Team Captain Toolkit 2016 - The Living Legacy Foundation

Dear Team Captain,
Congratulations on starting your team for the 8th Annual Donate Life Family Fun Run at Camden Yards Sports
Complex on October 1st. We are so grateful for your help in spreading the message of donation to family,
friends, coworkers, and even strangers!
We have created this Team Captain Toolkit to help you motivate and inspire others to join your team and raise
money to support The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland. We can’t do this without you, so let’s get started!
Inside your kit you will find numerous promotional items including:
The Team Captain Packet you are reading right now.
A Sign-Up Sheet to help solicit new team members. Hang this in your workplace or use it at home to
keep track of those on your team. Once people sign up, email them the link to register online. Make
sure you include your team name!
Tri-fold table tents to help promote the event at your workplace, favorite coffee shop, gym, or
anywhere else you see fit. These pieces can be configured to either hang flat on a bulletin board or sit
in a triangle on a counter.
Fun Run business cards. These will come in handy as you find yourself out and about talking about
your team. Write your team name on the back and start recruiting people to join your team!
Postcards and magnets. These are tools to use anywhere and everywhere. Have a favorite coffee
shop? Ask to put them out. Add them to your office cafeteria tables, fridge, or at your desk.
A Sponsorship Packet for you to approach your work, favorite business, or business-savvy friends for a
sponsorship. We have some truly amazing benefits this year and we are so grateful to have your help
in seeking out partners for our event.
You can also find additional resources online. Head to the Fun Run website www.donatelifefunrun.org where
you can download and print flyers, donation tracking sheets, promotion and fundraising tips, and graphics to
share on social media.
Let us know if you need anything else - we’re here to support you! Please feel free to contact us by email at
familyfunrun@thellf.org or by phone at (443) 833-1076.
Thank you!
About the Donate Life Family Fun Run
If you are new to the Donate Life Family Fun Run, welcome! And
thank you so much for participating! We’re looking forward to a
great time celebrating life, honoring our donors, and spreading
awareness about donation.
As in previous years, our race has some unique features that we are
really excited about:
• Our “Run/Walk from Home” registration
option is a perfect alternative for those who would like to join
your team but cannot attend the actual race. When someone
says, “I’m busy that day,” tell them about this option! Those
who sign up in this category will still pay the $25 registration
fee and will receive a Fun Run t-shirt in the mail. This is a
great way for everyone near and far to show support for
donation!
• We will once again be hosting a post-race party
including food trucks, vendors, entertainment, and activities
for both kids and adults! Encourage your team to stick around
and make a day of it! You are welcome to bring your own food
& beverages as well, however, no grills or cooking devices are
allowed.
• For all the teams that create t-shirts, you’ll have a place to
show them off at T-Shirt Row. We ask all Team Captains
who customize their shirts to bring an extra one to hang up.
After the race, be sure to see all of the creative ways
participants remember and honor their loved ones. (All
participating team captains will receive one extra t-shirt just
for this reason).
Team Recruitment &
Motivation Tips
•
Start early and set objectives and deadlines for your team’s size and fundraising goals. Use your personal page through the
Donate Life Fun Run website to do this. Make sure you personalize your page with your story and photographs.
•
It’s important to be specific and ASK, ASK, ASK! Ask anyone and everyone to join your team. Feel free to invite team members
using the “Invite” option on your personal fundraising page. Make sure they know about the Run/Walk from Home option!
•
Spread the message through social media! Use our Facebook cover photos and images to let everyone know you are recruiting
team members and donations! These are available through the Resources page on our Fun Run website.
•
Send emails asking for monetary donations with links to your personal fundraising page. Remember to share your personal
connection to donation.
•
Send out thank you notes or emails, especially when you reach big milestones! Make everyone feel appreciated and let
them know their hard work is paying off as you work towards meeting your goal!
•
Show your team pride by creating custom posters and signs to carry at the Fun Run.
•
Decorate your team t-shirts with photographs, artwork, quotes, or memories in honor of a donor or recipient. Make sure to bring
one extra t-shirt to the Fun Run to display on T-shirt Row.
•
Build a pyramid. Ask each person you recruit for your team to invite three more people to join. You’ll find your team growing
quickly!
Did you know proceeds from the Donate Life Family Fun Run benefit not
only our community outreach programs, but our donor families as well?
Team Recruitment &
Motivation Tips (continued)
•
Follow up with people. It’s okay to send more than one email or message if someone hasn’t responded. Make sure the reason
for your ask and your personal connection to the cause is clear.
