CHALLENGE SEEKERS FUNDRAISING GUIDE
ZGiRLS.org
Hey CHALLENGE SEEKER!
Thank you so much for taking interest in fundraising for ZGiRLS. For many, fundraising may feel outside your comfort zone, but I promise, with this step-by-step process you will see how easy, fun, empowering, and rewarding fundraising can be. Before you set up your peer-to-peer campaign, here are a few fundraising pointers: 1. Remember, you’re not asking for money for yourself. You’re advocating for every 11-16-year-old girl across the country that wouldn’t otherwise be able to participate in ZGiRLS. You’re asking your community because you know how powerful the ZGiRLS Curriculum™ is, and you want to bring that gift to as many girls as possible! 2. People don’t give to causes, they give to PEOPLE…. so bring your personality to your campaign. Your prospective donors know you better than anyone, and they will recognize your authenticity if you have the courage to show it! 3. Always keep the IMPACT of your outreach in mind when you reach out to your network! Scholarships broaden the community of girls that ZGiRLS can reach, offering wider perspectives and richer experiences for girls to learn. The socioeconomic status of a family should not prevent a girl from the opportunity to discover her inner warrior. With gratitude, The ZGiRLS Team
ZGiRLS VISION & MISSION ZGiRLS aims to create a world where girls and women live with ZERO limitations. We equips girls, ages 11-16, with tangible mental skills and tools to be confident, centered, and courageous. HOW DOES ZGiRLS WORK? Founded by Olympic and NCAA athletes, ZGiRLS is a 501(c)3 non-profit that combines proven scientific methods of building confidence with the real-life experiences of professional female athletes to uplift girls with the necessary mental tools and perspective to live with ZERO limitations. WHO WE ARE? We’re the CHALLENGE SEEKERS, a motivated group of ZGiRLS supporters, who are dedicated and passionate about elevating the next generation. WHY WE FUNDRAISE? You can’t just tell a girl to "be confident," you have to lead by example and help her discover it for herself! For the next 8 weeks, as a team, each CHALLENGE SEEKER will commit to pushing themselves and training to complete their personal CHALLENGE, all with the goal of individually raising $1,000 to bring ZGiRLS confidence-building programs to every girl in the country! As we know, just as little as four hours of our ZGiRLS Curriculum™ helps a girl feel more confident.
TIMELINE A personal fundraising campaign can be held over any amount of time, but you’re likely to make the most impact by keeping your campaign short and sweet (4-6 weeks at most). A sense of urgency motivates people to give!
Week 1: Sept 27- Gather Contacts Week 2: Oct 4- Draft Messages Week 3: Oct 11- Prep Campaign Week 4: Oct 18- Launch Campaign Week 5: Oct 25- First Update Week 6: Nov 1- Motivating Challenge Week 7: Nov 8- Get Creative Week 8: Nov 17- Last Update
Nov 22: YOU DID IT!
BEST PRACTICES MAKE SURE YOUR SUPPORTERS: Feel seen, known, and appreciated for their support Know their gift has made a difference Experience a sense of belonging with you & ZGiRLS
48 HOURS AFTER EACH GIFT: Say THANK YOU asap via call, text or email It can be sweet & simple (e.g. WOW! You’re the BEST! Thanks for your generous gift to ZGiRLS :-) Unfortunately, GiveLively does not send you a notification every time your campaign receives a donation. Be sure to check your page to stay on top of your recent donations! ZGiRLS will follow up each week with a list of your current donors along with their contact information. 2-4 WEEKS AFTER GIFT: Write good ole’ fashion snail mail letters! When the campaign wraps, ZGiRLS will send you a compiled list of all of your donors + give you custom THANK YOU cards!
GAME PLAN Week 1 -
Gather Contacts
Create a contact list in a spreadsheet with the names, email addresses & phone numbers of 50-100 people in your community. Here are some tips on people to include: Family- close family or extended family Friends, colleagues, peers, former teammates. That random person you met volunteering at an event who you remember likes sports or acquaintances with daughters. Former teachers, mentors, and coaches. Your religious community, drinking buddies, or community kickball league. Your local coffee shop or places where you are a regular customer. Your community’s parents, grandparents, and individual network. That older lady who always ended up at family and holiday gatherings even though she wasn’t related to you. You know, the one with the legit ‘90s ugly holiday sweater.
Week 2 -
Draft Messages
Depending on your social media network, you may have plenty of success by just posting the link to your profile and letting people find it, but for the majority of people, we highly encourage you to reach out directly to individuals in your community. A personalized email can go a long way (or blind copy emails that have a specific call to action), as they tend to bring in the biggest bang in the least amount of time. For emails, keep the message short and sweet. We created TEMPLATES for you to send to your network. There are 5 emails to send throughout your 5-week fundraiser. Make these emails your own! Feel free to switch up the content to make it more personalized, or copy & paste it as is. Please be sure to insert your personal fundraising link where specified! PRO TIP: Plan which day you’re going to send your emails each week so you don’t forget! If you’re a Gmail user, you can “schedule send” your email, which means you can write your message ahead of time, set a date and time, and it will automatically send for you! You can do this by opening a new email box, hovering over the down arrow next to the “send” button, and selecting the “schedule send” option.
Week 3 -
Prep Campaign
The ZGiRLS GiveLively page will be activated on October 18th! When that happens you will be able to create your very own linked campaign page. In the meantime, feel free to prepare your campaign content by drafting a personal note to be featured on your page. On October 18th, please follow the steps below to create your campaign in support of ZGiRLS! Step 1: Visit our "ZGiRLS: Commit to her Confidence" page Step 2: Click “I Want To Fundraise For This”
Step 3: Create a GiveLively Account
Step 4: Check and confirm your email, the message will
come from hello@givelively.org Step 5: Sign in to your GiveLively account
Step 6: Step up your campaign 1. Update the Fundraiser Title
2. Upload a photo
3. Share a personal note!
4. Set your fundraising goal to $1,000
5. Add video: vimeo.com/299304971
Step 7: Behold your new campaign page!! Step 8: Check your email for another message from
hello@givelively.org with information on how to manage your account and campaign page.
