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Pan Mass Challenge

Fundraising 101 primer

PR Works Account Manager Joe D’Eramo

As mentioned in a previous PR Pointer, PR Works Account Manager Joe D’Eramo is riding in the Pan Mass Challenge. To date, he’s raised more than $2,000 towards his ride to raise money for the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber (his goal is $3,800, you can ask him why).

While there are many ways to raise money for causes, the formula Joe is using can be easily duplicated for your fundraiser, even to market your business.

“What sells for fundraising is what sells for businesses–stories,” said Joe. “Everybody knows somebody with cancer, which is what the Pan Mass Challenge is raising money for. So it really is just a matter of telling those stories that people can relate to and sharing them using several different tools.”

On a weekly basis, Joe drafts a 300-500 word blog telling a personal story regarding the ride or a cancer survivor he knows. That story is then shared via:

  • Blog on Plymouth Patch
  • Personal blog
  • LinkedIn Discussion groups
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Constant Contact e-mail to business and personal friends, family and acquaintances
  • E-mail signature (with link and image)

These efforts are supplemented by Joe’s networking efforts with My Pinnacle Network (he runs the MPN groups in Westborough, Plymouth and Bourne), attending networking events and word-of-mouth (mentioning to family and friends). He also posts updates to Facebook and Twitter on fundraising milestones and training rides (each ride is dedicated to someone who has or has succumbed to cancer).

In addition to the weekly ritual, Joe has made a special offer to PR Works clients in the area. Donate $100 or more and he will visit your company in full cycling attire to take a photo of the check presentation. That photo can then be used for promotional purposes, social media content, etc.

So, what’s been the most successful of these tools?

“By far the weekly e-mail. Some might think that’s excessive but it’s necessary,” said Joe. “People have the best intentions when it comes to giving but most of us have so many things going on that we lose track. A weekly e-mail reminds those folks who want to give.”

Adds Joe, “Not so coincidentally, the e-newsletter is also one of the most effective tools we use in marketing clients. While clients would like to see a direct lead/response from their e-mail newsletter, there is tremendous value in prospects and clients hearing from you on a regular basis.”

If you would like to make a donation to Joe’s Pan Mass Challenge ride, you can visit his page by clicking here.For information how these techniques and tools can be implemented into your PR and marketing, please call 781-582-1061 or drop us a line.

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Pan Mass Challenge’s Maine Man. Haley’s Tire’s Tim Haley is ready to ride and raise funds for Pan Mass Challenge.

Tim Haley of Haley's Tire
Tim Haley of Haley’s Tire

BIDDEFORD, BANGOR, AUGUSTA AND FALMOUTH, MAINE…

Last year, Tim Haley, owner of Haley’s Tire and Service Center, raised nearly $25,000 as a participant in the Pan Mass Challenge, the Jimmy Fund’s two-day bike ride from Sturbridge, Massachusetts to Provincetown, Massachusetts. The South Portland resident recently announced plans to participate in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge minus one traveling companion—cancer.

Diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in May 2009, Haley endured several operations and rounds of chemotherapy. And while his condition improved to the point where he was cleared to take part in the 2010 Pan Mass, a recent CT scan revealed no evidence of disease (NED).

“I told my doctor, Doctor Brian Wolpin of Dana Farber in Boston, that as long as he kept giving me birthdays, I would keep participating in the Pan Mass Challenge,” said Haley. “With this latest development with the NED, I’m looking to raise even more money for this year’s ride.”

The $24,000+ Haley raised in 2010 earned him a place among the Pan Mass Challenge’s “Heavy Hitters”,an elite group of 1680 PMC riders who generated more than $6300 in funds for the Dana Farber Institute. Included among that group is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Cyclists in the 192-mile Pan Mass Challenge must raise $4,200 to participate.

“The research and work they do at Dana Farber is phenomenal and it benefits people from all the New England states, frankly, people from all over the world. In fact, my doctor, Dr. Wolpin, was one of three research doctors that discovered a new trial drug that may eventually help me if needed,” said Haley.

For this year’s Pan Mass Challenge, Haley is riding on Team Headstrong, a group of cyclists from several New England states. Team Headstrong has a goal of raising $75,000, which will go to Dana Farber and Dr. Wolpin’s research.

“The people on Team Headstrong are folks I’ve met through Pan Mass who either have cancer or have been deeply affected by someone in their lives who had it,” said Haley.

Those interested in making a donation to Haley’s fight against cancer can do so by:

  • Sending a  check payable to PMC Jimmy Fund and mailing to: Tim Haley, 43 Woodmoor Road, South Portland, ME 04106 or;
  • EGIFT credit card online; simply go www.pmc.org, click on the logo at the top left, then enter Haley’s EGIFT ID “TH0130”. All major credit cards are accepted.

“Winston Churchill once said ‘If you are going through hell, keep going’,” said Haley. “Having endured two years of treatment, I can assure you that cancer is a form of hell. Riding in the Pan Mass and raising money for research is the best way I know to keep going and help defeat this awful disease.”

About Haley’s Tire

Founded in 1970 by Frederick Haley and Frederick J. Haley, Jr., Haley Tire is a third-generation tire retailer and service center with locations in Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford and Falmouth. Haley Tire is an authorized Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly Tires dealer. Haley Tire’s repair offerings include oil changes, alignments, brakes service (including free brake inspections), transmission maintenance, computerized engine analysis and much more.

For more information on Haley’s Tire, including store hours, locations and directions, please visit www.haleystire.com or call 207-781-3136.

Pan Mass Challenge’s Maine Man. Haley’s Tire’s Tim Haley is ready to ride and raise funds for Pan Mass Challenge.Read More