Walk MS Team Captain Guide

800 344 4867 www.walkmswashington.org Walk MS Team Captain Guide

Table of Contents Welcome to the EMD Serono Walk MS... Page 1 Do something about MS NOW!... Page 2 3 Simple Steps to Starting a Team... Page 3 Recruitment Tips... Page 4 Raising $ Has Never Been Easier!... Page 5 Troubleshooting your Participant Center... Page 7 FUNdraising Ideas Notepad... Page 9 Advice from Veteran Team Captains... Page 11 What Should you do with the Money you have Raised?... Page 12 Elite Teams and Team Tent Qualifications... Page 13 Where does the Money Go?... Page 15 Contact Information... Page 16 For more information and team resources, please go to: www.walkmswashington.org

Welcome to the 2009 EMD Serono Walk MS You ll move. You ll be moved. Joining the movement as a Walk MS team captain with hundreds of thousands of people across the country is an experience like no other. Taking the first step to register as a Walk MS team captain moves us all closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis. Moving forward, this Team Captain Guide will help you keep your team organized and motivated, as well as provide some great tips for having fun while fundraising. 2009 EMD Sorono Walk MS April 4 & 5, 2009 Saturday, April 4th: Bainbridge Island Bellingham Kennewick Kitsap County Olympia Snohomish County Tacoma Sunday, April 5th: Seattle For more information, visit www.walkmswashington.org, or call 800 344 4867, press 2 We are people who want to do something about MS NOW About MS Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide. About the National MS Society The National MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. Our Mission Our mission is to improve the quality of life for everyone in our Chapter community who is affected by MS and to fund MS research into treatments and a cure. Your generous donations are making a difference in the lives of more than 8,500 people living with the disease and over 50,000 family members, friends and caregivers in Central and Western Washington. 1 2

Moving Together: 3 Simple Steps to Starting a Team Recruitment Tips As a part of the MS movement, you and your team are committed to a world free of MS. We re committed to you and the success of your team. 1. Recruiting Team members can be anybody friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors and they can all easily register as walkers online at www.walkmswashington.org. Whether you have a corporate team or a team of family and friends, be sure to ask everyone you know to join. 2. Raising Money Fundraising comes more naturally when you make it personal. If your team is walking for someone with MS, ask them if they would be willing to tell their story. Just be sure to follow that with a statement about how much progress we ve made in treating the disease. Don t forget to ask everyone who sponsors your team if their employer offers matching gifts! 3. Really Having Fun! Being a team captain is an opportunity to share a great experience with friends, family members or co-workers a community coming together for a common goal! As a leader, it s up to you to remind your teammates of why they registered. Walk MS can be more than a fundraising event it can be a celebration of how far we ve come together! 3 Get the word out! It only takes four people to start a team. Get three more people to join your team today! Tell your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Ask that each new team member recruit one or more people to join the team Send an email to everyone in your email contact list (see using the Participant Center, page 5) Post news about your involvement on your personal web page Get Company/Corporate Support! Ask the highest ranking person in your organization to send an endorsement memo announcing that he or she is walking with and/or supporting your team Remind company officials that participation is a great way to get the name and brand of your company in front of thousands of receptive customers and media in a positive light Ask your company to pay for T-shirts, with the benefit of promoting their logo If your company sends out newsletters or mailings, ask if you can enter a small promotion about your team Let the National MS Society help you! Take advantage of the resources online and the support of staff members to help with your recruitment. Schedule a visit by your Society representative to speak at a team kick off event or gathering, answer questions and provide updates about the event (see Contact Information, pg. 16) Request posters, brochures and flyers to spread the word Ask to speak with a Team Captain Veteran for advice and support 4

Raising $ Has Never Been Easier! Ten Great Things about Our Online Team Tools 1. Post your team pictures online 2. Include your company s logo 3. Set up a simple URL for your personal page 4. Set a fundraising goal that everyone can see and support 5. Download your team roster 6. E-mail your entire team at once 7. Track your team members fundraising progress 8. See your current team fundraising total 9. Track and thank your team gifts 10. Easily update your personal page and photo Simple Steps to Online Success Shoot High! Goal setting is a key factor in online fundraising. Set your goals high and challenge each team member to do his and her part. Last year, the average walk participant raised $180. You can do it! Set up your Team Page Your team page is your invitation to the world to become involved in the movement. We re here to help you reach your goal. Please let us know how we can help! By setting up a team page you are setting up your team for success. Make it Personal Include a picture of you or your team on your team page. Write the story of your team and how you are moving together toward a world free of MS. While there is sample text available for your use, nothing is more compelling than your own words. Provide Links to your Team Page Keep your page current to generate interest. Give updates on how close you are to your fundraising goal. Create your Personal Page URL Shortcut By doing this, you will be able to easily direct people to your personal page. Include a link to your fundraising page in the signature of your email. Recruit Members Online No need to collect paper or spend hours on the phone. Your team members can quickly and easily register themselves online. Have people join your team from your team page. Or, use the participant center tools to send a team registration link via e-mail. You can also download your Outlook contact list into the tool. Fundraise Online Now for the fun part! After you send your personalized e-mail out to all your friends, family and colleagues, you can watch your thermometer fundraising tracker. Our online tools also make it simple for your supporters to donate online. And you will recieve an email everytime your team receives an online donation. Encourage Team Members to use Online Personal Pages Once you see what the tools can do for you, encourage your team members to use them too. Make it fun by giving incentives to your team members to fundraise online a pair of movie tickets to the team member that raises the most in a week, or a gift card to every team member who gets at least five gifts online. Be creative and ensure that your team not only reaches their goals, but has fun along the way. 5 6

Troubleshooting your Participant Center: Resizing an Image 1. Open the image in your photo editing software (example: Microsoft Office Picture Manager). Use the program s resizing function. Resizing an Image Continued: 4. If not, you can delete the image and upload a different one. 2. Save the resized image using another filename so you don t permanently shrink your original image. 3. Go to your Walk MS Participant Center. Open your personal page for editing, upload your resized photo and save the changes. Importing your Email Address Book You can import your entire email address book into your Walk MS Participant Center. Be sure your email program exports the list to a comma-delimited file (.csv), and click on the Import Contacts button to begin. The onscreen help will walk you through how to export your address book from most major email providers. Simply browse for your file and click Upload Now. It s that simple! 7 8

FUNdraising Ideas Notepad FUNdraising Ideas: Host a cooking class at your house. If someone donates the food and the service, the amount you charge at the door will go toward your fundraising. Customize your participant center and send emails from it to friends and family inviting them to visit your personal team page and ask them to pledge. Change your voicemail message to mention your participation in Walk MS. Contact your Human Resources department and see if your ompany has a corporate matching program. Hold a garage sale and ask family and friends to donate items. Ask your favorite restaurant to donate a percentage of the night s profits to your team. You will be surprised at how many restaurants and bars are supportive of this, especially if you bring in customers on a week night. Coordinate a Pub Crawl: Find a few bars that would be willing to give you a discount or a keg. Charge people at the door or have the bar give you a percent of the proceeds at the end of the night. Raffle off items throughout the night. Host a scrap booking party: have the supplies donated by a local arts and craft store and charge admission at the door. Add a signature note to your personal/work emails that explains your involvement with MS and a link to your participant center so they can make a pledge to your team. Raffle a Day Off or Parking Spot: Ask your boss if he or she would be willing to donate a paid vacation day to the winner of the raffle. Sell the tickets for $5-$10 each to those who want to participate. For larger companies, you also might want to try to raffle off a covered parking space or spot right next to the door. Dress Down Day: This is a great promotion for those informal work environments. For a donation (i.e. $5 or more) an employee has the company okay to dress down for a specific day. For added exposure, create buttons or stickers that advertise your team and participation in walk MS for employees to wear as their pass for dressing down. Root Beer Float Party: Host a root beer float party in the break room at your office and invite everyone to attend as a thank you to those who are supporting you and an invitation to make a donation for those who haven t had the chance yet. This is a quick way to turn $30 into $1,000, a good way to promote your team and recruit sponsors and walkers. Be sure to invite all of your senior management. If they can t attend, save a root beer float for them in the freezer. They ll appreciate that you thought of them, and will be more likely to make a donation for your thoughtfulness. Covered Dish Lunch: Ask co-workers to bring a covered dish for a lunch party. Charge co-workers a fee (typically what they would pay for lunch at a local restaurant) as a donation to your team. Living Room Board Game Olympics: Hold a tournament of your favorite board game at your home. Get a local business to donate a prize. Charge a registration fee and have some fun. Polaroid Rally: Perfect for a group of creative people. Have everyone pay a registration fee and bring a camera. Create a list of items and places for each person to capture on film. Establish a start time and time limit. For added fun, put the photos together in a Power Point presentation to show how much fun it can be to be involved with your team. Rent a Person/Team: Offer yourself or your entire team for rent for a day. This can also work in a raffle. You can sell yourself and your team s services in the areas of babysitting, cleaning, house sitting, lawn care, handyman, car wash, moving, etc. Add your additional fundraising ideas here: 9 10

