bike ms 2008 Team Captain Guide
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 2008
Welcome
You‘re up for the challenge as a bike ms team captainand ready for the ride of your life! Moving forward, this Team Captain Guide will help you keep your team organized and motivated, as well as provide some great tips for having fun while fundraising. GET YOUR TEAM & RIDE WITH US! Minimum donation: $300 Must be at least 12 yrs of age to participate Bike ms stats 80% of our funds raised are from teams There were 33 teams in the 2007 FedEx ―Rock-N-Roll‘ There were 67 teams in the 2007 Jack Daniel‘s ―Bike to Jack and Back‖ 2007 Total Teams: 100 2008 Team Goal: 150
Jack Daniel’s “Bike to Jack and Back” bike ms ride 2008 October 4-5, 2008 Minimum donation: $300
Inside this issue:
Start your team Reminders Raising $$ online Goal Setting/ Awards 07 Top teams Fundraising Tips Safety/Where does the $ go? Q&A 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
FedEx “Rock-N-Roll” bike ms ride 2008 September 13-14, 2008
Must be at least 18 yrs of age to participate
Where does the money go?
The National MS Society helped people affected by MS by funding cutting edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward, just look at the difference it makes in your own community: Mid South Chapter 08’ Programs & Highlights Hosted 3 Discovery ―relationship matter‖ weekends for couples dealing with MS. Six people visited Washington, D.C. and met with every member of the TN delegation on issues important to people with MS. Given $50,000 to MS clients for emergency disbursements. The Mid South Chapter is the only chapter to have education on tissue donation for research as part of our clinical advisory committee. Continue to host self help groups, teleconferences & local programs. Hosting MS Journey Camps for kids affected by MS this summer.
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Moving Together: 3 Simple Steps to Starting a Team
As a part of the MS movement, you and your team are committed to a world free of MS. We‘re committed to you and the success of your team! 1. Recruiting Team members can be anybody-friends, families, coworkers, or neighbors-and they can all easily register as cyclists online at www.msmidsouth.org. Whether you‘re a corporate team or a team of family and friends, just be sure to ask everyone you know. 2. Raising Money Fundraising comes more naturally when you make it personal. If your team is cycling for someone with MS, ask them if they would be willing to tell their story. Just be sure to follow that with a statement about how much progress we‘ve made in treating this disease. Don‘t forget to ask everyone who sponsors you if their employer offers matching gifts! 3. Really Having Fun! Being a team captain is an opportunity to share a great experience with friends and family members, or co-workers-a community coming together for a common goal and the accomplishment of a unique personal challenge! As a leader, it‘s up to you to remind your teammates of why they registered. Bike ms can be more than a fundraising event-it can be a joyous celebration of how far we‘ve come together!
Team Captain Reminders
Team weeks are a great opportunity to gather your team and get ready to ride! Team Captains can also win terrific prizes for their team such as bike shop gift certificates, team ―carb‖ party, ice cream social party, prime seating at the Saturday night programs at the rides, team tents and MORE! Join in the fun and get ready for team week! Bike ms Team Week #1: Bike ms Team Week #2: June 23-27, 2008 August 4-8, 2008 Theme: Team Captain Movement Week Theme: Gearing Up Your Team
Go to www.msmidsouth.org for the following: Bike ms rider manuals with all the answers Training Information To register for the bike rides Fundraising Tools & More!
If you are riding in the FedEx ―Rock-N-Roll‖ make sure your team members complete the hotel form that is required by August 13, 2008. Encourage team members to be a V.I.B.E (Very Important Biking Entrepeneur). This revised club will be fun for all team members. Contact the Mid South Chapter office to see how we can help each team member raise the minimum V.I.B.E. $1000 donation.
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Raising Money has Never been Easier!
Ten Great Things about Our Online Team Tools 1. Post your team pictures online 2. Include your company logo 3. Set up a simple URL for your team page 4. Set a fundraising goal that everyone can see and support 5. Download your team roster 6. Email your entire team at once 7. Track your team members‘ fundraising progress 8. See your real time team fundraising progress 9. Track and thank your team gifts 10. Easily update your page and phot
Simple Steps to Online Success
Set up your Team Page-your team page is your invitation to the world to become involved in the movement. We‘re here to help you reach your goals. Please let us know how we can help! By setting up a team page, you are setting up your team for success. Here are a few hints to help make your page one to remember: Make it personal-Put in a picture of your or, your team. Write the story of your team and how you are moving together towards a world free of MS. While there is sample text available, nothing is more compelling that your own words. Change it often-Keep your page current to generate interest. Provide updates on how your training is going or how close you are to your goal. Create your team page URL shortcut-By doing this you will be able to easily direct people to your team page. Put a link to your fundraising page in the signature of your email. Recruit members online-No need to collect paper or spend hours on the phone. Your team members can quickly and easily register themselves online. Have people join your team from your team page, or use the participant center tools to send a team registration link via email. You can download your Outlook contact list in to the tool (This tool also can help you to track when emails have been opened by a recipient.) Fundraising Online-Now for the fun part! After you send your personalized email to all your friends, family and colleagues, you can watch your up-to-the-minute fundraising tracker. Our online tools make it simple for your supporters to donate online to keep you moving towards your fundraising goals-and a world free of MS. Encourage team members to use their online personal pagesOnce you see what the tools can do for you, encourage your team members to see what the tools can do for them. Make it fun by giving incentives to your team members to fundraise online-a pair of movie tickets to the team members that raised the most in a week, or a gift card to every team member who gets at least 5 gifts online. Be creative and ensure that your team can not only reach their goal, but has fun along the way.
