Mentoring e-Mail # 17

Good Morning, My Mentees,

It is I, your Artful Mentor, with a surprise Tuesday morning note! My work is delayed two hours this morning, and I decided to get the note out now so I can concentrate on my fundraising stuff tonight. Isn’t the snow beautiful? The paper said that we got 11 inches here, which seemed about right when I shoveled out the driveway yesterday. I treated that as my cross-training workout for the day. Now getting in running and walking this week is going to be tricky, but I think I am going to have to see if I can use a treadmill. There is just too much ice around here. But the forecast calls for 60’s by the end of the week, so running surfaces should be ice free by then.

For those of you doing Shamrock, your season is winding down as your event approaches and as you learn one of the most beautiful words in the runners’ dictionary – taper! Both of you are past your fund-raising minimum, but if you want to keep raising money, I encourage you to do so. Every dollar counts in the race for a cure!

For us Nashville folk, taper is still a long time away. Everyone of you recommitted, and I am very proud of you! Plus, I am really looking forward to racing with you all. I have switched to the half- marathon and will hope to get to the finish area for the full to see you full marathoners come in. Of course that presumes that you speedy marathoners are not finished before I am. J

Now, the key thing is to come up with a plan by hitting your minimum dollar goal by the race date. If that is not possible, you still have some time after the race – up until charge date – to raise the minimum funds. That should be your fallback plan. So:

Plan A – raise at least $3,600 by April 25.

Plan B – raise at least $3,600 by charge date (I don’t have the exact date in front of me but have it somewhere and will find it)

Plan C – well, there is no plan C, so let’s focus on A or B.

Plan D – yep, you guessed it, no plan D either, ditto E through Z. A or B is all you get!

If you are short of the minimum, then you should consider fundraising to be a very well paying second job. Why – because every dollar you raise is a dollar you don’t have to pay later. So, if you are $2,000 short, and you spend 50 hours fundraising over the next couple of months, that second job is worth $40 an hour to you. Therefore I have a little homework exercise for the three Nashville racers: If you would be so kind, please get me a sketch of the things you plan on doing to raise the remaining money. It can be as detailed as you like, with specific plans and dates. Just email me your plans for closing that gap. I will look them over and try to make suggestions. The goal of every coach, mentor, and LLS staff person is that you (1) have a great time at the race (2) raise the minimum amount so it doesn’t cost you a dime and (3) enjoy TNT so much that you will want to do it again at some point. So let’s put our heads together for a way to raise that money. Get me your plans.

Enjoy the day, and be on the look out for Abominable Snowmen!
GO TEAM!
Art