I'm BACK TO DO IT AGAIN.

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You know those things where you’re thinking to yourself ‘gee, well I MIGHT be a bit crazy, but 'WHY NOT?!?’’ - that’s me most of the time. Ha. And I suppose this latest new goal basically solidifies my craziness.

I’ve signed up for a 100 miler on August 14th, 2020. And my big goal? Do it in 24 hours.

Oh, and my other big goal? Fundraise some money for my favorite non-profit, MS Run The US because well, why not?

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Once I committed to training for my first 100 miler, I thought back to my Relay experience in 2018 and how amazing of an experience it was to run for more than just me. Running is a very selfish sport (you have to take hours upon hours to train away from your family/friends!) and running a 100 miles just because didn’t seem right to me. I wanted it to be more than just running 100 miles in 24 hours- I wanted to connect with my new community, meet others who have been impacted by MS, and draw upon these experiences during my 100 mile race.

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I’d love to say that my big goal is to again fundraise $10,000, but that most likely is not possible given my very busy student schedule these next 6 months (ahem- HOW is it already only 6 months away?!?). BUT I want to see if I can get to $1,000 (maybe $10 from 100 people) and who knows beyond that. I have a few different fundraising ideas and hopefully can get those in motion within the next 3-4 weeks.

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I have my fundraising page up here and also have a Facebook fundraiser page as well if that is easier for you to donate.

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Maybe you’re unable to donate, but want to help me reach my goal in another way? AWESOME! I’d love to have anyone jump in with me for a few miles (it’s a 2.6 mile loop course - race website is here), help me with my fundraising campaign (help me get the word out- share it with co-workers, friends, family members), or come support me during my race!

It also happens to start the same day that the 2020 MS Run The US Relay Team finishes the entire relay in New York City! Coincidence? Maybe. But I’ll take whatever signs I can get.

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SO, that’s a new update from me and I promise I’ll start sharing my training recaps on Wednesdays beginning next week because not everyone trains for 100 miles and shares how they get it all done!



Fundraising Tips! How I Fundraised $10,581 for Multiple Sclerosis

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Happy Tuesday! I wanted to share with you some tips for how I ended up surpassing my fundraising goal for MS Run The US. I think it's so important to share with others regarding fundraising because when I first began my journey, I had NO idea how I could possibly raise this much money! I still am a bit shocked that I reached over $10,000 in my fundraising. I mean that is A LOT of MONEY! I'm on day 2 of my relay and hope to check in on Thursday or Friday with a post about how's it going so far!! I'm optimistic that I'll have a bunch of energy and freetime after running each day to write to you ; ) haha.. I guess we'll see! 

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OK so here are my TOPS TIPS for fundraising DO'S: 

  • DO make a list of 100 people and businesses you know. I did this right at the very beginning and while not everyone donated (and some people on the list were silly to write down...like my mom!), it helped me keep track of who I reached out to and if I had received a donation from them or not. 
  • DO reach out to your local grocery stores to do some tabling. This one really blew me away with how easy and effective it was! I think I raised almost a $1,000 just by sitting at a table outside our local grocery store for 3 hours on a few Saturdays!
  • DO reach out to local personal trainers/ fitness studios. This was where 2 of my fundraisers came from and while they weren't the best $ makers, I think both donation classes still ended up fundraising me over $500!
  • DO reach out to businesses more than once..twice...or three times! I think I *may* have received one donation from a business on the first attempt at asking, but most others it took me 3 or 4 TIMES of asking before I received a donation! I found that a lot of people just needed the reminder and wanted to donate, but forget to. I hated pestering them, but it really worked to my benefit. 
  • DO tell people your story. My biggest donation came from a donor who just happened to be at my work and I told him of my relay that I'm participating in and why. 
  • DO reach out to your local papers (AND hometown papers). My other biggest donations came from reaching out to my local (and hometown) papers. I actually had to reach out to my local paper FIVE TIMES before hearing back from someone. It was worth it. 
  • DO one fundraising event per month. Whether it was tabling, fitness donation classes, organizing a local 5k, giving Tuesday in November, these events helped me reach my goal and keep me on track. 
  • DO keep a monthly fundraiser goal tracker. Each month, I had my A, B, and C fundraising goals and worked my butt off with contacting/ reaching out to potential donors and keeping my friends/family informed with how my fundraising was going.
  • DO start a Facebook Fundraiser page and keep it up to date. $25 doesn't seem like a lot from one person, BUT I would update and post several times a week in my Facebook Fundraiser and that helped both current and future donors keep track of my progress. I would post training updates/ fundraising updates/ positives or negatives about a run I just did/ monthly mileage etc. It REALLY added up. I think I ended up getting over $2,000 just in Facebook donations!
  • DO update your supporters on social media channels regularly. This was a big one for people to keep track of my progress and have potential donors have a place to go to follow my journey! 
  • DO a garage sale. I had myself and my family put things on eBay that they wanted to get ride of and we made A KILLING! I think I received over $1,000 just by selling things that we didn't want anymore! Super easy and you get to clean out your junk as well : )

THINGS NOT TO DO:

  • DO NOT have a one and done mentality. I got over the fact that I was "bothering people" very early on because I realized that I wasn't really bothering them and that if they didn't want to donate, then they would let me know or just politely say 'thanks and we'll think about it' (then I'd follow up with them MULTIPLE times). 
  • DO NOT feel sorry for sharing your story. I had some people who gave me a fundraising tip of "sharing my story", which honestly seemed really vague to me. I've never been a big sharer of my life to strangers, but that's a big part of what fundraising is! SHARE your story and hone it in. 

How's your Tuesday going?!?

Any fundraising tips of your own?!?