Today I spent a lot of time emailing my family and friends and encouraging them to donate to the Tour of Hope. I wanted to get this work done a month ago when I asked readers of Operation Gadget to contribute, but I ended up waiting until after Labor Day in order to take advantage of the fact that many people would be returning to work this week.
I find that my donors last year fell into three categories:
- relatives and friends of Kathleen and me,
- fellow alumni from Rensselaer who contributed because of the fact that I was riding in memory of fellow alumnus, and
- friends and relatives of Peter Frank.
Each group has a different reason for donating, so each group got a different email message.
I put this level of effort into communicating with my previous donors because I was truly touched by the thoughtfulness of many of them last year. Some of them donated for intensely personal reasons that I’m just understanding now. I wish I could take the time to write a personal note to each donor when I ask for their support, but I find that I only really have time to write a personal note thanking donors for their contribution.
There’s about a month to go before the Fundraising Ride in Washington, DC. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble raising the $500 minimum donation, because it’s one of the lowest minimums required for any participatory event by a national charity. What I’m most concerned about is building up my mileage enough to comfortably ride the 50 miles.
If you want to make a donation to the Tour of Hope to support me, all you need to do is click on the big Help Dave ride the Tour of Hope button. You’ll be sent to a page where you can make a tax deductible donation to the Tour of Hope by credit card. Instructions are also there for making a donation by check. Thanks for your help.
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