PRESENTED LOCALLY BY:
2016 TEAM CAPTAIN PACKET
Table of Contents Welcome, About MS...............................2 Where the Money Goes......................2 Three Steps for Starting a Team............3 Goal Setting...........................................3 Fundraising Tips & Ideas......................4 Simple Steps to Online Success............5 Top 10 Online Team Tools...................6 Safety Starts with You............................6
Top 2015 Bike MS Teams..........................7 Team Awards..........................................7 Fundraising Incentives..........................7 Team Tent Village ..................................8 Advantages of a Team Tent ....................9 Building Your Team Tent.........................9 Goal Setting Worksheet........................10 Recruitment & Fundraising Checklist....11
Welcome Team Captain
AS A BIKE MS TEAM CAPTAIN, YOU ARE JOINING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. It is an experience like no other. This guide will provide some great tips for fundraising, help you stay motivated, and get your team organized.
About
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 12,000 individuals in Virginia & West Virginia.
Where Does the Money Go?
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. The Society addresses the challenges of each person affected by MS by funding cuttingedge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, collaborating with MS organizations around the world, and providing programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move forward with their lives. National MS Society, Virginia - West Virginia Chapter Richmond Office: 4200 Innslake Drive, Suite 301, Glen Allen, VA 23060 Virginia Beach Office: 760 Lynnhaven Parkway, Suite 201, Virginia Beach, VA 23452 Charlottesville Office: 1020 Carrington Place, Suite 100, Charlottesville, VA 22901 West Virginia Office: 1700 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Suite 141, Charleston, WV 25314 www.MSVirginia.org • 804.353.5008 2 Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet
Three Steps for Starting a Team NEARLY 85 PERCENT OF CYCLISTS IN BIKE MS PARTICIPATE AS PART OF A TEAM. THEREFORE, AS A TEAM CAPTAIN YOU PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN HELPING US BE SUCCESSFUL. STEP 1: RECRUITING
Team members can be anybody—friends, family, coworkers, or neighbors—and they can all easily register as cyclists online at www.BikeMSColonialCrossroads.org or www.MSVirginia.org. Whether you’re a corporate team or a team of family and friends, just be sure to ask everyone you know to join. Enhance your recruiting efforts by reaching out to your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!
STEP 2: RAISING MONEY
Fundraising comes more naturally when you make it personal. If your team is riding for someone with MS, ask them if they would be willing to tell their story. Be sure to follow that with a statement about how much progress we’ve made in treating the disease. Don’t forget to ask everyone who sponsors you if their employer offers matching gifts!
STEP 3: HAVE FUN
Being a team captain is an opportunity to share a great experience with friends and family members, or coworkers—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!
Goal Setting
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. • Goals should be realistic, but significant—If it requires hard work to attain, it will be a source of more pride for your team. • Set a goal with input from the team—Having them believe in the goal from the start will make your job as team captain that much easier. • Set both personal and team fundraising goals—Lead by example. Share your personal fundraising goal with your team. • Set a goal for team size as well as collective fundraising—Recruiting more team members can mean more substantial fundraising! • Share your goal! 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, please contact Casey Kasko at 434.971.1073 or casey.kasko@nmss.org. Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet 3
Fundraising Tips & Ideas These quick tips are sure to help you maximize your fundraising efforts. • Just ASK EVERYONE!!! The #1 reason why people don’t give is because they were never asked! Consider asking everyone you know and meet, from friends and family to local business owners. • Personal Connection is a great way to highlight the importance of the mission. You might be surprised to learn how many peoples’ lives have been touched by multiple sclerosis, so if you have MS or are participating in honor or in memory of someone with MS…tell your story. • Know the facts. To successfully encourage donor participation, it’s important that you know what MS is, where the money goes and the important work of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To learn more, go to www.MSVirginia.org. • Corporate Matching Gift: Ask your company to match the amount of pledges you receive from your coworkers.
