Hands on DC Work-a-Thon 2009 -

If you're volunteering for the Work-a-thon and looking for ideas on how to raise money for Hands on DC, then you've come to the right place! First a few general notes:

Though we encourage all volunteers to help us by collecting donations from their friends and family (much like a race) we do not require our volunteers to donate or collect donations.
If you collect $50 or more in donations, you will get a Work-a-thon 2009 t-shirt. Hands on DC Sponsors will also get a specified number of t-shirts.
We will have contests up until the event day, Saturday, April 25, in which volunteers and teams will be awarded prizes for their fund raising efforts.
If you're completely unfamiliar with Kintera, click here for more information on how to register for our event and use Kintera to do fund raising.

Basics

Fundraising online is very easy and Hands on DC has made it easier by providing you with a great fundraising tool, Kintera. By using Kintera, the online portal that you used to register for the Work-a-thon, you can quickly contact people and ask them to donate. You may use the tool to e-mail people directly or just direct people to our website (http://handsondc.kintera.org/) where they can search for your name and make a donation.

You can quickly contact numerous friends through e-mail and encourage them to donate online using a credit card or paypay. Getting started is the hardest part, so tray to jump over that hurdle today. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Send individual emails (or do a mail merge) and you'll get a much better resonse.
People respond when there is a sense of urgency, so encourage everyone to donate within 10 days. That also give you a good reason to follow-up with them after 10 days.
Remember to ask big; don't underestimate your friends.

Click "Login" toward the bottom of the left menu to get started today. E-mail donate@handsondc.org if you need any help!

Sample Letters

The following are two sample letters we've created to help with your fund raising efforts. Feel free to modify them to make them more personal.

Sample letter 1
Sample letter 2

Tips

Include links to your fund raising pages in e-mails, etc.

Don't know the link to your fund raising page? It's easy to find. Go to http://handsondc.kintera.org and click "Sponsor Volunteer." Search for and click your name, then just copy that URL at the top of the screen and paste it into the e-mails, away messages, etc.

Adding a hyperlink in away messages (Facebook, Twitter, Gchat, Instant Messengers, etc.)

Whether you use Facebook, Twitter, Gchat, Myspace, etc. you can leave an away message to let people know what you're up to. So, set up a message that says, "Please give a small donation to sponsor me as I help improve DC public schools in the 15th Annual Hands on DC Work-a-thon!." Then (the most important part), include the link to your fund raising page (see above).

Ideas of people to contact to ask for donations

Have you already reached out to your close friends, family, and co-workers, and now you're not sure who to contact for donations? Some fund raisers have offered the following tips:

Go through your e-mail account and take note of every distinct individual that emails you or that you e-mail.
Look at your contacts on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, or Linked In for ideas.
Contact college friends, mutual members of clubs and organizations, friends of your parents/brother/sister.

Contests

Each week we'll announce new fund raising contests and give updates on current contests.

Dates Description Prize

March 10th (Noon) through March 24th (Noon) The team that raises the most money during this two-week period. Bluemont Vineyard Elevation Package: For a group of 10 people, private tour and wine tasting, free wine, and an incredible view of the Reston and Tyson's skyline.

Congratulations to Ana Venegas from Team Inka who raised the most money and collected the most donations between February 17th and March 3rd!

Special Thanks to: