Welcome VisionWalkers! We are delighted that you are joining us for VisionWalk. Thank you for taking the first step towards making our event a great success. This packet is designed to provide you with the tools you need to make your experience fun, successful & rewarding. A team is a group of people who come together to support VisionWalk. It can be made up of family, friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, or members of your book club, place of worship, sewing club, etc. Your job is to motivate and encourage others to support your efforts by joining your team and promote VisionWalk. Forming a team is a fun way to raise money for VisionWalk. And, it s easy to do! 1. Register your team online. Go to www.visionwalk.org. Find the walk you want to join, choose a name for your team, and register. 2. Set a personal fundraising goal. As a Team Captain, you should lead by example set a high fundraising goal. 3. Ask your friends and family to join you as team members. Ask them to register online under your team and start raising money. 4. Tell your personal story Part I. Design your own fundraising page online. Tell everyone why you are participating in VisionWalk. You can even post photos! 5. Tell your personal story Part II. Write letters or send emails to friends and family asking them to support your efforts. Tell them how easy it is to donate online or send you a check. 6. Create your team identity. Create a team T-shirt, buttons, or hats for your team to wear on walk day. 7. Attend the Kick Off Event. You ll get all the instructions, inspiration, and materials you need to organize your walkers. 8. Stay in touch with your walkers. Stress the importance of fundraising to further the mission of FFB: finding the treatments and cures for people with retinal degenerative diseases! 9. Stay in touch with FFB staff. Let them know your fundraising challenges and successes. They can give you ideas that have worked for other teams and send you materials. 10. Attend VisionWalk. Make sure your team makes a big impact with colorful shirts or accessories. Don t forget to bring all donations to the walk.
Team Captain Checklist Use this checklist to ensure that you have completed all of the steps necessary to have a successful VisionWalk team this year! Register your team online at www.visionwalk.org. Set a fundraising goal. Sponsor yourself! Ensure that all team members have registered themselves online. Conduct a letter-writing campaign and set up your personal fundraising page on www.visionwalk.org. Involve your company/employer. Did you email your co-workers to join the team? Did you involve your boss to rally your company team? Does your company have a matching gift program? Put a VisionWalk message on your voicemail, email & Facebook page. Rally your team! Conduct an internal kick off at your company or invite your family/friend team members to a barbeque or picnic. Encourage all team members to be active fundraisers for retinal degenerative disease research. Have each walker set an individual fundraising goal. Email or call team members regularly to let them know the details of Walk Day. Create team T-shirts, buttons or a banner to increase your visibility on Walk day. Collect donations/matching gift forms to bring to the Walk. Attend VisionWalk!
Register for VisionWalk To register online: 1. Go to www.visionwalk.org. 2. Click on the blue Register button on the left hand side. 3. Choose the Walk you would like to participate in. 4. You can register in one of 3 ways: a. Start a New Team If you will be the Team Captain of a new team, choose this option. Name your team and start recruiting walkers! b. Join a Team If you ve been invited to join a team, choose this option. You ll need to know the name of your team to sign up with your teammates. Simply search the team name in the box on the screen, and then select join on the right hand side of the team name you are looking to join. c. Participate as an Individual If you ll be walking by yourself, choose this option. To register by mail or by phone: 1. Fill out this registration the registration form on the back and mail it to your local FFB office. Foundation Fighting Blindness 977 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 140 Vernon Hills, IL 60061 2. Call your local FFB Office at 847-680-0100. Form on back
TEAM COMMITMENT / VOLUNTEER INTEREST FORM Here is my contact information: Name: Phone #: Email Address: Mailing Address: City: State: Zip Code: I will be a Team Captain I will be a Team Member Our team name will be (complete if known): Our team goals are: # of Walkers: Dollars: (Ex: Number of walkers x $100) If you would like to support the Walk in other ways, please complete the form below. Yes, I am interested in supporting VisionWalk the following ways: Join the VisionWalk Fundraising Committee Help to get other people and businesses that I know or have connections with involved. Help to promote the Walk by scheduling a presentation by an FFB staff member at my workplace or to a group or organization that I belong to. Help to recruit companies or businesses in the community to sponsor the Walk by making a cash donation or donating good or services in support of the event. Volunteer to work the day of the Walk. Help in some other way. Please explain:
VisionWalk Fundraising - Have Fun and Raise Money! VisionWalk is a fundraising event and we need your help to reach our goal! Get started using the ideas below. Make fundraising a whole team activity work hard and have fun! Ask, ask, and ask again! Remember, you are asking for their support of the Foundation Fighting Blindness! People will donate to you because of your enthusiasm for the VisionWalk! Start a letter writing or email campaign. Tell your family, friends, coworkers and everyone you know why VisionWalk is important to you! Lead by example and be your own first sponsor. Then, ask at least one person a day to sponsor you in the VisionWalk! Bring VisionWalk brochures & flyers everywhere you go. Be ready to talk the Walk! Ask your friends to support VisionWalk by making a donation instead of purchasing a gift for your birthday, anniversary, or any occasion! Sell POP Eyes. Have a local store sell them at the register or sell them in your office. Encourage Virtual Walkers ask someone who cannot walk with you to help you collect donations. Put a VisionWalk message on your voicemail, email signature, and Facebook, etc. Take advantage of all the ways you can reach people. Find out if your company has a matching gifts program. Matching gifts can double your money! Suggest friendly competition between team members. Give your teammates a weekly challenge; 1 st to $100, 1st to recruit 2 new walkers, etc. Be sure to recognize the winners! Hold a personal fundraising event. Host a bake sale, car wash, yard sale, chili cook off, sports tournament, or an at home Dining in the Dark to support your team s fundraising. Sell sponsorships on your team t-shirts. When asking for donations, offer to put their name on your teams t-shirt if they donate $50 or more. Partner with a local restaurant to hold a VisionWalk Community Night where a percentage of the proceeds go to your fundraising. Buffalo Wild Wings, Culvers, and Noodles & Co are just a few of the many restaurants that offer these programs. Get your employer involved! Bring Casual for a Cause to your workplace or auction off the boss s parking spot just check with him or her first! Get your kids involved! Have your kids do a penny drive at school or run a cookie or lemonade stand. Every day, set a fundraising goal for yourself and beat it! If you have question or want to talk about your fundraising ideas, contact your local Events Manager
Your Personal Story: The Key to Fundraising Success Telling your personal story, either through a letter or an email, is the best way to raise money for VisionWalk. Why? Because asking is the key to fundraising and people give to people. Telling your story puts a face on your fundraising efforts. Steps to Telling Your Story: Your letter should be about 5 paragraphs and include the following elements. 1. Share your personal story to let people know why you are walking 2. Share information about the Foundation Fighting Blindness and VisionWalk 3. Ask them to support your fundraising efforts with a donation. State your personal fundraising goal. 4. Let people know how to donate 5. Thank people for their support (and send them a thank you note after the walk!). A sample letter is included in this packet to help you get started writing your personal story! How to Tell Your Story: Send a letter to family and friends. Try using your holiday card mailing list! Include a self-addressed envelope to make it easy for people to respond. To make it even easier, you could pre-stamp the envelope. Send an email to everyone in your email address book. Register for the Walk. Click Participant Center to get started. Or, from the main walk page, login and click My Participant Center. Click Address Book Upload your address book or enter addresses individually. Click Email and choose the type of letter you d like to send. A sample will be provided, but please add your personal touch. o Click preview to see what your email will look like. o Click send to deliver your email to friends and family. With your Support, a Cure is in Sight!
Dear Friends and Family, Sample Fundraising Letter/Email (insert your personal story here) As many of you know, I am affected with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a hereditary retinal degenerative eye disease which causes vision loss and eventually may lead to total blindness. I was diagnosed at the age of 41. My initial symptoms were the inability to see at night, especially while driving, and I had trouble seeing where the ball went while playing golf. Over time I have lost all of my peripheral vision, my below eye level vision and a certain amount of my central vision as well. Vision loss makes everyday tasks very difficult for me. At this time there is no treatment or cure and all hope lies in the hands of research. Retinal degenerative diseases have adverse effects on everyone they touch. In my case, I had to stop driving. With my limited vision, I was potentially a danger to myself and everyone else on the road. Since being diagnosed with RP, my vision has deteriorated to the point that I need assistance maneuvering around obstacles on the ground, the floor or furniture below eye level. I am almost totally blind when I enter a building after being outside in the daylight. I know many of you who go out in public with me have become quite adept at steering me out of harm s way and I do appreciate your help very much. This is where I really need your help. Research for all these retinal diseases is being made possible through the hard work and dedication of the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). The Foundation Fighting Blindness drives the research that will provide preventions, treatments, and cures for people affected by retinal degenerative diseases. Foundation-funded scientists are innovative leaders in the development of highly promising genetic, pharmaceutical, cell-based, and nutritional therapies. Recently FFB has initiated and funded the first EVER human clinical trials for LCA, a disease that causes blindness from birth, RP, my particular disease, and Macular Degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults over the age of 55. In the short time that I have been involved with FFB, I can honestly tell you that this wonderful research gives me real hope that a cure is truly possible and hopefully with your help, not too far away. This is why I am asking you to support our team, (Your Team Name), by walking with us at the (Walk City) VisionWalk at (Walk Location), on (Walk Date). Our team goal is to raise (insert goal here) for the walk. Please consider donating to this wonderful cause online at www.fightblindness.org/goto/yourpersonalurl. Or you can mail a check made payable to the Foundation Fighting Blindness to 977 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 140, Vernon Hills, IL 60061. Remember, no donation is too small or too large. Every little bit gets us one step closer to a cure. I sincerely hope that you can find it in your heart to help all of us who fight this battle every day. Thank you in advance for your friendship and support. I believe that with friends, relatives and colleagues like you, a cure is truly in sight. Sincerely, Your Name
Example VisionWalk Personal Fundraising Page
This is a great example of a personal fundraising page! Jim uploaded a photo, added his personal story, changed the color scheme and gave directions on how to donate. Check out our how to sheet in your packet.
VisionWalk Frequently Asked Questions & Answers Q: If I am part of a family, school, organization or company that is interested in organizing a team to participate in VisionWalk, who should be our team captain? A: The team captain should be the logical leader of the effort and the person who is willing to give the most time to the project. Often, the captain is the person affected by a retinal degenerative disease or their close friend/family member. Q: Can a team have more than one team captain? A: Yes, a team can have co-captains, however the team list at www.visionwalk.org will list the first person as the team captain. Q: What kind of support and instruction will a team captain receive from FFB? A: Team captains will receive all the support necessary to be successful! Your event managers are the best people to help field your questions, concerns and brainstorm for fundraising ideas. Team captains will receive a series of pre-walk progress reports that include team building and fundraising tips and other important information about the Walk. Don t forget to join us at your local Kick Off Celebration too! This is a must attend" for all interested walkers to learn more about VisionWalk and how you can make a difference. It s free, so bring everyone on your Team. We ve got lots of info for you to become successful Team Captains and well-informed Walk Ambassadors ready to "talk the walk." And don t forget to take home posters & brochures to paint the town VisionWalk yellow! Q: Does a team have to have a minimum number of walkers? A: No. There is no minimum size for a team. Some family based teams are as small as 2 or 3 walkers and others as large as 200 walkers. The same is true for business-based teams. Some may be as small as 3 or 4 walkers and the largest can be over 1,000 members. Q: How do I name my team? A: Many teams just use their family name (The Smith Family Team) or their business name (Merrill Lynch). Others are more creative (The Blind Man Group, The Optic Nerds, or Unite 4 Sight). Others simply name the team after the individual for whom they are walking, like Team Angie. Q: Can I walk if I don't form a team or not walk at all? A: Individual walkers are terrific. We think you will have more fun if you come as part of a team, but many, many walkers come as individuals. It's perfectly fine. Attendees are under no obligation to walk the route. VisionWalk a free event and everyone is welcome to join in our festivities whether they walk or donate. Typically our routes are 5K or 3 miles. Feel free to do all, part, or none of the walk.
Q: How does this raise money? A: The Walk Registration Brochure includes a sign-up sheet where a walker can gather supporters. We recommend that every walker write his or her own name on the first line and list their own donation, but this can be as modest or as generous as the individual can manage. There is no mandatory registration fee to walk, but we recommend each walker set a fundraising goal of at least $250. Check with your local event manager for tips on how to raise $250 in just 10 days! Online fundraising is our fastest and most effective method raising money for research. Statistics show that people donate 3 times as much using their credit card as they do writing a check. So turn what could have been a $25 check into a $75 online donation by registering today and customizing your personal fundraising page. Upon completion of registration, you will be directed to an area called My Participant Center. This is where you can customize your page, upload your address book of contacts, create and send email, and track your team s progress. If you have any questions at all about the online process, just call your local event manager for assistance. Q: Can a friend or I volunteer for the Walk? A: Absolutely! We will need lots of extra hands to help us in a variety of areas such as Registration, Refreshments, Water Booth, Walk Route Assistance/Crossing Guards, and more. If you are feeling ambitious, join us for Set-Up at 6:00 AM or Clean-Up at 12:30 PM. If you or someone you know would like to volunteer please contact your local event manager and keep in mind there are many areas to volunteer that will still allow you to walk with your family. Q: Is there any way to support the Walk besides fundraising? A: Yes! We can always use help with in-kind donations like snacks, bagels, and fruit for the Refreshment Area, paper goods like cups, napkins, paper towels, helium or party balloon kits, and gift certificates from your local grocers or Sam's Clubs. Q: How can I double my donation? A: Take advantage of your company's Matching Gift Program! Simply pick up this 1 page form from your HR Dept, fill it out, and send it to the FFB Office. Q: What happens if it rains? A: Bite your tongue! It's not going to rain! But even if it does, we'll still be at the walk site rain or shine. Stop by to pick up your t-shirt and hand in your donations, or mail them to your local event manager. Q: My friend is afraid to register as a Walker because he is worried about getting on mailing lists. A: During the registration process there is an option to receive or not to receive FFB mailings, both emails and postal mailings. Additionally, each email sent out through our system contains an "unsubscribe" link at the bottom.