3DayGear.com
Fundraising Tip of the Month: May Celebrations Bring Donations
Know Your Donor
Online Donation Form
Website Tip of the Month: Put a Breast Cancer 3-Day Widget in Your Email Signature
In-Kind Donations
Tips from the Inside
Cash Donations
Meet a Volunteer Training Walk Leader

Fundraising Tip of the Month: May Celebrations Bring Donations
In May, we honor all of the women in our lives - mothers, sisters, daughters, friends - by helping to build a world without breast cancer. Reach out to your donors and suggest they give in honor of a woman who is important to them. Remind them that we won't sit back while breast cancer robs another grandmother of the chance to see her grandchildren grow up, or prevents best friends from growing old together. We walk because everyone deserves a lifetime.

While you're having that conversation, let your donors know that, in honor of Mother's Day, they can register for the Breast Cancer 3-Day between April 25th - May 11th with the discount code MOTHERS and get a $20 discount off the registration fee.

May also marks the start of the summer barbeque season, beginning with Memorial Day weekend. This year, why not turn a picnic or family gathering into a fundraising event? For a suggested donation, provide hot dogs, sodas and a reason for getting together. Decorate with pink ribbons to remind everyone of the cause they're supporting.

Know Your Donor
When you begin to create your fundraising plan, make a list of everyone you know. These are your potential donors. For each donor, ask yourself, “What is the best way to approach this person?” “Would he prefer a letter, an email, a phone call, a fundraising party?” Many donors respond best to a personal request, a face-to-face ask. Others love a good party, auction, raffle or sale. Some prefer an old-fashioned letter. You may want to alter your approach for separate groups of donors.

If your first request doesn’t immediately result in a donation, don’t cross that donor off your list just yet. A “no” from a donor could actually mean a variety of things. Perhaps the donor lost your email or letter, or put it at the bottom of their to-do list. Perhaps money is tight right now, but a donation request at the beginning of the month, or when the tax rebate comes in the mail would be much better received. Maybe they just need a good reason to give. Donors who may not respond to a form letter or a mass email could be moved to give if they heard your personal story, saw your training walk photos, or heard about how your fundraising progress was going.

Online Donation Form
If your donors plan to make their donation on our website, remind them that there are three steps to the online donation form. After entering their billing information, the donor will be taken to a confirmation page to review their donation. They must click Finish/Process in order to complete the donation and charge their credit card. Donors who are not used to making financial transactions online may miss this - and we don’t want you to miss out on any donations!

Website Tip of the Month: Put a Breast Cancer 3-Day Widget in Your Email Signature
Depending on the type of email program you use, you may be able to use a Breast Cancer 3-Day widget as your email signature. A widget is a graphic element that links to your personal fundraising webpage. Click here to visit the Widgets page and get the HTML code for your widget.

Using Microsoft Outlook:

• Paste the HTML source code for your fundraising widget into Notepad (or another text program).
• Save the text document as an HTML document (file name ending in .html).
• Open Outlook and go to Tools > Options > Mail Format > Signatures.
• Create a new signature. Select "Use this file as a template" and choose the file you just created. 
• Click Next and Finish.

Using Hotmail:

• On the mail page, select Options > More Options > Personal Email Signature
• A box to create your email signature will appear. In the drop down menu to select Rich Text/Plain Text/Edit in HTML, select "Edit in HTML," then paste in the HTML widget code.
• Switch back to "Rich Text" to see the widget and add anything else you might want to your signature.

Using Yahoo:

• On the mail page, select Options > More Options > Signature.
• Select the "Color and Graphics" editor and check "View HTML source" and "Add signature to outgoing emails."
• Paste in the HTML source code of your widget and save.

Using Gmail? Sorry this program does not allow you to create an HTML email signature.

In-Kind Donations
Many businesses may offer to provide in-kind donations (gifts of goods or services) rather than monetary donations. You can use these donations to help fundraise. For example, a restaurant may provide an in-kind donation of food, which you could then use to cater your fundraising event. However, please note that in-kind donations may not be tax-deductible for the donor. We cannot provide the Breast Cancer 3-Day's tax ID number for in-kind donations because the donation is being made directly to the participant and not to the Breast Cancer 3-Day event itself.

Tips from the Inside
When you call our toll-free number or send us an email, you are connecting with one of our experienced, friendly coaches. Did you know that our more than 40 coaches have collectively participated in more than 65 Breast Cancer 3-Day events? We are all here to ensure your success and would like to share some of our most successful, fun and popular fundraising and training ideas.

