Participant Playbook Welcome to CCFA Football! Thank you for joining a team for A Touch of Football. You ll get to experience the thrill of playing flag football on an NFL field while raising important funds for CCFA. And we re here to support you along the way! Follow the steps outlined in this playbook and you ll have a winning game plan to fundraising success! The Playbook contains: Fundraising Tips and Checklist Sample Emails Get Social to Fundraise Creative Fundraising Ideas Fundraising Strategy Worksheet It s Kick-off Time! Follow these tips to get off to a fast start! Utilize your online tools Update your personal fundraising page with your story and a photo and/or video. Why are you participating? The more personal you make your page, the more you will inspire people to give. Send out emails to everyone in your address book. Ask for your first donation today. Set a fundraising goal. We encourage you to aim above and beyond the fundraising minimum and raise as much money as you can. Ask for donations. The number one reason why people give is simply because they were asked. Thus, the Golden Rule of Fundraising is just that simple: You raise money only when you ask for it. So ask everyone you know. ASK personally and share your own story, not just statistics. Connect with your donors through your personal relationship with them. Plan a fundraising event! Use the creative ideas included in this toolkit to put some fun in your fundraising! Have fun and celebrate your victory at A Touch of Football! Invite friends and family to watch you take the field! Thank your supporters! Use the templates created in your online Fundraising Center or the letter included below. Sample Letters/Emails Donation Solicitation Hey there! I ve signed up lead a team for CCFA s A Touch of Football. I ll be raising funds and fielding a team for a bracket style flag football tournament. This is my way to take a stand behind everyone who fights Crohn s & Colitis, debilitating digestive diseases, every day.
I am passionate about the mission of CCFA and I m hoping you ll help me support their work. Why? Because one in every 200 people suffer daily with these digestive diseases. Crohn s and ulcerative colitis, which affect over 1.4 million Americans, are painful and medically incurable illnesses. I m doing my part to help find a cure and I hope you ll support me with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will help CCFA with their mission to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. It s easy to make a difference- just visit my fundraising page (insert link). Together we will provide hope and inspire action! [First Name] Vendor Solicitation Dear {Name}: On {Date of Event}, I will be taking the field and raising funds for A Touch of Football for The Crohn s & Colitis Foundation. Our fundraising efforts will help the Crohn s & Colitis Foundation of America support research, education, support and improve the quality of life for the more than 1.4 million Americas living with Crohn s and ulcerative Colitis. These are devastating chronic illnesses that are painful and debilitating. IBD can strike anyone and in fact, ten percent of patients are children under the age of 18. I m on a mission to make a difference. I have set a goal to raise ${Goal}. To achieve this, I am asking for your support. Please consider joining our efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will help CCFA with their mission to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. It s easy to make a difference- just visit my fundraising page (insert link) or mail your donation to my attention to (insert address) Together we will provide hope and inspire action! Sincerely, {Name} Thank you Wow thank you for your donation! I m having an amazing time raising funds on behalf of CCFA s A Touch of Football it feels really good to be part of something bigger than myself. And it s so great to have such a great community of people like you supporting me! Your tax-deductible gift will help CCFA with their mission to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases.
Double your donation! One more thing have you checked to see if your company matches charitable gifts? If they do, you could double your donation and in doing so, double your impact. Please click here, or check with your employer to see if you can double your donation by having them match your charitable contribution. Thanks again for your support, (First Name) Social Media Tips Social media provides you with a quick and easy way to broadcast your participation in A Touch of Football to your entire network. Use these best practices and sample posts to help make your fundraising even easier! General Best Practices and Ideas: Always include a link back to your personal page. Switch it up! Use photos and videos in addition to text. Thank your donors publically on their social media pages or by tagging them. Keep your networks updated on your progress. Make sure that your tweets don t exceed 140 characters (use the & sign, shorten your URL https://bitly.com/, use contractions when possible and sub number for words) When Tweeting, use the hash tag for your campaign #touchoffootball Tag @CCFA in your Tweets! Share photos on Instagram of your fundraising events, practices and person you are fundraising in honor of. Use Instagram to film a short video and post it on all of your social networks. Reach out to your professional network via Linked In. Post your personal page, a vendor solicitation or invitation to one of your fundraising events. Facebook Sample Posts Are you ready for some football? I am! I m participating in A Touch of Football to raise money for the 1.4million people in America suffering from Crohn s & Colitis? Donate today and help me reach my goal! Huddle up friends and family! I m looking for a few good men and women to support me as I raise funds for A Touch of Football for CCFA. Donate today! I m on a mission to make a BIG impact for CCFA! Donate today and help me raise big bucks to provide support and research for IBD patients. Fall + Football + Fundraising=a winning combination! I m raising money to help cure IBD. Support me as I strive to raise $XXX. I m going long for CCFA-and I could use YOUR help. Please support my fundraising efforts today. I m working hard to reach my fundraising goal of XXX for A Touch of Football. Donate today and help me reach my goal! I m raising funds for CCFA in honor of {insert personal story}. Support me today! It s the 4 th Quarter! A Touch of Football is coming up in two weeks and I ve raised $XXX towards my goal. Don t miss your chance to support my efforts! Thank you to {Insert donor name} for your generous support of my fundraising for CCFA. Your generous gift helps support their mission to improve the quality of life for all IBD patients!