LISTED BELOW ARE SOME FUNDRAISING IDEAS FROM OTHER TEAM CAPTAINS:
• Sell team jerseys! A great way to show your team spirit is to wear custom designed team jerseys. We are proud to have Primal Wear as the official jersey sponsor of Bike MS. As a part of their commitment to the National MS Society, Primal will donate 15% of your custom apparel order back to your team’s fundraising account! Visit www.primalwear.com/custom/primal-gives-back. • 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 its fundraising goal. • Set up a raffle for the team—with each $50 raised, be entered in a 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, reward the top fundraiser with lunch with the president—or 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. • Encourage everyone to “brown bag” it one day at work—instead of going out for lunch, ask them contribute $5 to your Bike MS team. • Hold your own silent auction—with food and entertainment. • Ask your favorite restaurant or bar to donate a percentage of one evening’s income to your team. • Fundraise with Facebook—through the Boundless Fundraising tool available on your personal page. Visit www.bikeMS.org, click on “Make an Impact,” and then the Fundraising Tools drop down for additional fundraising tips and tools. 4 Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet
Simple Steps to Online Success SET UP YOUR TEAM PAGE: 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 you or your team. Write the story of your team and how you are training and fundraising. While there is sample text available, nothing is more compelling than 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 directly to your team page. Put a link to your fundraising page in the signature of your e-mail. MANAGE YOUR TEAM: Email the entire team at once, track their progress, set your team goal so everyone can see and support it, download your team roster, encourage team members to use their online personal page and create incentives for them to fundraise online. RECRUIT MEMBERS ONLINE: 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 e-mail. You can also download your Outlook contact list into the tool. (This tool also can help you to track when e-mails have been opened by a recipient.) FUNDRAISE ONLINE: Now for the fun part! After you send your personalized e-mail to
all your friends, family members 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 toward your fundraising goals and a world free of MS.
ENCOURAGE TEAM MEMBERS TO USE THEIR ONLINE PERSONAL PAGES: Once
you see what the tools can do for you, encourage your team members to follow your lead. Make it fun by giving incentives to your team members to fundraise online — a pair of movie tickets to the team member that raises the most in a week, or a gift card to every team member who gets at least five gifts online. Be creative and ensure that your team not only reaches their goals, but has fun along the way.
BOUNDLESS FUNDRAISING & SOCIAL NETWORKING: Fundraise with Facebook through the boundless fundraising tool available on your personal page. When posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram about Bike MS, remember to use hash tags #BikeMS and #ColonialCrossroads. Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet 5
Top 10 Online Team Tools 8 REAL TIME 5 1 POST YOUR
SEE YOUR
TEAM PICS
DOWNLOAD
ONLINE
YOUR TEAM ROSTER
2 INCLUDE YOUR
TOTAL
Your
COMPANY!
COMPANY’S LOGO
3
FUNDRAISING
SET UP A
SIMPLE URL
6 EMAIL YOUR ENTIRE TEAM AT O N C E
FOR YOUR TEAM PAGE
4 SET A
FUNDRAISING GOAL THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE & SUPPORT
7
TRACK YOUR TEAM MEMBERS’
FUNDRAISING PROGRESS
TEAM 9 TRACK GIFTS & SEND
THANK
YOU EMAILS
10
EASILY
UPDATE
YOUR PAGE & PHOTO
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 ACTIVITIES, LIKE BIKE MS. AS A TEAM CAPTAIN IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU TAKE THE LEAD ON EDUCATING YOUR TEAM ON PREPARING FOR BIKE MS. • Each cyclist should always carry identification, emergency contact information and insurance cards while riding and participating in a Bike MS event. • Headphones, cell phones, radios and similar radio devices are not permitted while riding. • The route is not closed to traffic, so cyclists need to exercise caution at all times and obey all rules of the road. • This is a fun ride and not a race. All cyclists should ride at a comfortable pace and take full advantage of route support whenever needed.
THE BASICS 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. Most of our sponsoring bike shops have regularly scheduled rides. We encourage teams to take advantage of these opportunities.
