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Pennies for Pasta

Sarah Johnson is raising money for the NFE Boston Marathon Team.

Stuck in a fundraising rut? Try throwing a pasta dinner party for your friends and family before race weekend. Kindly ask that they make a donation to enjoy your famous spaghetti and meatballs, and you might just earn a quick stash of money for research. That is what Sarah Johnson did to support her boyfriend, Chris Lemons, who is running the Boston Marathon with NFE in April (check out his efforts here). Sarah’s suggested a donation of $10 to enjoy the culinary efforts of her friend, Christine, who is a chef. Sarah raised $205 at her “Eating for a Cure” event while netting $200  during her “March Madness Mondays” bake sales.

Sarah, who has done several events before, shared these tips with us.

1. Figure out a time line. The bigger the event, the more time you will need to organize and advertise.

2. Enlist the help of friends. By organizing an event that showcases your friends’ talents (i.e. passion/hobby/career), but also benefits the Foundation, it’s a win-win for all. i.e. “I have a friend that wants to do vegan catering, but needs practice cooking for large groups of people, hence a vegan-friendly pasta party,” said Sarah. “Last year, I got my stand-up comedian friends and friends of friends to do a comedy night.”

Guests enjoy dessert at Sarah Johnson's fundraising event for the Children's Tumor Foundation.

3. Donations

• Most grocery stores set aside a budget for philanthropic donations. You might have to go to multiple stores; sometimes if one store in a chain can’t provide, another one can. (This is often true with stores with high traffic as they often use up their allocations to donate early in the year). If the store isn’t able to donate, ask them for their suggestions. Likely, you will need to provide a letter of who you represent and what you need. Sometimes, you might have to provide proof that CTF is a 501 (c)(3).

• Venue – where are you going to have the event? Most places of worship have halls that you can rent for a reasonable rate. And, if you are a member, sometimes this fee is reduced or even waved. It doesn’t hurt to mention who will be benefiting from the event.  Other local halls or hotels are good places to start.  Check the rules of each place to see if the event will be congruent to their expectations (i.e. alcohol).

• Door Prizes -  Do you want them? These can also be obtained from local restaurants and shops. The door prizes add another element of excitement to your event.  They also add another organization level. So, it is up to you. Another option is to get a grand prize, having each person who donates to your campaign to put his or her name in the hat. You can award the prize after the race, and let everyone know the winner in your thank you notes. Some cities even have grass-roots organizations that exist for the sole purpose of helping other nonprofits fundraisers.

5. Advertise. There is no point to putting in all this work without advertising. Social networking is huge (and free). Advertise enough in advance to make sure people will put it on their calendar. YOU want to be the commitment on a Saturday night. Don’t forget posters at work and local stores (if possible). Again, you can ask to put an ad in community newsletters. Email, Evite and regular invitations are especially good for out-of-town people who would like to go, but can’t and could just make a donation. These options can also help you manage the guest list.

• My Punch Bowl - (www.mypunchbowl.com) – this Web site even features a “potluck” option to help you manage what guests are bringing.
• E-vite - (www.evite.com) – choose from custom templates or design your own with E-vite’s easy to use sit

For big eating events, securing an RSVP is a great idea. This way you know how much food you may need.

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On the Run: Kevin Wales

Kevin Wales (left) and friends at an LSU tailgate.

Kevin Wales finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon in February, raising more than $5,000 for NF research. For Kevin, who has NF1, this half marathon meant much more than completing 13.1 miles. “It meant doing something that at one time in my life would have been inconceivable,” said Kevin.

Kevin broke his right femur in March 1991 when he was in eighth grade. He was in the hospital, had to have to his leg in a cast, enduring many days of physical therapy. It took months for his leg to be back at full strength. Kevin’s orthopedist had to write a letter to his high school exempting him from physical education courses because of concern for further injury. Although Louisiana required two years of physical education to graduate, his doctor’s letter trumped the requirement; he had to take alternate courses instead.

So when Kevin crossed the finish line of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon, it meant much more — accomplishing something he never thought possible. “To be able to run 13.1 miles after nearly 19 years after that life-changing event, is, well, life-changing in and of itself,” said Kevin.
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Fundraising Secret: Modify letters. Kevin sent out more than 100 letters to his friends, family and community members. However, he tailored letters by how well the recipient knew him and how much they knew about what NF has done to him. For example, because his sister and three of her five children have NF, he could cut out how NF affected him personally.  For other letters, he had to be more specific, without getting into too much detail, as he wanted to keep the letters down to one page only.

Training Tips: Start small. When he started training in the latter part of June of 2009, Kevin could barely finish three miles. His first goal was four miles, then five, until he could gradually increase his mileage to double digits. “Once I started focusing just on distance and ignored speed, I noticed that my speed on race days increased!” said Kevin. “When I was able to run 12 miles in late January and didn’t feel any pain afterward, plus no soreness the next day, I knew that I was ready.”