Week 4 -
Launch your campaign!
After following the steps outlined in the previous section, please send your campaign link to victoria@zgirls.org to review and get a second pair of eyes on it before you sent it out to the masses (email lists/facebook post). Once you get the green light, you’re good to go LIVE!!!!
SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! It's time to send Email #1 and spread the news across your socials! When you ask your friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances to support you in this effort, you never know who may surprise you with generosity. Share your campaign link on social media, but try not to rely solely on it-- create an email contact list and send out brief emails with your campaign link included (example below), make calls, or send letters. Tell people about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. People will surprise you!
PRO TIP: Avoid Bcc'ing more than 20 people per email. It can cause your message to land in their spam folders. We recommend using the same email for a maximum of 20-25 addresses at a time.
Week 5 -
First Update
We're halfway through our CHALLENGE! Time to share Email #2 with your community to share your training progress and let them know their support is appreciated! The most number of gifts you will receive usually happens after your very first ask, so make sure to ALWAYS thank donors as soon as you can. A little gratitude goes a long way. If the donor makes a sizable gift (for example, for donations over $250 consider writing a handwritten note or calling the donor to thank them for their support). All gifts are tax-deductible, so your donors will get a receipt from ZGiRLS Foundation, but a heartfelt touch from the person they know connected to the organization makes a tremendous difference. Whether you thank them directly by text, with a phone call or an email, or a handwritten note, it is important to acknowledge that your success and the success of our girls come from the generosity of those in your life. Fundraising is often a great way to reconnect with people you haven’t talked to in a while, so while you share the following reasons why supporting ZGiRLS is important to you, also take some time to socialize within your community. Ask friends and family to SHARE the link to your campaign page with as many folks as possible via spontaneous conversation, social media, and email.
Week 6 -
Motivating Challenge
Your fundraising campaign should be FUN, so invite your community to get involved with a “challenge.” Courage and confidence are contagious, so show your community your own courage by offering an incentive for giving. Complete this statement: “If you (the donor) ____, then I (the fundraiser) will _____.” It could be asking donors to raise $X by X date // or if 300 donors support your campaign with a gift of $5 or more, then you’ll…. go Pondskimming for Courage, Belly Flopping for Confidence, Riding 1000 miles on the bike in one week… whatever it is, make it fun, humorous, or uniquely you. How do you promote this challenge? Create a social media post, email or text message, including your campaign link, and share it with everyone and anyone… whatever it is, just keep it short, sweet, and fun! This is where you get to put the FUN in FUNDRAISING :)
Plus, you may even have a donor reach out and say that they’ll give $500 (or whatever amount) if the rest of your donors reach $X. A match like this is a fantastic incentive, so if you know someone who might be extra supportive, ask them to match your cause if your other friends do too!
Week 7 -
Get Creative
Think of new ways to reach out to your community like creating an Instagram story, reaching out to local companies to match donations, selling baked goods, text and Venmo friends (friends have effectively done this!), or pick up the phone to call a family member/people on your contact list.
Week 8 -
Second Update
You’re in the home stretch! Now is your opportunity to generate some major excitement as you reach the finish line. Send an update via Facebook, Twitter, Insta, etc. “I’m less than one week away from the end of my campaign and I still need $X to reach my goal! Please help me make courage contagious by supporting ZGiRLS today!” People LOVE being part of the momentum. If you wanna throw in another mini-challenge, I promise, it will work. One example was, “The donor who sends me over the goal today will get to see me in action when I (jump off a cliff, make snow angels in my bathing suit, dye my hair pink, chop my hair, swim in jello, etc.).” During your last week, you totally have permission to go post-crazy. Put the message out there anywhere and everywhere. You’re almost to your goal!
Week 9 -
YOU DID IT!
Congratulations! You did it! Whether you raised above or below your goal, you put your best foot forward and did something to get outside your comfort zone. No matter how much you ended up raising, please know how deeply we appreciate your time and how much your support TRULY makes a difference for the girls in our programs. Your campaign benefits this awesome organization, ZGiRLS, and we’re so glad to have you cheering for our team. A couple of final reminders…. now that your six-week fundraising campaign has come to a close, be sure to thank EVERY person who contributed, regardless of the amount they contributed. If you want to post a video, thank youthat’s awesome… an insta story, fabulous. Whatever it is, make sure it is from the heart and showing the IMPACT of what these donors’ dollars will do for our girls. Possible phrases to include…. Thank you for making courage contagious. Thank you for supporting my fundraiser to bring out the strength in 11-16 year old female athletes. Thank you for empowering the next generation of strong, brave, powerful women. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share how powerful the ZGiRLS Curriculum™ is! Thank you so much for your dedication and effort. You rock!
THANK YOU!!
SiSTERHOOD PACT I am a ZGiRL I have ZERO limitations
I am confident I am courageous I am resilient
I can do anything I put my mind to I value my body for what it allows me to do I fuel my body because it is a vehicle to do amazing things
I accept myself as I am I believe in the person I am becoming I may not be there YET, but I am closer than I was yesterday I can’t always choose my circumstance, but I CAN choose how I react to them
When I fall, I get back up When I make a mistake, I learn from it When I feel fearful, I step forward bravely When I doubt myself, I choose confidence
Individually we are unique, and together we are STRONG We choose collaboration over comparison We choose love over jealousy
Our beam attracts our team We are adventurous We are bold We are brave We are ZGiRLS