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Top 2015 Bike
Teams
We would not be able to fund cutting-edge research, provide services, host programs, or educate health care professionals and the public if it were not for the extraordinary fundraising efforts of those who support Bike MS. Once again, we’d like to thank the top teams from Virginia’s Ocean to Bay, Ride Virginia and Tour de Vine for 2015. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Pedalin’ with GP Capital Ale House TBA CLAMS The Grateful Tread Team Munden
6. Team Coop 7. Team BB&T Scott & Stringfellow 8. B&R Road Warriors 9. “Heros Live Forever” 10. Killer Bees
Team Awards A LITTLE FRIENDLY COMPETITION AMONG TEAMS CAN BUILD CAMARADERIE AND INCREASE RESULTS. The difference teams are making in the lives of people with MS is nothing short of amazing. So who will make the biggest impact to create a world free of MS? Here are the top team titles up for grabs. • • • •
Dream Team (Top Fundraising Team) Diamond Team (Second Top Fundraising Team) Platinum Teams: Teams raising $20,000+ Best Team Tent
• • • •
Rookie Team of the Year Largest Team (Corporate, Friends & Family) Small but Mighty Team Most Improved Team
Fundraising Incentives The Chapter offers great prizes to reward our top fundraisers for their efforts. Set your sights high and earn great prizes, such as commemorative clothing and bike shop gift certificates! In addition, everyone who raises $1,200 or more will receive a commemorative Bike MS Cycling Jersey.
Do you have questions about fundraising, using your Participant Center, or event information? Contact our Fundraising Support Center. Fundraising Support Center (toll free): 855-372-1331 Email: FundraisingSupport@nmss.org
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Team Tent Village WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
The DoubleTree By Hilton
IT IS OUR HONOR TO INVITE YOU TO JOIN US AT THIS YEAR’S TEAM VILLAGE We know it takes many people to pull this ride together. From the volunteers that assist you, to the donors who write the checks, to the family members who support your training and fundraising, to those with MS who motivate and inspire… so many individuals working together toward a world free of MS. And what better way to celebrate your team’s accomplishment than to gather these individuals under one tent at the ride to toast your team’s victory! This is what the Team Village is all about. This Team Village Guide is here to assist you in putting together your team’s tent. If you have questions not answered here, please contact, Casey Kasko by phone 434.971.1073 or by email casey.kasko@nmss.org.
WHAT IS THE TEAM VILLAGE? The Team Village is the centerpoint of the Bike MS overnight and a gathering place for teams and team members. Each team that chooses to participate will have their own tent in the Village for their team members, family members, co-workers and friends to enjoy. Teams can get donations of food, solicit massage therapists, have volunteers set up decorations and much more. Read further to find out more about the advantages of the Team Village!
HOW IT WORKS OPTION ONE: RENT tents, tables & chairs through the National MS Society, which are set up for the teams in the Team Village. OPTION TWO: BRING your own pop up tent to set up in the Team Village. Let us know ahead of time and we’ll reserve your team a space. OPTION THREE: WIN a team tent with tables & chairs! Keep an eye out for fundraising contests leading up to Bike MS: Colonial Crossroads for your team’s chance to win.
8 Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet
Advantages of a Team Tent • Be centrally located: The Team Village will be the centerpiece of the Bike MS event this year, so your team will have easy access to all the amenities.
• Generate excitement around your team, your supporters, your company and the Bike MS event.
• Provide a leadership role to a team volunteer as the “Tent Captain” who is responsible for organizing a group of volunteers who will choose the theme and decor, and plan special perks like great snacks & drinks, comfy chairs, your very own massage therapists and much more!
• Involve families of team members and co-workers by having them volunteer to host the tent.
• Allow team sponsors to be present in the tent to hand out their products, coupon or flyers for their business.
• Show your team spirit and personality by decorating your tent.
