Relay 4 Life- Invitrogen Eugene

Fundraising idea #1- Contacting Friends & Family

The first fundraising tip listed on the website is:

• Sign up on this Web site to Relay Online! Once you have registered, you can start sending emails to friends and family. Then, sit back, relax, and let the donations roll in!
  
  
• Go the tried and true route and mail letters to everyone telling them about Relay For Life and ask them to mail a donation within 10 days. Consider including a self-addresses stamped envelope to make it easy for people to donate. Ask your Relay For Life Committee for sample letters, and make sure to include your own story as to why you are participating.

I really can't see sending letters with a stamped return envelope to people I know. I understand some people might be comfortable with that idea. I'm just not. I went with emailing. Somehow it feels more personal. I may include a brief snippit about the fundraiser during my bi-monthly update that I send to friends and family, but I think most would be offended at a self-addressed stamped envelope ;)

Here's the email I sent to a select group of my friends and family:

Hi all!
I'm sending this to everyone whom I thought might be interested.

I'm participating in the Relay for Life through work.

From the website at :
http://www.acsevents.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=141982&lis=1&kntae141982=254DAEED338E47B9847264DA5AA93B4F

"July 28-29 2006 noon to noon
Lane Community College

Relay For Life® is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money to help the American Cancer Society save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer, and empower individuals to fight back against this disease. During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds, or parks and take turns walking or running laps. Each team keeps at least one team member on the track at all times.

Relay is much more than a walk around a track. It is a time to remember those lost to cancer and celebrate those who have survived. It is a night for people who have shared the same experience to comfort and console one another.

Relay gives you the power to help accelerate the Society’s advancement toward a future where cancer doesn’t take the lives of our friends and family."

I'm not sure if many of you know, but I lost my Grandmother to cancer a few years ago. It was a really hard loss. I had helped care for her in conjunction with my Mom and hospice for the year and a half before her death. She went slowly and painfully- a horrific way to die.

Part of why I've enjoyed working for Molecular Probes, now owned by Invitrogen, has been because of its role in disease and drug research. The company has been a huge supporter of charitable organizations, as well as supplying detection technology to research organizations around the world.

I would LOVE for local friends and family to sign up and be a part of the Invitrogen Eugene team. You would be involved with fundraising and would take a section of time to walk during the event. Information on joining our team can be found on our blog site here:
http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/2006/03/join-up.html


If you're not interested or able to join the team, you could also donate here:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=141982&lis=1&kntae141982=8E7B60AF8D70432DB473CA9EEAD1155F&supId=121056576
They take credit/debit cards with a $10 minimum. Anything less can be mailed to me at my home address, which most of you have (email me off list if you need it again.)

If you don't have the time or funds to do either, I totally feel ya. You can keep track of our progress and what we're doing with this event on our blog site at:

http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!
Brandy

Painless, and hopefully they won't hold it against me to solicit funds for the project.

posted by Brandy @ 2:06 PM