Logo for a cycling team to support a fundraising ride. The logo was part of a marketing effort to build support for Hazon’s New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride.
Red Rooster Group Principal, Howard Adam Levy, served on the Executive Committee of Hazon’s New York Bike Ride, the signature program for the largest Jewish environmental organization in the United States. As the Marketing Co-Chair, he was charged with attracting participants to their bike-a-thon and to help them fundraise.
Strategy
In order to have an effective, campaign, we knew that we would have to coordinate all marketing activities around people who were not accustomed to fundraising. The overall strategy included:
- Developing effective recruitment materials including postcards and posters that would appeal to a broad range of people.
- Creating a 28-page Ride Guide that described the 4-day event / 2-day ride and gave detailed tips and checklists on how to fundraise and train for the ride.
- Producing a fundraising clinic that helped riders overcome the fear of asking sponsors for money and train them on the Kintera / Blackbaud fundraising system.
- Developing a team to encourage recruitment for the ride and foster friendships.
- Using social media to fundraise and encourage interaction among the team.
Recruitment Materials
The outreach materials were designed to convey the excitement of the three day event and appeal to a broad spectrum of people. The event attracts people from all walks of Judaism including the unaffiliated. The posters, postcards and pocket cards showcased the diversity of people on the ride and the excitement of the ride experience. To make it easy for riders to promote the ride, we created business card-sized promotional cards and that are easy to keep in the pockets of a riding jersey or small bike pouch. To show riders that they are appreciated, we created cards explaining how to change a flat tire, which were distributed at the ride.
Fundraising Guide & Clinic
Since a good portion of the participants were riding and fundraising for the first time, we created a 28-page fundraising and training guide. The booklet contained an overview of the event and what to expect, a guide to fundraising, including sample letters, and a training guide with charts to help riders get in shape for the event. We also produced a fundraising clinic to explain how to overcome the fear of asking for money, who to ask, and to answer their questions.
> Download PDF of the RIDE GUIDE
Social Media & Events
To galvanize participants, help them fundraise and train, and develop a sense of community, we created a new team — Team Brooklyn. The team kicked off with a house event that attracted 20 people and was soon followed by a series of other in-person events as various team members volunteered to host dinners in their apartments.
Social media was used to keep the team together and fundraise. A Facebook page as established for the team to foster interaction and communicate team events. Blog posts and email were used to solicit sponsors for the event.
Tracking & Monitoring
All team activity was monitored including maintaining an active list of all participants and what events they have attended. To boost the recruitment efforts, we collated information from riders who had participated in the past several years so they could be included in outreach efforts.
Results
- In a year that donations to charities in the United States decreased 10%, the Hazon ride kept pace with last year’s giving levels. The Ride Guide is now being used for Hazon’s other rides in California and Israel.
- The new team which was formed, became the largest team on the ride and raised $28,000, about 10% of the entire ride total.
- We were successful in our goal of using the team to foster a sense of community. We had 4 events that brought together 50 people. Team members formed lasting relationships, and as a testament to this, a year after the team was started, team members have continued to voluntarily host dinners at their homes.
Award
- To acknowledge the successful results, Red Rooster Group principal, Howard Adam Levy was named Hazon’s 2009 Person of The Year.
Links
- See other nonprofit marketing case studies.
- See other nonprofit fundraising projects.
- See our commitment to the environment.
- Contact Red Rooster Group.
