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Publicity - Pre and Post Event

Try to publicize in the following places pre-event:

Campus Newsletters/Newspapers.

Posters around campus.

A local newspaper.

Get mentioned on local TV.

Create videos on a YouTube Channel.

Spread the word on Twitter.

Post-Event Publicity

Campus Newsletters/Newspapers.

A local newspaper.

Get mentioned on local TV.

Create a video with pictures from the event.

Tweet and share photos or memories from the event. 

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Transitioning

As the Collegiate and High School Relay season comes to an end, we have some suggestions for transitioning to new leadership.

Meet with old and new leaders to discuss how the event went.

Pass along any materials used for the event.

Leave notes for your new event leaders with suggestions and help.

If possible, help choose the new event leaders based of criteria such as commitment, work ethic, and leadership ability. 

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Recapping Your Event

As the month of April comes to a close, so do many of our campus Relay events in the Lakeshore Division. This year has been a very successful year for the Lakeshore Division campus events so far and we applaud you for all of your hard work that has gotten us closer to finishing the fight. But when your event makes it to your closing ceremony and reveals your final fundraising total that doesn’t mean that your 2014 Relay season is over just quite yet! Though the weeks - more like MONTHS - of intense preparation leading up to your event were a lot of work, there are still some important wrap-up steps that each committee should take to set next year’s event up to be another success.

Thank everyone involved. From your amazing team captains, to your rocking entertainment, to the caring companies that sponsored the event, make sure no one involved goes un-thanked! These individuals coming together for the cause are the reason your event was such a great success. We want to make sure that they receive the proper recognition. Hand-written personalized thank you cards goes a long way and is the perfect opportunity to invite them to stay involved next year!

Recruit talented team captains. Time and time again we see that highly involved team captains make great committee members. These individuals bring a fresh perspective to your event being new to the committee and having experience your event from the eyes of a team captain. So think back to those individuals who came to meetings throughout the year or maybe planned their own amazing team fundraisers before Relay, and make the ask right now! This will make recruiting next year’s committee that much easier.

Relay Recap. It is crucial to spend time with your committee shortly after the event recapping while it is still fresh in your mind. Plan a meeting dedicated to talking about the strengths and weaknesses of this year’s event and brainstorming ideas for next year. Right after your event is the best time to do this while your committee is still on a high from this year’s success and eager to start planning next year. Write it all down somewhere - we suggest a Google document - where next year’s committee can reference it during the heart of Relay event planning. And don’t forget to get feedback from your teams, volunteers, vendors, and entertainment too! Gathering everyone’s input will allow you to compile an amazing list of idea that will help your committee craft an even better event next year.

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On Site Fundraising

​It’s that time again, time for another fundraising post! Hopefully this will be a pretty quick and easy one, as fundraising tends to be a slow and boring topic. ​ While a majority of the money raised at your event will come from pre-event fundraising by your participants, one of the best ways to beef up your fundraising total is through day of event fundraisers. Some general examples include a Ms. Relay competition in which guys dress in drag as “Ms. Relay” and go around the event collecting money for whoever did the best job. At the end of the allotted time, all the guys come back up to the front and count the money. ​ Another option that requires minimal effort and pretty much everyone enjoys is making sure you have vendors at your event. What student doesn’t like food? If you can find vendors who are willing to donate their food, or at the very least share some of the profits from the night to your event, you’ll be making that little bit of extra cash in no time. ​The final idea I’ve heard of events doing is actually setting up a laser tag field. www.lasertagsource.com rents out laser tag equipment for easy set-up and disassembly. I’ve also heard of events that have contacted laser tag source about the fundraising nature of their event and have gotten the equipment donated! Charge participants a few bucks to play and maybe event make a bracket of teams and you’re ready to go! ​ Pay as you go fundraisers such as laser tag are popular. Some events have had pie tins full of whipped cream they sell so that participants can try to get a pie in the face of their friends, and many events use the school faculty as targets for these pay as you go fundraisers. Just remember, make sure you remind participants to bring money with them to the event!

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Setting Yourself Apart from Average

Events are quickly approaching across the Lakeshore Division! We know that after events, elections occur for the following year to create the committee that will plan the next Relay for Life! How do you make yourself stand out from the rest of the crowd in the time leading up to those elections?

