While there are many ways to raise money in pursuit of your goal it has been said that the number one reason people give is they were asked. The greatest story ever told is the one you share for participating in the Arthritis Walk. You may have your own personal story about your daily life with arthritis, or you may be telling the story of someone on your team who struggles with the daily effects of arthritis. The great thing about sharing stories is that every story is unique and special!
You may not realize it, but telling your story personalizes the disease and has two benefits: first is raising much needed funding for the Arthritis Foundation; second (and equally important), your story is helping us to raise awareness about arthritis that many Americans still do not know.
One of the reasons the Arthritis Foundation chose this website to host the Orange County Arthritis Walk was because of its motto Friends Asking Friends. This entire site is built for you, the participant, to make it easier to share your story with others and ask for support.
Here are some tips for easy fundraising:
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If you're a Team Captain, recruit people to join your Team first, then share your story. The more people you get on your Team sharing stories, the more money your team will raise.
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Don't be affraid to set an aggressive goal - setting a high goal sets a high expectation with your donors and fellow Team Members. And if you're a Team Captain, make sure all of your Team Members goals add up to the Team goal.
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On your Personal and Team pages you can upload a photo and replace the default text with your story about why you are participating.
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You can email all of your friends, family, and co-workers directly from this site sharing your story. When you send an email out from here, a link is included back to your personal page where that person can make a secure online donation. Aside from being very convenient and fast, email is a great choice if you are not comfortable asking for money directly.
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For less savvy internet friends and family, sharing your story can be done with letter writing, a personal phone call, or face to face contact. Once you collect the donation, you can enter it as an offline donation on this site, and turn it in to the Arthritis Foundation office later.
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When asking for support ask everyone you know. Also let the donor decide on how much to give. You'll be suprised who gives and how much they give!
Some facts about arthritis that may help in your story:*
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Arthritis affects 46 million adults (22% of the adult population)
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Arthritis affects nearly 300,000 children in the United States.
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Arthritis affects people without regard to age, gender and race
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Arthritis can be a mild chronic condition with a little discomfort, to a full blown disease causing total disability, severe pain, and even death. In fact arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the United States.
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Arthritis costs the U.S. economy 128 billion dollars annually in lost productivity.
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Arthritis has finally caught the eye of Congress and for the last several years has been trying to push through legislation to help those affected by arthritis. There are similar bills in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
*Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/index.htm) ; United States Senate (S.984), U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.1210)
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