Sample Tweets I m kicking off my fundraising efforts for @CCFA. IBD affects 1.4 million in America. Please support my efforts! Who s ready for some football? Donate today and help me reach my goal! Did you know 1 in 200 people in America have IBD? I m doing my part to help-donate today and help me reach my goal! Fall + Football + Fundraising=a winning combination! I m raising money to help cure IBD. Support me as I strive to raise $XXX. I m excited to be participating in #touchoffootball-and I could use YOUR help. Please contribute to my fundraising efforts. I m working hard to reach my fundraising goal of XXX for #touchoffootball. Donate today and help me reach my goal! I m on a mission to make a BIG impact for @CCFA! Donate today and help me raise big bucks! @CCFA is striving to cure IBD. Support me in my efforts in the #touchoffootball Today! I m raising funds for @CCFA in honor of {insert personal story}. Support me today! I ll be scoring touchdowns in 2 weeks for @touchoffootball. Don t miss your chance to support my efforts. Instagram Ideas Linked In Ideas Post pictures of your team on the practice field preparing for game day. Post pictures of your team uniform with explanation on how you chose your team name. Make an Instagram video telling people why you are passionate about raising funds for A Touch of Football. Post pictures of your fundraising event invitations and ask your followers to attend Post a video trash talking (but keep it clean!) on why your team is going to win A Touch of Football tournament Post your vendor solicitation letter Invite your professional network to attend your fundraising events Recommend your fundraising page Creative Fundraising Ideas Fantasy Football league: While you build the perfect team and create pools between your friends set the stakes high and offer monetary goals that will go towards your A Touch of Football fundraising! Tailgating Party: Put down those tailgates, light up those grills and tune in to a day of football! Invite friends and family to watch your favorite team. Host the tailgate at the game, at your house or at a local bar. Charge an admission fee, do a 50/50 raffle or charge to taste the great food! Football Squares: Charge $5 or $10 dollars per square and enjoy the fun as the game progresses. Since no one knows what numbers each square will represent, everyone has a shot of winning! Favorite Team Dress Down Days: Ask your boss or HR Director to host a Dress Down Day at your office. Charge $5 or $10 for the ability to wear your favorite team jersey to work on a Friday. Football pools: Score a fundraising touchdown by hosting football pools. Invite your football fanatic friends to join in a confidence pool and pick the weekend s college or NFL games.
Host a football movie party at your house Pick up a new flick at your local movie store, make some popcorn, pick up some soda and invite your friends and family over for movie night. Charge an entry fee and have a few items to auction off for more funds. Football Memorabilia: Host an auction or raffle with your favorite team s memorabilia as the prize! CCFA Football Tournament Fundraising Strategy Worksheet It is helpful to put a fundraising plan in place so you can not only achieve but exceed your goal! If each player on your team follows the below plan, you will raise well over your team goal, giving your team a top pick in the draft and helping to raise crucial funds for CCFA. Sample fundraising plan: Fundraising Goal: $500 Due Date: October 1 st Type Quantity Expected Response Expected Timing Total Personal Donation 1 1 $50 Today Email 50 $25 average, 50% response rate $625 A few days after registering Facebook Update All Additional donors/reminder $150 1 week after 1 st email Twitter All Additional donors/reminder $100 Today, 2 days before event TOTAL $925 1/1 Your fundraising plan: Type Quantity Expected Response Expected Timing Total