We have created a prezi to tell you simple ways to put your name out there while also helping the entire committee!

Click this link to view it: http://prezi.com/jxhtnyihk0tm/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Our favorite tips from the Prezi are:

*Learn to say thank you!

(You never know what a thank you can do! Maybe in the future that person will be willing to help out again when you are in dire need!)

*Never be afraid to ask for help!

(The best leaders know how to ask for help when they are in over their head!)

Share the Prezi with your friends, organizations, and committee members!  Let our leaders grow!

And always remember, A LEADER IS A DEALER OF HOPE!

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Having A Successful Survivor Dinner

Having a Successful Survivor Dinner

The Survivor Dinner in any Relay For Life event is perhaps the biggest way to connect with the Survivors present at the event. However, because Survivor and Caregiver recognition is often overlooked, committees sometimes do not put as much effort as is needed into a Survivor Dinner. It is very important to include a Survivor Dinner as the main component of the “Celebrate” portion of Relay For Life’s motto. After all, Survivors and Caregivers are the heart of why we Relay!

Here are some tips on how to improve your Survivor Dinner and make it a meaningful experience for your event’s Survivors, Caregivers, and committees!

Planning

The first step to planning is having people to do so. Make sure a Survivorship committee has been set up by your event! Members who have experience with that part of Relay are ideal, but new people also bring new ideas!

Invite Survivors at the beginning of the Relay season! Sometimes committees get so caught up in planning that they forget the most important part of the Dinner-the Survivors themselves.

Send out invitations and reminders multiple times: many people can forget about something they committed to in September once April rolls around. This is also an opportunity to reach Survivors who haven’t planned to attend yet.

The Location

Determine the location way ahead of time and coordinate with the person in charge of renting out space at your campus.

Double check that your plan is still on track at multiple points throughout the year. Again, it is easy for people to forget plans that were made months prior!

Do not worry if you can’t find a “nice” room that is big enough for your Dinner. It is easier than you think to dress up a room! Go for function over fashion and look into decorations later.

Try to choose a location that is convenient and relatively easy to find. The last thing Survivors and Caregivers need is to miss their Dinner because they can’t find it! This will also make it easier on your committee when setting up for the event.

Keep in mind transportation as well. Will you need to provide a shuttle from the dinner to the Relay event or can survivors get to each another way?

Food

If your school has decent food, look into getting it donated directly from there! It will be standard for the Survivors and Caregivers and easier for your committee.

If you don’t feel comfortable giving your Survivors and Caregivers the food available on campus, it is often possible to get large quantities of food donated from restaurants like Olive Garden.

Another idea may be to approach smaller catering companies that are trying to expand their business. Your event could be great community advertising for their company!

Remember that many people have dietary restrictions; have options for attendees that are vegetarian or gluten-free. This is easier to do if food comes from a standard source, like a restaurant.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

Almost all events present Survivors, and oftentimes Caregivers, with a special gift at the end of the Dinner.

Committees can use their gifts as gifts to the Survivors. This eliminates the need to seek out additional items and spend additional money.

A gift will be valued by most people more for the thought put into it than the money spent on it. Something handmade (well) by your committee is a viable option.

An idea some events have used is a gift that can be added to each year a Survivor or Caregiver attends the Dinner. For example, a photo frame with spaces for medallions that indicate years attended.

Encourage Relay participants to invite Survivors and Caregivers they know. Getting the whole campus in on it will increase the numbers of attendees!

Most importantly, remember why the Survivor Dinner is held in the first place. Take time away from the craziness of running your event to connect with the Survivors and Caregivers who come to the Dinner. Talk to them about their experiences and let them know how important they are in finishing the fight.

If your event has yet to start a yearly Survivor Dinner, now is the time! You can use these tips as a baseline for what an event needs to get one going. Whether your Survivor Dinner is well-established or non-existent, there is always room for growth!

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Ways To Fundraise

Your American Cancer Society representative has many tools to help with fundraising such as scratch cards, suns and moons to sell, and various other resources. Also reach out to local business to do a percent back day or night.

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Team Recognition

Hello everyone!

Our Team Development chairs have been working very hard on this new toolkit and are excited to share it with you! It’s all about Team Recognition. We’ve noticed a common problem among all Relay events of keeping teams motivated and keeping them inspirited to fundraise and be active in the Relay For Life events! One of the best ways to keep motivation and inspiration is to regularly recognize teams and individuals for their hard work! 

