Ride For Life

Tom Newton beat his own fundraising goal of $5,000 and raised $8230!

As many of you know, this year’s Ride for Life has a brand new fundraising tool – the ability for anyone to create a personalized web site that allows donors to contribute easily and securely by credit card.
RFL has asked me to let folks know how I set up my site (http://2007alsride.kintera.org/tomnewton)
and provide tips that anyone can use to maximize the effectiveness of their own online RFL donation campaign/web site.
There are three main steps involved:

1. Register at the RFL donation portal,
2. Personalize your web page with a photo, and
3. Reach out to your address book with a personalized appeal.

So, let’s get started…
First, go to http://2007alsride.kintera.org/ and click "participant registration" on the left, and fill in all the info required. A few tips: When you choose a "user name," it has to have letters AND numbers in it (ie. Charlie50), and when you get to the "Personal Page Link" spot, be sure to provide an intuitive name (ie. tomnewton) as this makes your webpage URL recognizable.

Now it’s time to login and personalize your web page. Click "Main login" (it’s about 2/3 of the way down on the left) and enter the username and password you set up during registration.

Once logged in, click the "My Webpage" tab. This is where you can add personalized text and a photo to your web page. Important tip: The photo you upload cannot be larger than 300x234 pixels, so you’ll most likely need to resize the photo downward first (you can do this easily at http://www.resizepic.com/). Of course, you don’t have to upload a photo, it’s just a nice touch to have one out there.

Now that your web page is ready, it’s time to send a message to family, friends, etc… notifying them of your online RFL donation campaign/web site. Tips: While there are email tools integrated into the RFL web page system, I found it is easier and more effective to send a message directly from my own email software (ie, Outlook, etc…). This method gives you the opportunity to more easily use your address book and create your own subject line and message. A copy of one of the emails I had sent is posted here - http://tinyurl.com/yt3mjs. Either way, be sure to clearly indicate your webpage URL, and remember it’s always nice to add personal anecdotes about your connection to or feelings about The Ride to your message.

That’s it. Now go out there and start your own online RFL donation campaign/web site today!