Advice from Veteran Team Captains What Should you do with the Money you have Raised? Here are three easy ways to turn in your pledges: Here are some key pointers from team captains who have been around the block a few times. Take their advice or feel free to come up with your own and share it with others! Ask for help: don t try to do it all yourself. Experienced team captains are willing to assist. Ask your assigned Society staff member for help or for information about the Team Captain Mentoring Program (see Contact Information, pg. 16) Become familiar with the Chapter s online resources and how they can help you manage your team. Print off team reports and contact information right from your participant center. Good volunteers make the event special for everyone. Recruit not only walkers but also volunteers to help with logistics; like team tent decorations and fundraising efforts (see FUNdraising ideas). Start Early: Don t try and cram your fundraising and recruiting into the month before the event. Fundraise throughout the year. Attend the functions facilitated by the Society. Don t be afraid to ask: ask everyone for anything. You will be surprised with what you will get in return: financial support, donations, walkers, volunteers and more. Get Creative: Find ways to get people s attention with mass emails, posters, inserts in paychecks, announcements at meetings, etc. Do everything you can to make it a fun event and the rest will follow. 11 1. Fundraise online! Pledging online is a quick, easy, no-hassle way for you to collect funds from friends, family and co-workers in your community and around the world. 2. Turn in your donations the day of the event using the pledge envelope that will be mailed to you prior to the event. 3. Mail or drop off donations at the Chapter office, see Contact Information, pg. 16 for the address. *If you are submitting a check that is made out to the National MS Society but should be applied to your fundraising total, please include your name on the memo line so that you will receive that credit. Splitting a Donation Between Multiple Walkers Teams often hold fundraising events for Walk MS and would like each team member to receive a portion of the proceeds. We are happy to help your fundraising efforts but please follow these guidelines: 1. The designation of funds (list amount and participant) needs to be included with the donation at the time it is mailed or turned in. 2. Funds being allocated must be at least $50 per participant. 3. Participants designated to receive funds must be registered at the time the donation is received. 4. Online recognition scroll will list the name of the fundraising party (if applicable) as the donor. For example, MS BBQ - $50 rather than all the names. 5. Retroactive designations are not allowed. Once a donation has been processed by the Chapter we cannot transfer or reassign it. Refunds can be issued but must be processed through our national office. *Thank you for helping us cut down on the staff time needed to process these gifts. This allows us to spend less on overhead and more on programs, services and research. Please contact your team coach, pg. 16, if you have any questions about entering your fundraising dollars online or by mail. 12

Celebrate Success at Your TEAM TENT You ve recruited them and raised money with them. Now celebrate with them! Join your team at your very own tent at the Walk MS Team Village. To receive Elite Team status, you must confirm your team fundraising pledge by March 6, 2009! To do so, email teamingup@nmsswas.org or call 800 344 4867, press 2, then enter extension 235. Strive to be an Elite Team! Your team can receive VIP treatment and earn special privileges for your fundraising efforts. Set a goal and go for it! All teams with 4 or more team members and a team fundraising total of at least $500.00 A free 5x7 photo of your team Bronze Team $5,000 and 20+ team members You can avoid the photo line by scheduling your team photo ahead of time Private 10x10 team tent for your pre and post walk party Silver Team - $10,000 and 20+ team members All the great benefits of the Bronze Team, plus Designated Team volunteer assigned to your tent to collect pledge envelopes, distribute t-shirts and answer questions Gold Team - $15,000 and 20+ team members All the great benefits of the Silver and Bronze Teams, plus Upgrade to a 10x20 Team Tent Private port-a-potty just for your Team! Platinum Team - $25,000 or more and 20+ team members All the great benefits of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Teams, plus Upgrade to a 20x20 Team Tent Private port-a-potty just for your Team! Diamond Team - $50,000 or more and 20+ team members All the great benefits of the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Teams, plus Trip for Team Captain to attend the 2009 National Team Captain Rally! 13 14

You have a Personal Coach! Whether you are a returning team captain or leading a team for the first time, you will have questions. Because you are the captain of your team, you will receive your team members questions in addition to your own. To make sure you have an easy way to receive the answers to those questions in the months ahead, we have preassigned you a Coach. Look below and find your walk site and see who your Society Staff member coach is. Bainbridge Island Bellingham Kitsap County Kennewick Snohomish County Bree Barnes 800 344 4867, press 2, then 235 Bree.Barnes@nmsswas.org Olympia Seattle Tacoma Sarah Kaiser 800 344 4867, press 2, then 232 Sarah.Kaiser@nmsswas.org Contact Us! Please turn in your pledges to this address: National MS Society Greater Washington Chapter 192 Nickerson St. Suite 100 Seattle, WA 98109 Phone : 800 344 4867 Fax : 206-284-4972 www.mswashington.org 16