	Hello!  My name is Maggie Barstow-Taylor. I am a Breast Cancer 3-Day coach and have participated in this event (as a walker or a crew member) since 2000. I will be serving as a Breast Cancer 3-Day crew member in San Francisco and San Diego this year. Here are some tips you may find helpful while preparing for this incredible event.  Training Tip: Read the handbook that comes in your registration kit. We provide lots of useful information about preparing for the event so you will be ready. Sometimes it is difficult to schedule a long training walk into your daily life. So, make every step count and take “mini” training walks every day.
Park away from the front door of the grocery store, not as close as possible. Walk around the store five times before you begin your shopping. Walk up and down the hallway of your home during TV commercial breaks or see how many times you can go up and down the stairs before the TV program comes back on. Eat your lunch and then go for a half-hour walk. Go to the mall and walk there (just don’t stop to shop until you finish your training!). While watching your kids play sports, walk around the field instead of sitting in the stands. Fundraising Tip: Enlist your family and friends to become your fundraising support team.  They are proud of what you are doing and want to help. Hold a fundraising meeting so family and friends of all ages can attend and suggest fundraising ideas for you to use.  Make each person on your support team responsible for areas where they have experience or expertise. Ask them to solicit donations from their friends, co-workers and members of business, school, civic or church groups that they belong to.  And don’t forget to include the youngest members of your family. Learning to help others and to “give back” is a wonderful lesson to teach them while they help you fundraise. Be sure to invite all members of your fundraising support team to the Closing Ceremony so they can see you finish the journey you started with their help. My son’s college friend became my fundraising “chairperson” and sent emails and made phone calls to his extended family, friends, co-workers and sports team buddies. I exceeded my fundraising goal within 2 weeks of making him my chairperson! He was very happy to have helped me and proud that his efforts made such a difference in the lives of others.
	Hello!  My name is Nanette Schlarmann and I am a Breast Cancer 3-Day coach in my second year. I’m a four-time Breast Cancer 3-Day participant.  Training Tip: It’s so important to get a shoe that fits properly. I recommend going to your local running store (check our Outfitters page to find one) and getting fit by the professionals there. Let them know the distance you are walking and what your needs are. They will see how you walk and find a shoe that will fit your foot perfectly. Wear these shoes while you are training so that you become comfortable in them.
While training, you will also be able to see how the shoe affects your foot, how it feels, and if you get any hot spots. Hot spots are a precursor to blisters, so it’s important to take notice when they occur.  Also, with purchasing your shoes and training in them, you will know what to expect and how your feet will respond on your event. Fundraising Tip: For our young participants I have a great idea - babysitting! I know parents always look for people who are responsible and trustworthy to watch their children while they enjoy a night out. Put up fliers across your town, let people know that you are walking and raising money for a cure for breast cancer, make business cards with your information on them and attach a pink ribbon. Parents would be happy to know that a responsible young adult is taking care of their children, and that their hard-earned money is going towards a great cause. The more people you reach, the more donors you will have!

Cash Donations
We cannot accept cash donations via mail, so if a donor gives you cash, you can enter the donation online at www.The3Day.org. Be sure to enter the donor’s information in the Donor Information section at the top of the form. Do not enter your personal email address in the donor email field. (This could cause a problem in our database that may overwrite a portion of your participant record.) If you do not know the donor’s email address or the donor has asked that you not use their email address, please create a dummy email address using this formula: first initial+last name+zip code @noemail.com.

In the Billing Information section of the form, you can enter your own credit card information in order to process the donation.

Meet a Volunteer Training Walk Leader

My name is Elizabeth and this is my fourth year as a training walk leader for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. I have participated in events in Michigan, San Diego and Boston, and will be adding Arizona to my list in 2009. I began walking in 2002 because I thought walking 60 miles would be a great way to lose weight! Little did I know how much a part of my life the Breast Cancer 3-Day would become. That first year I met so many people who had been affected by breast cancer. I decided that I could do this if it will one day bring an end to breast cancer. My Breast Cancer 3-Day experiences and the friends I’ve made by doing this each year have changed my life in so many wonderful ways.

In 2005 I was asked to be a training walk leader since, at the time, there were none in my area. I wasn’t sure I was up to it, but I gave it my best shot. Now, each year, I find it incredibly rewarding to see walkers on the Breast Cancer 3-Day who have gotten there because they trained with me and my team. Our walks are so much more than walking; we talk, share our Breast Cancer 3-Day experiences, fundraising tips and stories of past walks. It’s a great thing to see someone who has come out to a walk as a “newbie,” not sure if they can walk that first 3-mile training walk and see them come full circle as they finish their first Breast Cancer 3-Day. It doesn’t get much better than that! Fundraising Tip: Don’t be afraid to ask everyone. The worst they can do is say no, but you’d be surprised how many people will donate because their lives, in some way, have been affected by breast cancer. Training Tip: Buy good shoes and socks. It’s your feet that are going to get you through all that training and the 60 miles at the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Go to one of the Breast Cancer 3-Day outfitters, be properly fit and invest in two pairs of good shoes!