Letter Writing / Online Fundraising

• Write a letter to ask for donations.  Here are some tips to writing an effective letter for fundraising.
• Create a list of EVERYONE you know.  Do not say “no” for anyone.  Send them the letter and let them decide.  Remember to include those you write checks to, i.e., dentist, doctor, lawyer, accountant, insurance agent, etc. Remember, don’t pre-judge for someone. You don’t know really how they may have been affected by cancer.

1. Share the amount you are fundraising.  SET A GOAL! Put what your personal goal is in the letter. Put a suggested due date. Include a donation sheet with different levels to donate. They check off an amount and it is easier for them.
2. Don’t diminish your request by being apologetic or by saying something similar to “I hope you can donate something.” Share stories of hope.
3. Hand address the outside envelope.  DO NOT use mailing labels for the person’s name and address.
4. Hand sign each letter.  Write a short personal note to those you don’t see regularly, i.e., “Mary, I hope this finds you doing well!”.
5. Include information about your Honored Hero.
6. Include a return envelope for them to send their donation to you.  Label them with your address.  It is nice to include a stamp on the return envelope.
7. Include your personal LTN website address in the letter.  The easiest way is to have them go to your personal online account and enter your site.
8. State in your letter that all donations are 100% tax deductible and that 75% of every dollar goes directly to our mission. Remind them that if their corporation or business offers a matching gift program, to include the paperwork with donation, so to help it go further for the mission.
9. The most important rule – put your HEART into your letter!  Tell them why YOU are doing this.  Just put a few facts & figures, not too many. Instead include your personal story of why you have taken on this task.  Someone will donate to you because they know you and want to get behind your reasons for doing this. Get your thank you notes ready to follow up from the donation.

• Put tiny red and/or white ribbons in all of your fundraising letters and ask your donors to write the name of their friends or family with cancer and mail it back with their donation.  Then pin the ribbons to you shirt during the walk or be creative in how to display them.
• A nice twist to the letter campaign: An alumni sent out his letter to his list and then teamed up with his honoree who wrote an introduction to the participant’s letter.  The letter was then sent to the Honoree’s mailing list and he collected the donations and corresponded with his family and friends.  The participant raised an additional $2500 from the Honoree’s list.
• Light The Night Business Cards provide basic donation information and can be handed out to anyone.  If you would like a copy of template from Microsoft Word, please call 302-661-7300 ext. 26 and we will be happy to send them to you.

Home Parties / Crafts

• Have a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party. Get money instead of cooking items.
• Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Party Lite, Tupperware and Home Interior parties - 10 – 15% of sales go directly back to the participant for their fundraising efforts. 
• Create bracelets made of sterling silver and glass beads in LTN colors and sell them for $40.  Someone raised over $4,500 for the Society.
• Create LTN charm bracelets and sell them.
• Design LTN Christmas ornaments and sell them.
• Jewelry is becoming very popular.  One unique piece was a necklace and/or bracelet with the red and white beads, where you could include a framed picture of your honoree in the middle.

Restaurants and Venues

• The Wilmington Blue Rocks allow you to work the concession stands during games.  You would need to get a group of friends and family together.  A percentage of the sales from the night go to your fundraising efforts.  The bigger the group, the bigger the stand you get, and the more money you receive.
• Be a  “celebrity waiter” at a local participating restaurant.  You could possibly be able to keep 10% of the proceeds and your tips.
• Have a celebrity bartending night at one of the local restaurants.
• Ask local restaurants to donate a percentage of their profits on a particular night to your fundraising. You can get people to come to the restaurant to support you and it’s practically no work.  Some restaurant bars (the Chesapeake Inn) donate will donate the cover charges of people that you bring on band nights.
• Company Breakfasts or lunch – Ask a local chain to donate breakfast for an event that you will have at work.  Charge $10 plate to come to the breakfast.
• Do a proceed night at a local restaurant.  This has worked well at various chains like, Unos, Pizza Hut, and Popeye’s Chicken.  10% - 15% of all sales from an evening benefit the Society if a person brings in a flyer with the individual who is fundraising’s name on it.  This can also be done at Borders with book sales.  10% of funds go to the Society for every flyer an individual brings in and buys a book.
• Have a Wine Tasting at an Art gallery.
• Have a “Lobsters for Leukemia” night at one of the local parks.  Ask local seafood distributors to donate lobsters for the event.
• Work summer festivals and street fairs pouring beer and/or scooping ice cream.
• Outback and Applebee’s lunchtime fundraisers – Both restaurants will donate their food and for $10 you can come eat lunch on day during the week. 
• The dessert-a-thon. A couple who loved to bake made a bunch of desserts, charged $25.00 and the door for an all you can eat dessert a thon and raised $2000

Miscellaneous Ideas

• Ask your leasing office of your apartment if the neighborhood can over-write their rent checks by the amount they would like to donate.  The office can keep track of the overage and write you the check.  Then write your apartment complex letters letting them know about the giving opportunity.
• Collect cans and bottle and have friends and family do the same and turn them in for money used towards your goal.  Have a “drop-off” day for everyone to bring you their bottles.
• Collect books from friends and family and sell them at to a local Used Book Store.  Tell your story and see if they will give you extra profit for your efforts.
• Dodge Ball Tournament: Yes, the children of the late 70's & early 80's are reverting to the old stand by! What better way to revert to childhood and get away with it?!      

      1. get the word out... to friends, family, teammates

      2. reserve space in local gymnasium... school is out and sometimes you can get one to let you use their gym.

      3. fork out $8 for an official dodgeball... in red, of course.

      4. sign up teams - charge fee for participants ($10 per person)

      5. ask for $5 donation at door for spectators. (hey, it's cheaper AND more entertaining than a movie!)

      6. have local grocery store donate some snacks to sell during the event

      7. sit back and enjoy!

Funny Ideas

• Kiss a Pig – A teacher at an elementary school raised money by challenging the students to fundraise to see her kiss a pig (they raised the set amount, so she brought a pig into school and kissed it in front of all of her students.)
• Someone stood on top of a highly visible restaurant’s ROOF and vowed not to get down until she had raised $1,000 - she got great media coverage and had her funds raised in just a few hours. (NOT recommended but very funny :-)
• Flamingo landing- Put pink flamingos in donor’s yard…they give a donation to have them “fly away.”
• Head shaving.  People will donate ____ amount per inch of hair coming off, or a flat donation for shaving the entire head.  Pay extra to have the chance to use the razor on the person's head yourself (______ dollars per swipe).  Pay even more to actually BE in the room on shave day.