In this toolkit there are many ideas on easy ways to recognize teams before, during, and even after the Relay event. Making sure to hit all three of these is important to keeping teams happy and motivating them to come back to your event the next year! These ways that we’ve found to recognize teams and individuals come at little to no cost to you! They can be as simple as a social media shout out on things like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, to offering small gifts of appreciation that could potentially fit the theme of a holiday [like Relay valentines]. Check out the link below to gain access to this toolkit! Best of luck in all of your work to finish the fight!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/308396852630367/418296684973716/

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Leaders vs. Bosses

Are you a LEADER or a BOSS?

Ever feel like you are always telling your committee or club members what to do? Ever feel like sometimes the only thing you hear is your voice at meetings?

In lieu of it being 2014, here are 14 quick ways to make sure you are leading your committee rather bossing them around!

In Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society we strive to inspire and educate volunteers to be the next generation of leaders.  These group dynamics create the strongest bonds and events! Read through our list and let us know if you can come up with anymore!

1.       Leaders teach, bosses dictate.

2.       Leaders see the big picture, a boss gets lost in the fine details.

3.       Leaders inspire, bosses promote fear.

4.       Leaders love to listen, bosses like to talk.

5.       Leaders want to collaborate, bosses dictate.

6.       Leaders emphasize the WHY, bosses outline the WHAT.

7.       Leaders see experience, bosses see profit (the goal amount).

8.       Leaders enable, bosses disable.

9.       Leaders coach, bosses criticize.

10.   Leaders serve for a purpose, bosses manage to an end.

11.   Leaders inspire with caring and empathy, bosses demotivate with impassiveness.

12.   Leaders say “we”, bosses say “I”.

13.   Leaders admit mistakes, bosses know everything.

14.   Leaders earn respect, bosses demand respect.

To be a leader, you don’t have to have a committee or executive board position.  Everyone can lead.  Every one of our volunteers is training to be a leader.  Take this advice and share it with your team, organization, or event to strengthen them! Together, we can be LEADERS in FINISHING THE FIGHT!

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Making the Ask

Fundraising… the dreaded word that make most students think twice about participating in their Relay. We on the committee know that $100 is really no tall task, but how do we express that idea to participants and possible participants? While there is no easy answer, there are certainly quite a few ways to tackle the idea of fundraising.

First, it seems that very few people understand just how easy it is to send out emails. Many participants, myself included, simply take their parents contact list. Send to everyone from relatives to long lost family friends to family physicians. You never know who might be willing to donate until you ask, so don’t miss that opportunity.

Once you get a list of potential donors, it’s time to actually make the dreaded “ask”. Always remind participants that these Relay website comes with a pre-written template to make “the ask”. It’s really as easy as finding contacts, choosing the template, and signing your name. For most participants, this is as far as it goes, but for the few outliers, we highly recommend that you personalize the email. Personalization is a great way to make sure that the person you’re asking finds the ask to be genuine and sees that this is a cause you’re incredibly dedicated to, making it a much more effective ask.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, make sure you send all your donors a thank you email! Remind them how grateful you are for their donation and show them the incredible things that the American Cancer Society is doing with their money.

While this may seem like some boring stuff, it’s important that we remember that everything the Society does relies on fundraising, and because of that it’s so crucial that we remind participants how easy it can be.

Don’t fret, coming soon will be the more unique ways to go about fundraising!

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Why you should have 15 people on a team.

Hello Relayers!

With events coming up quickly it’s important to have a strong team that is ready to finish the fight! It’s recommended that around 15 people be signed up per team. That doesn’t mean it’s required to have 15-you can have more or less! These fifteen people can be easy to find! On a college campus, you can recruit hallmates, friends, or even register a student organization! Having around 15 people per team is beneficial in many ways, but here are four important ones!

1. Having 15 people means having 30 helping hands! It greatly decreases the stress of a team captain when there are more people helping out. It makes it easy to delegate tasks out to individuals, and chances are everyone is going to be doing something they are good at! This is especially great for the day of Relay because people can work in shifts and give others some ‘down time’ to recharge!

2. Having 15 people means that there is a ton of creativity floating around in the team. You can work together to come up with unique ideas for fundraising, awesome table decorations, and on site fundraisers!

