU to step up for DinoMights.
Create your personal fundraising page on https://runsignup.com/Race/Donate/88884/BecomeFundraiser.
It is fairly easy and you can edit and add to it any time. If you haven't done this and intend to race with us, please do it as soon as you can.
• Write your own story of why DinoMights is important to you.
• Post any pictures of you with your DinoMights kids, if you are a volunteer or staff member.
• Look at the incentive levels and the prizes you can earn at those various levels.
• Leave comments to update people on your training progress.
1) Make your own gift.
People want to see that you personally support this cause. It doesn't matter what amount you give. If you are a student and you give your own $10 or $25 it means something to people. If you can't muster even the smallest amount then your supporters will wonder why they should do it.
2) Reach out to others
1. Send your team fundraising page link to your supporters by email and encourage them to support your cause. We recommend reaching out to your friends, family, classmates, roommates, professors, former coaches, teachers, people from your church, coworkers, and anyone you know who loves young people, loves camp, loves running or biking, loves that you volunteer for DinoMights and might want to be a part of your team.
2. Follow-up personally with your supporters to ask them to contribute on your behalf. I can't stress this enough. The most important thing to know is that you should follow up your email with a personal contact. You can and should send a general email/facebook post and a lot of people with think that is nice, but to really get people to action you need to speak with them on the phone or in person. You want them to have the link to make giving easy, but it is a lot easier to say yes to something when they hear from you personally that it matters to you.
Don't be afraid to ask for specific amounts when you follow up personally. If you know that your mom wants to support you and she is capable of giving a gift in your top category you might say to her, "Mom, you know I'm raising money for camp with my race. I'm looking for someone that can give $200 gift in my top category. If you do I'll get you a picture of James with a Daddy Long Legs! It would just be awesome if you could do that."
Don't expect any one person to give one gift that is the size of your entire goal. However (not to get too technical here, but it is a reference) you probably do want to get a gift that is the size of 20% of your goal. In fact, your largest gift will likely be 20% of your total.
*You can accept donations by check or cash or online. Any check should be made out to DinoMights and either mailed to DinoMights, 3400 Park Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55407 or delivered to me by you. Any offline donations can be logged on your fundraising page through runsignup as a pledge.
You should get started right now, but don't get discouraged if you don't get response right away. A lot of people will want to give near the time of your race. Some people need to hear it a few times before they actually act.
3. Promote the run and your team on Twitter and Facebook. Engage your supporters in ongoing dialogue and consider creating a team hashtag so people can easily follow your team tweets on Twitter. We would love to get more people involved!
4. Update your email signature to raise awareness for your team by including a catchy tag line that promotes your team and DinoMights.
• Feel free to email scott@dinomights.com or lisa@dinomights.com with ANY QUESTIONS! We love raising funds for DinoMights and we're happy to help you.
Stay in touch and have fun! Sincerely,
Scott Harman
P.S. See the great fundraising incentives!
