Announcing MRF's Miles for Melanoma Program
Steve Farrell, a melanoma survivor, ran in the 2002 New York City Marathon and raised almost $15,000 for MRF's melanoma research program. Steve asked family members, friends and associates to make a pledge based on his completion of the 26-mile marathon. With a successful New York City marathon behind him (he did it in 3 hours, 38 minutes) and a tremendous success in raising funds for melanoma research, Steve is inviting all marathon runners to join his Miles for Melanoma Team.
Steve’s fundraising goal for the 2004 Miles for Melanoma program was $100,000 to fund a melanoma researcher!
MRF will provide you with information, direction and support. You will have an opportunity to talk with Steve on how he organized his fundraiser and to get your questions answered. We will also provide you with samples -- brochure, letters and ideas -- to help you attain your marathon and fundraising goals.
For people you know who make a donation to MRF in your name, we will send a personal thank you letter and, if they pledge $52 or more, we will send them a special Miles for Melanoma T-shirt. After your race, we will ask you for a photograph and information that we can share with others on our website.
Contact Bill Marsch today to sign up for your Miles for Melanoma. Bill can be reached at wrmarsch@earthlink.net.
Developing Your Miles for Melanoma Brochure
The most effective way to sell the Miles for Melanoma program and to ask others to support your fundraising efforts is to develop a brochure. It’s really easy. A copy of the brochure developed by Steve will be mailed to you. This became his basic solicitation document -- his way of asking people to support his run. You can use this format to create your own brochure. It would be helpful if you use a personal picture, especially of you participating in another marathon. You will need to personalize the brochure and put into your own words: “what, when and why” you are running. This is an important message.
Give some thought to a friend, family member or associate who is or works for a printer, or is in the public relations or advertising field, who could help you in developing your brochure.
This brochure also includes a pledge/donation form that can be filled out and either mailed directly to MRF or given back to you. Steve usually waited a few weeks, collected several forms and then sent the forms/checks to MRF in one batch. Donors should make the check payable to “Melanoma Research Foundation” and put your name on the memo line. (By doing this, we can provide you with a detailed report of everyone supporting your run. It also is a reminder to you to thank them as well.) Everyone making a donation in your name will be personally thanked by MRF. If their gift is $52 or more they will receive a special Miles for Melanoma T-shirt in about 3-4 weeks.
Once you are registered as a Miles for Melanoma Team Member, we will set up the donation tracking system for you.
The cost of printing 1,000 brochures (depending on how extensive you will distribute) can eat into the dollars you are raising. Steve went to a local printer and told him what he was doing. He solicited the printing of his brochure in exchange for having the printer’s logo, name and address on the back. It served as a charitable donation for the printer, as well as generated good will in the community. Not to mention free advertising!
Use the sample of Steve’s brochure as a model for setting up your own. Please note that it is essential to maintain the information on MRF and the Miles for Melanoma program, as well as the donation form, on your brochure. Also, the MRF’s new address is: 170 Township Line Road, Building B, Hillsborough, NJ 08844. (Do not use the former California address.)
Distributing Your Brochure -- As widely as possible
Obviously, for Steve, “Miles for Melanoma” was very personal, so he really didn’t care who received his brochure. He gave it to anyone and everyone he knew, and to people he didn’t know. He also enlisted his family as part of his “team.” The point: Distribute your brochure as widely as possible and involve as many friends, family members and business associates as possible.
What follows is a list you can start with. We’re sure you can come up with even more creative ways to get your brochure out. Let us know about different ways you distributed the brochure so we can share it with others.
• Your personal mailing list of friends and family members (e.g., your Christmas Card List). Steve’s experience: “Everyone close to us was very generous. They wanted to help since they couldn’t do anything when I was really sick from the treatments.”
• Teams and leagues in your community. Steve’s experience: “I coach soccer, T-ball and basketball in my community. The president of the league actually came up with the ideas of distributing it to the parents.”
• Store owners. You use services everyday. The dry-cleaner, the bagel shop, the barber shop, the gas station, etc. Steve’s experience: “Everyone was very open to putting the brochure on their counter, and many made a donation.”
• Community library and schools. Steve’s experience: “The library put them out and the schools also let me put them there.”
• Doctors/hospital. Steve’s experience: “I have a surgeon, two oncologists, a GP, a radiologist and two hospitals that I frequent. They all let me put brochures in their offices.”
• Business Associates. Steve’s experience: “This was very important. My company gave $500 and several other companies I do business with gave money. I literally gave it to anyone I encountered in my work. Several donors were also able to get matching funds from their companies to double the commitments.”
• Other ideas: Church bulletins, company publications, your family’s website, a separate message on your emails.
To support you, MRF will list your run in its newsletter and on its website. (Please note that the MRF newsletter is printed quarterly. We will do whatever is possible to include your run before the actual date.) We will also send one of your brochures to people on our mailing list within your general area.
Getting Your Miles for Melanoma Run Into Local Media
Steve Farrell was able to get his story and his run in the New York City Marathon into his daily newspaper (circulation - 175,000). You can also do the same if you are persistent in making your story and Miles for Melanoma a special human interest story. You need to be a public advocate about melanoma.
Steve called the daily newspaper and asked to talk to the sports editor or the reporter covering the marathon. Once he got someone on the telephone he related to him what the cause was and how it had personally affected him. He also told him something about melanoma. (MRF can provide you information on melanoma and a brochure on the foundation.) The result of this personal contact was a photograph and a story on the front page of the newspaper’s sports section.
Steve also called weekly community newspapers and found a similar response. If you would like MRF to work with you in writing a press release about your Miles for Melanoma run, please let us know. And if you have a friend, family member or business associate who is in the public relations or advertising business, ask them to help you write and place your story.
Please see the background statement on melanoma and the Melanoma Research Foundation as Sample #1.
Preparing Yourself for Your Marathon Run
We want to make sure that you are fully prepared for your Miles for Melanoma run. In addition to making your run a fundraising and public awareness success, you need to be physically prepared. We can offer some advice and counsel, but really depend on your personal experience in other marathons on how best to prepare. Please talk with Steve about his advice and counsel.
Register as a Miles for Melanoma Team Member
Once you have had an opportunity to review all of the materials and information we have sent you, and hopefully, after you have talked with Steve Farrell, please complete the registration form to join the Miles for Melanoma Team. As soon as this information is received and processed, we will add your name to the Miles for Melanoma Team and on the calendar on MRF’s website. You will also start receiving emails from MRF’s Miles for Melanoma Team.