4) As you receive donation money, record it in the Ledger Form (see Ledger Form below) and send the money to MS River Road Run 1901 Oakcrest Ave #10, Roseville, MN 55113 every 10-20 days. The sooner the money is sent to the MS Society, the sooner it can help the people with MS. It also helps the donor keep track of spending in their check book. It will also be easier the day of the Ride, not having to bring all of that money to Registration
5) Send an email to everyone in your email list in July. We use in the subject line: “Thank You for your donation to the MS River Road Run ”. That will entice everyone to open it. Here are the first two paragraphs that we use in the email, followed by the same pledge letter copied and pasted in the email.
6) Send out your Thank You Letter in early September. We wait until September, as we have some people that send money after the Ride. The next step is to relax for a month or two and then decide how you can improve your fund raising and continue adding more names to the list all year long and every year.
1) Create a list of all names and addresses of friends, relatives, co-workers, Christmas card list, people you do business with, such as the person that just replaced your carpet or a similar business. We use a loose leaf notebook with tabs. Do NOT leave anyone off of the list, let them decide if they would like to help you raise money. You may make someone unhappy if they find out they were left out and other relatives got a letter. They cannot say ‘YES’, unless you ask them for a donation (see Name & Address page below) Add to this list all year long. If someone does not send a donation in about 3 years, then remove their name from the list for a few years. After 3-4 years off the list, you may want to add them back on the list for your pledge letter, maybe their decision to donate has changed.
How to Raise Money for the MS River Road Run
3) Purchase a large box of envelopes. Print and send pledge letters in April or May, so that you have several months to promote the MS RRR (see Pledge Letter below).
Suggestions: Check with your local printer, to see if they will give a discount or free printing. Owatonna InstyPrints has provided us with many years of free printing. Print enough letters for mailing to everyone on your list, as well as many more to hand out to other people, especially the people that ask you for donations for their fund raising program. Attend Cycle meetings or a group get together and hand out letters. Buy postage stamps and keep the receipt for tax purposes. Unfortunately US Postal will not donate stamps. Maybe your work place will allow you to use their postage machine if they have a machine.
Submitted by Carl & Denise Wieman
2) Create a pledge letter, designed around how you have an involvement with MS or why you are raising money for MS. It does not require you to have a friend or relative to have MS. Be creative and write your own story.
MS River Road Run
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For some people, raising funds for any event can be an intimidating thing. Some dread the thought of approaching others for money - regardless of the cause. Well, it doesn't have to be that way, so we would like to help you learn how to lower your anxiety while raising money!
38th annual ride MS donations to date: $2,317,379