3. Having 15 people means there are many people that can be reached out to for donations! It’s a fact that the more people you have on your team, the easier fundraising and finding donations for your team will be. It’s easy to pool resources and reach the maximum number of people possible.

4. Having 15 people means that you are directly connected with those people and working towards a common team goal. These members will be able to offer support, guidance, and a helping hand if you are struggling. They are also there to help boost you up and congratulate you on making your personal goal or helping to achieve the team goal! Basically, they become your little Relay family, and they are there to help you in any way they can. If you push hard and believe in your cause, others will see that and want to help you!

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Encouraging Fundraising

Hello, Relay Leaders!

As our events draw closer, we enter into the peak of fundraising season.  Since fundraising is the key to Finishing the Fight, it’s important that we use our influence as Relay Leaders to encourage fundraising amongst our committee members, teams, and individual participants.

1.  Be the example:  As an ACS volunteer, you play a pivotal role in Relay’s presence on your campus.  Participants (and would-be participants!) look to you as an example of how to fundraise enthusiastically and effectively.  When people ask “how do you do it?”, always be willing to help and offer suggestions.  Be sure to stay vocal about your fundraising successes (online, in meetings, etc) to encourage some healthy competition and keep fundraising on the minds of all your participants!

2.  Promote the mission:  We’ve all heard it: “The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.”  Although the mission statement may seem like old news to us, it is the true reason we fundraise.  Every dollar raised goes toward helping the ACS Finish the Fight against cancer.  Make sure your Relay participants remember that!  We’re raising money for something that truly matters, so we shouldn’t be embarrassed or nervous to fundraise.  After all, the worst answer you can get is a “no”.  

3.  Simplify it:  For some Relay participants, fundraising can seem like an overwhelming task.  Make it simple!  Tell them to set a goal ($100 is always a good starting point).  Then break it down: Ask 10 people for $10, or 5 people for $20.  Cut out Starbucks for a month, and put that money towards your fundraising total.  Put $5 away every week until the event.  Simple things like that can make that $100 goal a little less intimidating.

Best of luck in your fundraising this season!

--Krissy & Caroline

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Survivors and Caregivers

First and foremost, we want this page to help you and your event expand and strengthen your survivor and caregiver bases! To do that, you’ll see articles on a wide variety of topics: everything from recognition to the Survivor Dinner to new programs that ACS is trying out. Ideas are great, but we hope to actually help you put these suggestions into practice! Because we are from a high school and a college event, respectively, we will be able to tailor ideas more specifically to each event and help make them a reality. We are here to help you get what you need to be successful, so please do not hesitate to ask us for anything you need!

What we would like to see from you all is pretty easy: take these ideas back to your committees and discuss if they could be beneficial to your events! This blog isn’t about us-it’s about Relays from Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, so we would love to hear some of your ideas, too! If your event comes up with a great recognition plan or a cool activity to get survivors and caregivers involved with, let us know. We hope to share ideas from the three states and really get the creativity flowing.

Survivors and caregivers are what make Relay For Life such a huge event across the country (and the world!). They are why we Relay! Make this the year to boost that part of your event!

Lauren and Hannah

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Ceremonies

There are many important aspects on the day-of your Relay: the activities, the food, the performers, but the part that really brings home the mission of the American Cancer Society and reminds people why they are there is the ceremonies. Together the opening, fight back, luminaria, and closing ceremonies function to remind people of those who have won the fight, those who are still fighting, those we have lost, and what more we can do. They inspire and encourage people and are often what people remember the most after the event. It is essential to put on ceremonies that will make the most impact so people will continue coming back to Relay for Life year after year.

Each ceremony should be long enough to get the main point across but short enough that participants do not loose attention. Try for a length of about 20 minutes for most ceremonies; this gives enough time for an introduction, one or two inspirational speakers, and a call to action. If you have too many parts to a ceremony it takes away from each individual, you want to highlight a small number of inspiring parts instead of overwhelming and boring participants with numerous stories and calls to action.

