If you’re thinking about signing up for Empire State Ride Long Island or you’re trying to convince friends to join you, you may have questions about fundraising. Your fundraising efforts fuel critical research that directly impacts the lives of cancer patients at Catholic Health Cancer Institutes on Long Island and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY. Every dollar you raise generates $13 in additional new research grant funding, meaning your support goes a long way.
It’s now easier than ever to join us for the summer event of the season. All you have do is raise $100 toward cancer research. Your registration fee counts toward that goal, and we have you covered with fundraising tips to help you with the rest.
Check out these words of advice from fellow cyclists and fundraisers.
1. Let your donors know their impact is huge.
“From a fundraising standpoint, it’s really important for riders to stress that every dollar you raise gets multiplied by 13. When you can show that financial impact, it is huge. People buy $10 worth of raffle tickets, for example, and it becomes $130 in grant research dollars. When you start putting it like that, it’s really easy for someone to give that $10. If you give me a hundred dollars, now it becomes $1,300 in grant research money. The power of that is amazing.”
– Shelley Unocic
2. Don’t be afraid to ask.
“My father always said, ‘If you don’t ask, all they can do is say no.’ Right now, what I do for fundraising for team GBY9 is mail out 400 letters. Anybody that I know gets a letter —my doctor, my lawyer, the cleaners, whoever. Anybody I know will receive a letter. And that’s how I do my fundraising.”
– Maria Thor
3. Remind people what it’s all about.
“I hit and bring to heart what it is really about. It isn’t really about the cycling, which is the fun part, but it’s about how we support the Roswell Park community and help with the fundraising for the clinical trial processes.”
– Richard Noll
4. Use your contacts.
“I use a very simple process. What I do is this: Every night at this time of the year, as I’m watching TV, I open my fundraising app and go into my phonebook, and I send personalized text messages with the link. Hey, Steve, it’s Rich. Hope all is well. As you know, this is my fifth year riding for Roswell. I would love your support again. I go through one letter of the alphabet every night. Then I go through my emails. Then I go back, and I start making personal phone calls.”
– Richard Noll
5. Give people something in return.
“Try to do things that people can actually get something else out of, as well. Instead of just asking them to hand over a donation, ask them to put money toward a dinner or raffle.”
– Erica Pompey
6. Team together.
“Everyone on our team went out and got donations. We purchased some things on our own and put baskets together. One hundred percent of those proceeds are going back to our team goal.”
– Shelley Unocic
However you choose to fundraise, we can’t wait to see you at the start line on July 23.
Read more about your impact.