FUNDRAISING
IMPORTANCE OF FUNDRAISING
Team fundraising is critical to the success of the River Cities Dragon Boat Festival! While sponsorships and team registrations generate a lot of money, this is a very expensive event to hold, so much of that money goes to cover the cost of the event. Because of this, the event depends on team fundraising. We’re asking that each team raise at least $2,000. We’re shooting for 50 teams at this year’s event.
If every team raises $2,000, we will generate $100,000 from team fundraising alone! This is very doable! And the good news is that every bit of this money goes directly to support the mission of the Children’s Protection Center. That’s a lot of kids we’re helping!
A REACHABLE GOAL
Concerned about your team’s ability to raise $2,000? Consider this: Assuming that you have a full team (20 paddlers, 1 drummer, and 3 alternates), each person on the team must raise just over $100 to raise more than $2,000. This is a very easy amount of money for anyone to raise. Here’s a sample to illustrate how easy it is for someone with only two family members, three friends, and a job to raise $100.
email your Uncle Joe for $20
ask your sister, Karen, for $10
email your friend, Alex, for $10
ask your friend, Michael, for $10
text your cheap friend, Pat, for $5
ask your company for $25
pull $20 out of your own pocket
It’s that easy! Most people don’t mind giving a small donation to a good cause, especially if someone they know and care about is asking for that support. All you have to do is ask.
In 2023, 87 teams exceeded the $2,000 target, with the top 2 fundraising teams raising $16,000 & $27,000! Many team members raised hundreds of dollars just by sending out emails and Facebook messages to friends and family. It’s that easy! Some teams have organized fundraising events such as pancake breakfasts, horseshoe tournaments, and garage sales to meet their team fundraising goals. Be creative and work with your Team Support Contact for help.
ZEFFY
We use a fundraising website called Zeffy to help track event fundraising. Zeffy is great because it doesn’t charge us any fees to fundraise. Zeffy is also really easy to use. After you have registered your team we will create your team’s Zeffy page, and send you a link to your team’s page. You can use this Zeffy page to track your team’s fundraising and send out requests for donations for you and your team.
By following the instruction below, your team members can then add themselves to your team’s Zeffy page, and solicit individual donations.
The event page on Zeffy also gives an overview of how much all teams have raised for the event. This too is a great way of generating a little friendly competition among teams. Remember that the top three fundraising teams will compete for the coveted fundraising cup!
Find your team’s fundraising page here!
Please contact Team Support to let us know how we can help you be successful fundraisers!