When looking for speakers, find specific ones for each ceremony. The opening ceremony should have a survivor or caregiver who is articulate and motivational, their job is to get people excited to be at Relay, to remind them why we’re fighting, and to jump start the event. Fight back speakers should inform people what more they can do in the fight, maybe find a cancer researcher or someone who has experience in going beyond Relay for Life and doing more. The luminaria ceremony is, usually, by far the most moving and important part of a Relay.  Look for speakers who are passionate and extremely dedicated to the cause. These speakers must honor those we’ve lost while giving people hope that there may be a time when no more people will die from this disease. Speakers for the closing ceremony must bring the entire event home, summarize why we’re there and how we’re helping, and encourage people to continue Relaying and fighting against cancer.

Beyond speakers, ceremonies can have fun events attached to them. The opening ceremony is usually followed by a survivor and caregiver walk, honoring those who have won their battles or who are still fighting. During fight back you can include a fun activity that gets people moving, maybe a dance lesson, to encourage people to start fighting harder and to change their own life styles. Include musical performances in the luminaria ceremony to inspire people and to give them time to recover from the speakers. The closing ceremony should have a call to action at the end, getting people pumped up to continue the fight through out the year.

The ceremonies can be altered to fit each individual Relay. Pick speakers and activities that you know will resonate most with your participants. Most importantly, make ceremonies interesting and entertaining, it will keep people coming back and will ensure that participants understand the mission and cause of the ACS.

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Luminaria Lap

The Luminaria Lap is by far one of my favorite events during Relay. The games and activities throughout the night are what keep us coming back for more, and the money raised is what makes the sleep deprivation worthwhile, but the luminaria is what brings it all home. In seeing all the luminarias, every single one of which is dedicated to a loved one who has fought or is fighting the vicious battle with cancer, and hearing the words dedicated to these people, the night takes on a whole new level of meaning. It’s not simply that we’re raising money to fight cancer, we’re raising money to help the hundreds of thousands of those affected by cancer, only a handful of which are represented on these bags lighting the way around the track.

This year, I’d love to see every event increase their number of luminarias. In doing this, not only will these events raise more money in the fight against cancer, but this extra fundraising will result in a clear illumination of not only the track, but a clear illumination of each one of those individuals who have fought or are fighting.

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Team Captain Meetings

Team captain meetings serve to educate team captains about Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society as well as inform team captains of upcoming events.  We all know the basics of what is covered at a team captain meeting including how to fundraise and how to recruit team members.  However, three aspects of team captain meetings are often overlooked including publicity, recognition, and inspiration.

The extent most team captain meetings are publicized for is sending an email to all current team captains about the meeting.  However, why not treat each team captain meeting like a Relay For Life callout? Each team captain meeting provides the opportunity to spread the word about Relay For Life and to recruit additional teams to help finish he fight.  Therefore, for each team captain meeting, hang flyers around campus advertising this amazing way to get involved with the movement to end cancer.  Additionally, contact professors about sharing information over the cause in the first couple minutes of class and ask department secretaries to include information in student newsletters.  Then at the next team captain meeting, take the last 5 to 10 minutes to meet with the group of new team captains and tell them a little about Relay For Life and answer any questions over material covered at prior team captain meetings.

Recognizing outstanding team captains at meetings is also extremely important in order to ensure team captains feel they are truly making an impact.  Each team captain meeting, awards could be given to the teams with the most improvement since the last team captain meeting.  Additionally, recognition should be given to teams who have gone above and beyond for the Relay For Life effort.  Small tokens of appreciation go a long way, and a personalized message to team captains can truly drive the point home that they are essential in the fight against cancer.  

        Now for possibly the most important area of team captain meetings, inspiration.  There is no doubt that team captains are already motivated individuals.  They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t.  However, life can become hectic, and sometimes people need to be reminded of the cause in order to make it a priority amongst the craziness of everyday life.  Each team captain meeting should have a portion dedicated to inspiration whether this is an activity or a speaker.  Be creative though!  If team captains hear from a survivor one meeting, plan a different inspirational activity for the next meeting.  A past team captain that had great success would be a wonderful person to hear from.  This being said, being proactive in planning team captain meetings is imperative.  Decide early the total number of team captain meetings as well as the content that will be covered at each meeting.  This will provide ample amount of time to contact potential speakers or gather materials for activities.  

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Why do I relay? There are, obviously, lots of reasons. I have been doing this for four years. Cancer somehow manages to reach its greedy little hands into everyone’s life, and quite honestly I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it reaching into my life and taking control. Last year, I lost a friend to...