ADDITIONAL UPDATES SENT OUT IN THE PAST
RameshMoorthy
if you were not on the mailing list in the past!
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UPDATE 1/9/05
Do folks out there have any tips for starting a new Relay event, since
it is different at first than an established event... Some of the
suggestions I have heard so far are:
1. Things you do the first time - ACS Staff leader with local
volunteer if possible, parallel path:
a. Find a community leader to work with - Deliver a presentation
to the Chamber of Commerce, local clubs, etc. to find volunteers. Find
people at the local office who know people in the area you are starting
a relay in.
b. Contact Local Hospital for Survivors/Doctors for help
c. Secure site - Work with your local contacts to secure the
site - High Schools, Colleges, Parks. Call:
i. local Recreation Dept. for possible sites (and maybe an
entertainment trailer)
ii. Board of Education
iii.Chamber of Commerce
d. Find out about teams at other Relays who might be from your new
area - Other teams may have traveled and would be interested in being
closer
e. (optional) Do A Local Business Mailing - Do one to get the
word out that a Relay is coming to the community.
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UPDATE 6/24/04
Folks,
Another Relay year (for the most part) is coming to an end! A few
quick thoughts:
1. Thanks for sharing your Relay ideas! If you have more great ideas,
please keep them coming to ram...@acsrelay.org. We would love to get
them on the site as we prep for next year!
2. Do you want to discuss your ideas or questions? Please visit:
Some of the great ideas on the acsrelay.org site are from the
relayamerica.com website! Relay America is a great site where you can
discuss your ideas organized by topic - fundraising, logistics, teams
and team captains, luminaria/survivorship, etc. Please check it out,
share ideas, answer other people's questions, and ask questions. If
you have feedback on the site, send it to ad...@relayamerica.com.
3. Now that many events are over, you may want to send a critique form
to your committee and team captains, or have them fill it out at your
wrap-up or at the end of your event. Here is a template you could use
for both soliciting feedback and capturing your results for your event:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Manual/05-Feedback_Forms.doc
4. A good way to wrap up is to also send a great thank you letter.
Here is a generic one:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/21-Generic_Thank_You_Letter.doc
Here is one to send if your event was rainy - it invites those who
did not make it out to still get their donations in to support your
event!
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/21-Thank_You_Follow_Up_Rainy_Relays.doc
5. As always, feedback on how to make http://acsrelay.org better...
Please send it to Ram...@acsrelay.org.
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UPDATE 6/5/04
Lots of events still to go!!!! Here are some ideas for the home
stretch! (AND IF YOUR EVENT IS DONE, YOU CAN STILL SHARE YOUR BEST
IDEAS by emailing them to ram...@acsrelay.org, a well as saving these
for next year!)
* Check out the latest team names/themes list you can share with your
team captains at:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/19-Campsite_Ideas_and_Team_Names_DGIs.doc
* Check out the latest list of on-site fundraising ideas at:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/10-Fundraising_On_Site_DGIs.doc
* Check out the latest list of things to bring to your event if you
are a team captain at:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/19-Team_Day_Of_Checklist_DGI.doc
* Check out the latest list of things to bring the day of the event if
you are the event committtee at:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Manual/13-a-c-Logistics.doc
* Check out an exmaple of an event program you can modify at:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/14-Event_Program_Example.doc
* Search for other things you need at http://www.acsrelay.org
GREAT IDEAS YOU CAN STILL TRY!!!
* A great idea our site may consider for on site fundraising. (I stole
this idea from Jenny Huang's Cypress, CA Relay ) They're asking each
team to donate a gift basket for the silent auction the day of their
Relay. She says the teams are really getting into it! We anticipate
about 40 teams this year and I think it's worth a shot! - Thanks to
Catherine for sharing this idea!
* On Site Children's Art Auction - Have your team captains submit
children's art, and auction it as a silent auction on site! Parents
will donate money for their budding artist's work!
* Matching Gifts: If your company has a matching gift program, that's
an effective way to double your fundraising efforts. Be sure to check
with the human resources department to obtain matching gift forms.
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UPDATE 04/23/04
Folks,
This is a request from http://acsrelay.org, an on-line resource to help
you make your Relay For Life event more successful! There are a few
questions that others have asked for ideas on, and wanted to get your
input:
1. What are some great luminaria songs that you use? The ones that we
have so far are:
· What a Wonderful Day - Tricia Walker
· Amazing Grace
· Bagpipe players
What are other ideas for songs?
2. Do you have updated or corrected info about your event? Please
open
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/00-Relay_Sites_2004_By_Date.htm
This is a list of all the sites in Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC,
Virginia, and West Virginia - if you have updated or corrected info, or
contact comments to add to the list, please send them our way! We get
several requests per month for contact info for an event... We'd love
to send more people your way!
3. What motivates your teams to stay all night and into the morning?
Please share your best ideas!
Remember - your great ideas can be used by every event in the nation!
We just have to tell everyone about our ideas! We'll give you a Relay
Great Ideas Newsletter (Get the pun?) each of month to share some of
your ideas with others, too!
Thanks
There Is No Finish Line Until We Find A Cure!
Ramesh Moorthy
Acsrelay.org Webmaster
ram...@acsrelay.org
REMINDER ABOUT RELAY FOR LIFE ACSRELAY.ORG RESOURCES:
· http://www.acsrelay.org/search.php - A great search engine that
searches the whole website, including MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
attachments, for any "word" you are looking for (search for
"fundraising", "car wash", etc.). This includes all Darn Good
Ideas, Best Practices, etc.)! If you don't find what you want,
please e-mail and let us know!
· http://www.acsrelay.org/start.php - An overview of acsrelay.org,
and what you can find on the site.
· http://www.acsrelay.org/bestapproachesmanual.php - The
Chairman's Checklist Manual that was developed by the Mid-Atlantic
Relay For Life Task Force over the past two years, and provides a great
list of basic things every committee and sub-committee should do!
· http://www.acsrelay.org/darngoodideas.php - If you want to browse
some great ideas from around the country.
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UPDATE 4/9/04
PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO SEE SOME GREAT IDEAS YOU ALL SENT
IN!:
Ways to keep your teams at Relay all night!
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/19-On-Site_Activities_&_Keep_Tms_All_Nite_DGIs.doc
Luminaria Ceremony Song Suggestions!
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/12-Luminaria_ceremony_song_suggestions.doc
Fundraising Ideas from A to Z - One of the longest lists of fundraising
ideas you'll find - It combines ideas from all over into one big,
alphabetized list!
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/10-Fundraising_From_A_To_Z.doc
Fundraising Ideas from A to Z for Kids and Youth:
http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/10-Fundraising_for_Kids_&_Youth_From_A_to_Z.doc
3. PLEASE VISIT RELAYAMERICA.COM TO DISCUSS YOUR IDEAS! - If you would
like to ask a question, discuss your ideas, or see what others have to
say, you can do it on Relayamerica.com - we compile great ideas from
there to put on acsrelay.org's lists of Checklists, Darn Good Ideas,
etc.
Thanks, and we promise to keep the e-mails to a minimum. As always, if
you have feedback please e-mail ram...@acsrelay.org
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