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Goal Setting: Who Has the Most Team Spirit?
Establishing a goal is an easy way to maintain motivation as well as give you and your team a benchmark for success. We encourage team captains to set goals for themselves and their teams, while keeping these tips in mind: Goals should be realistic, but significant; If it requires hard work to attain, it will be a source of pride for your team. Set the goal with your team. Having them believe in the goal from the word ―go‖ will make your job as team captain much easier. Don‘t forget to set both personal and team fundraising goals. Lead by example. Share your fundraising goal Set a goal for team size as well as collective fundraising. Recruiting more team members can mean more substantial fundraising! Don‘t keep your goal a secret! Use e-mail, team pages and even internal company intranets and newsletters to communicate goals-and how close your team is to attaining them. If you are part of a large corporate team, have departments set their own goals to create some fun internal competition. If you would like more suggestions and guidelines for goal setting or would like to request goal setting worksheets, please contact: Nancy Laycook Development Coordinator FedEx ―Rock-N-Roll‖ 901-755-0994
Nancy.Laycook@msmidsouth.org
6655 Quince Road, Ste 114 Memphis, TN 38119 Stacey Damken Irvine Development Coordinator Jack Daniel‘s ―Bike to Jack and Back‖ 615-690-5349
Stacey.Damken@msmidsouth.org
4219 Hillsboro Road, Ste 306 Nashville, TN 37215
Team Awards
A little friendly competition among teams can build camaraderie and increase results. In fact, teams are the fastest growing group of fundraisers in the MS movement. The difference they are making in the lives of people with MS is nothing short of amazing. So who has the most team spirit? Who has the biggest team? And, most importantly, who will make the biggest impact to create a world free of MS. Here are the top team titles up for grabs at the bike ms events. Most spirited Best jersey Most money raised Highest team pledge average Largest Team
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Top bike ms 2007 Teams
The National MS Society would not be able to fund cutting-edge research, provide services, host programs, or educate healthcare professionals and the public if it were not for the extraordinary fundraising efforts of those who support our bike ms events. Once again, we‘d like to show our appreciation to the bike ms 2007 teams who made a difference-together!
FedEx “Rock-N-Roll” 2007 Top Ten
MS Team FedEx -$114,805.18 Memphis Hightailers-$29,183.50 Medtronic-$22,654.50 CC Riders-$19,196.32 Temple Israel Bike Club-$16,392.50 Bad Dog Cycle Team-$15,780.01 Accredo-$10,875.00 Oxford Cycling-$9,030.23 Warfighters-$5,535 Hub City Blueprint‖ Broke Spokes‖-$5,477.50 Team Captain – Sylvia Greene, Sam Gibson & Martin Donnelly Team Captain – Bob Pedan Team Captain – Stephen Franklin Team Captain – David Ingvardsen Team Captain – Vic Butcher Team Captain – Stephanie Nadeau Team Captain – Perrin Rowsey Team Captain – Andrea Townsend Team Captain – Charlie Williams Team Captain – Clint Murchison
Jack Daniel’s “Bike to Jack and Back” 2007 Top Ten
Harpeth Bike Club - $33,306.26 Team Trace Bikes $23,267 Spin Doctors - $18,376 KC's Cruisers - $18,025 Sewanee Conglomerate - $12,727.68 URSlowriders - $12,225.06 Amsouth-Jewelry Television - $12,124 Southern Land Company - $ 11,806 Vanderbilt Eye Institute - $ 11,749.77 Jack Daniel‘s - $ 11,392 Team Captain – Pat Clements Team Captain – Scott Turner Team Captain – Brandon Downs Team Captain – Lisa Ahrens Team Captain – John Benson Team Captain – Craig Bernhoft Team Captain – Roger Leitner Team Captain – Melonee Hurt Team Captain – Paul Sternberg Team Captain – Andy Coates
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Fundraising Ideas Notepad
Listed below are some ideas from other team captains, but you should feel free to add your own-and share them with other team captains! Offer to do something unusual (i.e. shave your head, sing karaoke in a costume of the team ‗s choice, etc) if your team reaches or exceeds it‘s fundraising goal. Set up a drawing for the team, with each $50 raised netting you another chance to win a prize (For friends: A special home cooked meal for the winner and their family; For employees: A day off.) For company teams, rewards the top fundraiser with lunch with the president. Give the person who recruits the most additional team members a reserved parking spot for a month. If you work somewhere with lots of foot traffic, ask about bike ms pin up sales-an easy way to quickly raise money for your team. Hold your own silent auction with food and entertainment. Clean out the attic and basement with a garage sales and donate the proceeds (we have seen a lot of success with this and bakes sales). Ask your favorite restaurant or bar to donate a