•
Set up an event in your community, church, or workplace where a representative from The Living Legacy Foundation can come out
and talk to your group about donation. After the presentation, ask attendees to join your team and help spread the message.
•
Ask your workplace or businesses you have a connection with to sponsor the Fun Run or join your team! Some workplaces
offer matching donation programs. One of our favorite ideas is to get your workplace to go casual on a Friday if employees pay $5 to
your team!
•
Rock green attire, a Donate Life bracelet, or a past Fun Run shirt as a conversation starter when you are out and about, even in
the office! Make sure you have your business cards on hand!
•
Keep your team informed. Just because someone signed up doesn’t mean they should be off your radar. Set up weekly or
monthly emails to current team members encouraging them to recruit others and donations.
•
Finally, HAVE FUN! This event is for the community. We want everyone to come out and enjoy themselves. Yes, we want to inspire
others, but we also want to have a fun event celebrating organ and tissue donation in Maryland.
Fundraising Incentives
•
Each Team Captain with more than ten members on their team will receive a Fun Run lanyard.
•
Each individual who raises $100 or more will receive a Donate Life Gift.
•
Each individual who raises $1000 or more will receive a Donate Life embroidered jacket.
•
For every 25 people recruited to your team, the Team Captain will receive a $10 gift card to Donation Merchandise (an online retailer of
donation merchandise).
•
The Team Captain of each team who raises $1000 or more will receive a Donate Life embroidered jacket.
T-Shirt Customization & Early Pick-Up
All registered participants receive a free Family Fun Run t-shirt. Teams are encouraged to customize their t-shirts to
honor a loved one or to celebrate the gift of life they or a loved one have been given. In the past, we have seen many creative and touching t-shirt
designs and we continue to keep one side of the race t-shirts blank to allow this tradition to continue.
If your team chooses to customize your shirts, please also create an extra for us to display on T-Shirt Row. Custom shirts
will be hung for race participants to view in memory of a donor, in celebration of a recipient, or in support of someone who is waiting for a lifesaving transplant. This has become one of the most touching displays at our event and we hope you will choose to participate.
Team Captains will be allowed to pick up their Fun Run t-shirts early. Please pick up shirts early only if you will be
customizing the actual race shirts. If you plan on creating and using completely different shirts for your team, let your team members pick up
their shirts with their bibs. Early t-shirt pick-up is for Team Captains only and does not include the registration packet. All team members will
still have to get their bib, timing chips for the race separately. This can be done at early race pick-up (open to all participants) or at registration
on the morning of the Fun Run starting at 7 am.
From September 12th – September 16th, Team Captains can pick up their team t-shirts at The LLF office
between 9am-7pm. TEAM CAPTAINS MUST RSVP TO COMMUNITY OUTREACH (communityoutreach@thellf.org or 443.833.1076) to pick up
their shirts. If you do not RSVP, your shirts will not be ready. Please give 24 hours’ notice and include the date and approximate time in your
RSVP. The LLF Office is located at 1730 Twin Springs Rd. Suite 200, Baltimore, MD 21227.
Did You Know?
o More than 3,800 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant in the state of Maryland.
Nationally, that number exceeds 120,000.
o The LLF was humbled to serve more than 1,900 donor family members in 2015.
o More than 90% of people support organ and tissue donation, but only about 50% are actually
registered.
o On average, a Marylander is twelve times more likely to need a transplant than to
become a deceased donor.
o Last year’s largest Fun Run team was 100 people! Bravo Team “The FOG (Friends of Gene)!”
o In 2015, the Fun Run raised over $200,000 in donations to support our community outreach efforts
and family services.
*Please remember, as we share this data that there is a story behind each number: a person, a family, a
community of people who are affected by donation. The numbers are significant, but even more inspiring
are the stories of life, second chances, and the generosity of organ and tissue donors.
Please help us spread the word about Fun Run by following us on social media and sharing images on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and anywhere else you like!
Head to the Fun Run website www.donatelifefunrun.org where you can download these and others fun graphics
from the Resources page.
Thank you.
We are constantly humbled by every donor family who, on the worst day of their lives, finds it in their hearts to create a miracle for a
stranger out of their own tragedy. We are so grateful to the many individuals who support our mission in our community; the nurse on a
busy unit who works tirelessly to help support a donor case; the Funeral Home Director who helps facilitate the process; and the MVA
employee who first asks that important question, “Do you want to be an organ donor?” The commitment of our staff and community
partners is overwhelming.
For some, the Donate Life Family Fun Run may just be another 5k, but to us, the event means so
much more. For this and everything else you do to support our life-saving cause, we thank you.