A Fun way to get those donations rolling in

We love this fundraising idea... have you found some inspiring ways that has helped your donations roll in?

Wendy and Nikki write - This will be our third MoonWalk - we are a team and always have been. We do the training and the challenges, we get the blisters and the aching limbs, and we absolutely love it. All we ask is that our friends and family donate as generously as they can.  

We climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, we cycled 100kms in the pouring rain around a windswept velodrome on a freezing cold Sunday morning, we abseiled down a castle, we ran a half-marathon - we have an incredible bond, we are definitely stronger together and we are delighted to have our places for this year's MoonWalk London. 

As part of our training for any challenge, we spend a lot of preparation time in the gym. I am usually on the elliptical machine for 30-60 minutes - and it's incredibly dull. So I plan - I plan conversations that need to take place, I plan trips I need to go on, I plan what needs to be on my shopping list, who I need to call and most importantly, how to get people to send in money. The amount of money people can donate varies - a lot - and some years people can give more generously than another. So the way we ask has to be novel each time. 

Last year, I was on the elliptical training for a challenge, and I created The Five Drive in my head. Took me about 40 minutes on the machine to work it all through. I sent a message by email, text, WhatsApp, Facebook etc simply telling people to open their wallets, take out a fiver, put in an envelope and post it to Mum - currency was irrelevant - it just had to be five units of whatever currency you operate in. Mum started receiving envelopes containing Euros, Pounds, Australian Dollars, US Dollars - as well as people's leftover holiday currency. Cards and messages accompanied some, others nothing. The hardest part for people was finding a stamp!! 6 weeks of The Five Drive resulted in $1,200 - which we distributed across charities in Siem Reap, Cambodia where I was living - we bought school supplies, surgical operations, workshops for Women's Health, gardening equipment etc etc. And we hand-delivered the money - so no bank charges or admin costs. 

So when I got the email from Walk the Walk saying we walked in 3 months, I got back onto the elliptical and started planning. 

We have set ourselves a big goal of £3,000. So we needed people to feel they could donate small amounts, as well as big amounts - 15 minutes of elliptical training later, I started pulling random numbers together - as suggested donation amounts - the smallest number being 3 (first message) of any currency (as per The Five Drive) - based on the 3 months to go email. 

I sent the draft idea/numbers to Mum and she added 50 - for the amount of times she had questioned her sanity for signing up AGAIN - I love that one! 

When people see the distances we will be walking, we hope they will be motivated to send in 26 or 42 depending on miles or kms. £26 seems to be the most popular donation at the moment.

Updated message with more fun facts and numbers: 

It's now March - we Walk the Walk in May. Our goal is £3,000. This is the message we sent with our next batch of numbers 

Here are some more numbers to entice you to donate some money for breast cancer research: 

1 pound, dollar or Euro - because even a single unit can help a lot 3 for the numbers of planes I will travel on to get back for the MoonWalk 5 for the month of May 6 - hundred pounds already received - AMAZING!!!! 10 for the numbers of weeks left before the walk 11 people have donated so far - THANK YOU! 12 for the day we walk 18 for the year we walk 23 hundred pounds to reach our target of £3000 26 for the amount of miles or 42 for the number of kms50 for the amount of times Wendy has questioned her sanity for signing up AGAIN 60 bananas we will eat in the 2 months leading up to the marathon 95 for the amount of calories we will burn in 15 minutes of power walking 100 age of oldest marathon runner 111 for the combined age of me and Wendy  129 for the amount of blisters and aches we will rack up during training  190 calories in a Krispy Kreme glazed donut250 for the number of good luck messages we are hoping for on the night 5583 for the number of miles I will be flying back to participate  

We aim to add more numbers - as we spend more and more in the gym with our planning hats on - and we will send out reminder messages to our friends and family every 2-3 weeks.

Best wishes from us,

Wendy Cohen and Nikki Zimbler

If you need any fundraising ideas or help with your fundraising plans, just get in touch with our fabulous fundraising team... we are happy to help.