Message #3 From Your Artful Mentor

Hi Team in Training Summer Teammates! It was good to finally meet a couple more of you Saturday, and to see a few more of you whom I had met before. There are still three of you I haven’t met yet, so make sure to look for me at Saturday’s training.

Speaking of Saturday, this coming Saturday will not be at the normal venue, Byrd Park. It will be out towards Goochland County off route 288. Please double-check emails form Cate and Coach Chuck for details on the exact time and place. This will be our very special, not to be missed if at all possible, silent mile training. We only do it once or twice a year. As always, if you can’t make it, please let Coach Chuck know.

Most of you have emailed back to one of my notes confirming that you (a) got it and (b) have a phone number for me. If you have not yet done this, please do so this time. It is important for both myself and your coaches to know that our emails are getting through.

If you want the little group photo from Saturday that Cate took, let me know, and I will send it along. I am also glad to take an action shot of you Saturday for your web page it you want.

Most of you are off to a great start with your fundraising. You must have a great mentor! Seriously, most of you are over 10% (or more) towards your goal, which is a great start. I’ve not heard from many of you requesting help, but if you need help, that is my job. Cate is always glad to help as well – just let us know. We can do one on one planning sessions, a group brainstorming session, work on customizing your webpages with you, review your notes and letters. Whatever you need to help you achieve that goal, we can help you with.

At this point, with your event still 3.5 months or more away, you all have plenty of time to hit your minimum. Like everything else in life, it can speed by and creep up on you, so just do something every week that will get you to that goal, and you will get there. For this week, I would suggest reviewing a few of the following:

* When did you last send an email update to your donors? If it has been longer than two weeks, time to write and send another one.
* Have you sent thank you emails or letters to all of your donors?
* Have you sent checks in to Paycor (see last week’s email for details and the form)? Actually, your Artful Mentor is a bit remiss on this. I have two checks to get in.
* Have you personalized your web page, including a photo?
* Do you have updates on your web page so it doesn’t always have the same information each time a potential donor goes to it?
* Have you started planning your letters? Hmmm, this is another area where your Artful Mentor is quite remiss. Too much going on – that is my excuse, and I am sticking to it.

Okay, so to summarize: (1) let me know you are getting my emails if you haven’t already (2) try to show up for the silent mile – but make sure you pay attention to where and when that will be (3) review your fundraising using some of the ideas above.

Let’s hope that the weather gods cooperate again Saturday. I hope to see a large number of you there, and meet the rest of you that I haven’t yet met.

GO TEAM!
Art