Building Your Team Tent IN ORDER TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL TEAM VILLAGE TENT, THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO IS GET SOME HELP! DO YOU HAVE CO-WORKERS, FRIENDS OR FAMILY THAT WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED, BUT DON’T RIDE? ASK THEM TO TAKE ON IMPORTANT VOLUNTEER ROLES. FOOD & MENU ITEMSThe Bike MS event is a fully supported event with plenty of meals
and rest stops. However, your team may still be hungry at the end of the day. Pack some food for your team to enjoy while you are hanging out in your tent. ALCOHOL POLICY While a cold beer might be just the thing to top off a great day of riding, please understand that the serving of alcohol in our Team Village requires everyone to act responsibly. Please follow these simple but important policies to ensure the safety of all participants and understand your liability as the team host when providing alcohol. • Post signs that state ‘Proof of age required’. • Have a means to check ID. • Utilize tickets, wristbands, etc. to control the consumption of alcohol. • Be prepared to provide transportation for anyone who may be intoxicated and is traveling offsite. • Follow all local regulations and laws regarding the distribution of alcohol. TEAM VILLAGE AWARDS The coveted title of Best Team Tent will be presented at the Saturday evening program at The DoubleTree by Hilton. It is based on festivness, fun, decorations and team spirit! A group of judges will be walking around the Team Tent Village Saturday afternoon- invite them in and show them around! Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet 9
Team Captain Goal Setting Worksheet Team Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Captain: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Co-Captains:________________________________________________________________________________________ When setting your team’s goals, look back at your team’s performance from last year (if applicable). The average Bike MS cyclist raises $750. PREVIOUS YEAR’S RESULTS
# of team members: ________________ $ amount raised: $ ________________ Average team member $ raised: $ ________________ (Dollars raised ÷ number of team members)
THIS YEAR’S GOALS
# of team members: ________________
(i.e.: 20% increase = number of previous year cyclists x 1.2)
Minimum $ goal: $ ___________________
(i.e.: team member goal x previous team member average)
Suggested $ goal: $ ___________________
(i.e.: number of team members goal x $750 Bike MS average)
2016 PLANNING ACTIVITIES 1. Appoint team co-captains Due date: _________________________ People to ask:
• ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ 2. Customize team web page (visit your participant center) Due date: _________________________ 3. Team kick-off announcement to all previous team members and/or company employees Due date: _________________________
4. Recruitment activities ACTIVITY
DATE
$ GOAL
DATE
$ GOAL
5. Fundraising activities ACTIVITY
6. Email to all team members announcing goals and activities Due date: _________________________ 7. Thank you note to all team members Due date: _________________________
10 Bike MS: 2016 Team Captain Packet
RECRUITMENT CHECKLIST
FUNDRAISING CHECKLIST
oo I have set my team recruitment goal (if I am a returning team captain, my goal is at least 20% higher than my previous year’s team size).
oo I have set a team goal and have informed all of my team members of our team fundraising goal.
oo I have selected my co-captain(s) and a team committee to assist me in organizing and motivating my team. oo If I have a corporate team, I have secured support from my company’s top executives. oo I have set a date for our recruitment event and asked the Society to send a representative to my event. oo I have publicized my team through posters, newsletters, social media and word of mouth. oo I have personalized my email signature to let others know I am riding and recruiting team members. oo I have made a list of possible team members and personally asked each individual to join my team. oo I have encouraged every team member to recruit at least one new team member to join our team.
oo I have personalized my personal and team web page with a picture and short story of why we ride. oo I have familiarized myself with the fundraising resources available on bikeMS.org. oo I have asked my company or organization to make a donation to our team. oo I have asked my team members and donors if their companies have a matching gift program. If so, I have encouraged them to ask their coworkers to donate to them and request matching funds. oo I have planned at least one fundraising event for my team (e.g. bake sale, car wash, etc.). oo I have told everyone on my team the date of our fundraising event and delegated responsibilities to them. oo I have informed the Society of our fundraising event.
oo I have contacted the Society for help brainstorming other ideas.
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Virginia - West Virginia Chapter 4200 Innslake Drive, Suite 301 Glen Allen, VA 23060
Bike
Team Captain Materials
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