percentage of one evening’s income to your team, possibly in return for sponsor privileges. BE SURE TO ASK EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Interested in selling coffee for your team? Sell the coffee for $12.00 and Buywell coffee will donate $5.00 per bag to your team. Their coffee is all organic and fair trade. For more information on this great fundraising opportunity, contact your local Development Coordinator. Host a Lunch-n-Learn A Lunch-n-Learn is a great opportunity to share the mission of the National MS Society and to encourage people to join the movement by signing up for your team. Lunch-n-Learns should be scheduled with enough time out from the bike ride to allow time to successfully set-up your team, recruit and plan team activities. What the National MS Society can provide you: · Weekly team rosters · Assist with helping host Team Rallies at your company or with your friends and family team · Help to guide your team members through the fund raising website · Offer tips to raising funds and educating team mem bers on where the money goes · We have professional staff that can come and meet with Team Captains and team members personally to help with fundraising. Remember: A team is 4 or more people.
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Safety Starts With You!
Cyclists need to possess basic bike handling skills and safety knowledge in order to keep themselves and others around them safe, especially while participating in group cycling events and activities. Our focus is to provide a high quality, safe and fun cycling experience. Please remember to always carry: Identification Emergency contact information Insurance card Any important health information *Headphones including Ipods, cell phones, radios and similar radio devices are not permitted while riding. All cyclists are responsible for keeping their riding equipment in good working order, so get into the habit of checking your equipment before every ride. Small adjustments can make a significant difference in your experience. The Basic of Riding in a Group: Group riding takes practice. Riding with other cyclists all around you may cause you to feel trapped. Relax. It is most important to create your own safety zone. This may vary depending on the speed and ability level of the people you are with, so be flexible. Let others know of your anxiety-they may also be new at this. Be mindful that our rides cater to all types of cyclists from the beginner to the experienced rider. For more information about riding safety for the bike ms rides, please visit www.msmidsouth.org soon for a revised safety manual. Remember: Training Rides (sponsored by local bike shops, clubs and check the Mid South Chapter for additional ride suggestions) are a good way to train for the bike ms ride. They also will get everyone feeling more comfortable out on the road. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!
Get to know “Rock” & “Jack” TODAY!
How your fundraising $ helps
The National MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding cutting edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. $500 Will provide 25 clients with walkers Will help pay for approximately 5 utility bills for shut-in clients Will cover the expense of home delivered meals for 1 month for 6 clients Will underwrite 25 self help groups for MS clients Will pay for 100 hours of respite care Will buy three batteries for motorized scooters Will provide ramps for five families
78% Programs/Education/Research
22% Fundraising Adminstration
Questions and Answers
How do I turn in pledges I have received? 1. Mail or drop them off at the National MS Society Office: 6655 Quince Road, Suite 114 Memphis, TN 38119 Office hours are 8:30 A.M.—5:00 P.M 901-755-0994 4219 Hillsboro Road, Suite 306 Nashville, TN 37215 Office hours are 8:30 A.M.—5:00 P.M 615-690-5349 2. Attend Early Packet Pick-Up ―Rock-N-Roll‖ ―Bike to Jack and Back‖ August 26-29th September 22-27th
3. At check-in the morning of the ride (arrive early!) 4. Enter your donations on-line then mail or bring them to the Mid South Chapter office. If I mail in a donation, will the donor be credited on my participant page? Donors will be credited on your participant page online. You can enter these donations yourself from your participant center OR we can add them here at our office when we receive them. When will my team photo be taken? Team photos will be taken at the start lines on Saturday morning. Sign up for a picture time at 901-755-0994 (ROCK) or 615-690-5349 (Jack). I have more questions, what do I do? Check the Rider manual posted on the website (and you will be receiving a copy in the mail) Contact the ride Development Coordinator: FedEx “Rock-N-Roll” bike ms ride Nancy Laycook: 901-755-0994 or Nancy.Laycook@msmidsouth.org Jack Danieil’s “Bike to Jack and Back” bike ms ride Stacey Damken Irvine: 615-690-5349 or Stacey.Damken@msmidsouth.org