With BellRinger just two months away, the time is now to kickstart your fundraising efforts! Every Rider commits to raise funds that will support life-saving research at Georgetown Lombardi. Your fundraising commitment is based on your Ride distance, and we are here to support you with some tips and tricks!
One of the most effective ways to raise money is to share your story. Unfortunately, we have all been touched by cancer in some way. BellRinger is all about our stories of why we ride, who we raise money for, and why we strive for a future without cancer. For starters, a great way to share your story is to update your Rider Profile to share why you ride. This personal touch can be an effective way to garner support for your Ride. You can also add photos and videos to your Rider Profile to personalize it even more!
How should I ask for donations?
In our opinion, direct, personal asks are the most effective way to meet your fundraising commitment. It can be scary to ask others for donations, but don’t worry — we’ve mapped out a plan to make it easy.
- Make a list of all your possible supporters and donors. We recommend starting with friends, family, neighbors, colleagues/classmates, and others in your professional or personal networks!
- Identify the best way to reach them. This could vary depending on who you are reaching out to, but it could be through a phone call, email, personalized letter, and many other options. These are your people, so you know best how to reach them!
- Make your ask personal. In your outreach, share what BellRinger means to you, why you believe funding cancer research is important, and your appreciation for the support of those who donate.
- Take to social media to keep your supporters up to speed on your BellRinger experience. Share training updates, fundraising efforts, and stories from BellRinger Weekend. Posts on social media have the opportunity to reach people beyond your immediate network, so it can be an important tool to use in creasing fundraising!
How do I host a fundraiser?
Another great way to start fundraising is to gather your supporters together! There are dozens of ways to create a fundraising event, and the best part is you can have fun while doing it.
- Host a virtual event. If we’ve learned one thing from the last few years, it’s how to connect with people when they’re not around you. We encourage you to get creative with your fundraising efforts — a movie and live chat room, sporting event watch party, concert, cooking class, or workout class. Ask friends and family to purchase tickets for your event or carve out a time in your event when folks can donate to your Ride.
- Host an in-person event. Bringing together your supporters is a great way to collect donations and share BellRinger with your community. From backyard BBQs, happy hours, wine tastings, or even a movie night, hosting events that supporters purchase tickets for or offer donations during is a great step in your fundraising efforts. You can also collaborate with businesses to have a certain percentage of profits made at your event donated to your Ride!
- Gather matching donations. If you have a donor that would like to support your Ride with a large donation, we recommend $500 or above, consider asking them to use their donation as a match to other donations you receive. You can leverage this match to receive new donations and match them up to a certain amount. Alternatively, you may ask your company if they’ll match donations you receive.
There are dozens of ways to gather donations to your BellRinger ride, and with only 2 months left it’s the perfect time to start! Remember, don’t sweat the deadline, Riders have until December 21, 2023 to meet their commitment, but there is no harm in starting early!
