Out For Blood 5k

1. Katie McGuire, Director Marketing and Communications Greater Chesapeake & Potomac Region, American Red Cross Out For Blood 5k A Race to Raise Awareness and Recruit Donors on World Blood Donor Day

2. Running and Road Races have experienced a boom in popularity since 1994. According to Running USA: In 2007 8.9 million people finished a road race in the U.S., compared to 3.9 million in 1987. 51% of all running events are 5k races Over 50% of all participants in road races are between the ages of 30 and 50, 19.5% of men and 33.4% of women cite “it benefits an important cause” as their reason for entering a particular race. A 5k Race is a fun, unique way to engage donors and potential donors in an invested relationship with the American Red Cross Through sponsorships, the financial cost of executing a road race is zero, and the race will generate funds for the blood bank. Why a 5k Race?

3. Why Leverage World Blood Donor Day? Any opportunity for media and publicity! This is a story that we can “pitch” and it provides validation for the event. Not organization specific, and focuses primarily on the donor. Creates a connection to the “action” of giving blood rather than the relationship with the specific blood collection organization, i.e. the Red Cross By celebrating Blood Donors, we are able to further the connection to the development of a relationship with our organization In areas with competition, the recognition of the donor outside of the blood bank provides an opportunity to engage a non Red Cross donor with a Red Cross experience. Logistically – World Blood Donor Day falls at a perfect time of year for an outdoor event (June 14) WBDD at the beginning of summer provides another avenue to promote the summer need for blood in a fresh and unconventional way.

4. The Out for Blood Concept

5. Asking Participants to Become Advocates The “participant as advocate” model is not unique: In many cases, a road race to support a charitable event will ask participants to collect pledges or financial donations in support of the particular cause. Examples – Race for the Cure, Avon Walk For Breast Cancer To match our business model, we ask participants to collect pledges of those willing to donate blood. We follow up with the pledges after the event to secure a blood donation appointment. Prizes and Premiums were offered for participants who collected the most pledges. Examples – water bottles, performance t-shirt A Grand Prize was given to the participant with the most donor pledges – premium baseball tickets with VIP treatment at the ball park. Each registration form had spaces for 15 donor pledges, the minimum for prize eligibility was 10 pledges. Pledges were not required to participate in the event, and participants could “pledge” themselves as a donor

6. Supporting the High School Donor Program The Story of the Out for Blood 5k Race Money raised above and beyond the race hard costs was earmarked for specific use in programs that help support high school/young donor education and recruitment – materials, events, promotions. World Blood Donor Day provides us with the opportunity to recognize and thank those who have made blood donation a priority in their lives. For many donors, the first experience with blood donation is in High School. For that reason, it is critically important that we focus recruitment efforts on these young donors. In honor of World Blood Donor Day, the Out for Blood 5k Race will raise awareness about the need for blood in our community, generate interest and engagement in the blood program, and support high school donor recruitment programs in the region.

7. Planning the Event

8. Maximize Your Resources Form a team – engage all areas of your organization to assist in aspects of the planning Make sure you have a Runner on the team! You want someone who has experienced a 5k race or other community road race event and can visualize the outcome/runner experience Work with a local running group or race planning group. They will handle the logistics of actually “setting up” the event. Any local running specialty store would be able to provide a contact for this service. Develop a solid template for the event planning process, something you can come back to year after year Assign one “Event Coordinator” and delegate tasks to various planning committees with in your group Focus on specific areas: Sponsorship, Media and Communications, Logistics, and Print/Promotional materials when developing a master plan

9. Sponsorships Ask all of your local vendors – everyone from your printers, promotional vendors to your uniform providers, canteen suppliers, etc. Get all departments involved in soliciting sponsorships from the various vendors and business partners they work with. Leverage relationships that you already have. Ask Blood Drive Sponsors and Coordinators – they are already supporters so a financial or in-kind contribution may be an “easy” sell Look for in-kind donations, such as printing services, post race food, awards/trophies, prizes, promotional items, t-shirts. These will reduce your cost and can be easier to obtain than a “check”. Provide potential sponsors with various options for Sponsorship Levels, and the associated recognition/promotion they will receive for their donation to your event. Put together a formal Sponsor Package.

10. The Sponsor Package Offer increasing levels of sponsorship with increasing levels of recognition and promotion. Be sure to offer things that you know you can provide – i.e. do not offer a sponsor the opportunity to sell goods/services at your venue unless you are willing/able to also provide any services they might need to support that (such as electricity, early set up, space for a table, etc). Keep it simple – inclusion in print advertising, radio/tv spots, logo on the t-shirts and other race premiums, banners, signage, website links, and opportunity to include a catalog or other promo item in the race “goodie bags” are all good/easy ways to recognize and thank your sponsors. Work with in-kind partners to assign an appropriate sponsor level based on value of goods or services Include a “supporter” level that allows for donations at all dollar amounts – every little bit counts

11. Media and Communications Tell a STORY about the event – what it is about, who/what the money will support (a specific program or fund). Use that story in all your communications. Look for a “Media Partner” to be the voice of your event through advertising and promotion, as well as an on-site presence the day of the event. Added “pizzazz” for the race participants if a local celeb can act as the emcee, give out awards, or otherwise participate Radio station promotions team can be on-site with music/signage/giveaways. This makes it more fun, and save you the cost of renting sound equipment. Invite all your staff, donors, sponsors, vendors, hospitals, and other contacts to participate as a runner or walker, and encourage them to form a team Connect with local running groups, clubs, specialty stores, gyms, etc to promote the event. Post signs in immediate area of the race – coffee shops, grocery stores, universities, dry cleaners, etc.

12. Print and Promotional Materials Most of these items can be donated by vendors you already work with – printers, t-shirt suppliers Be flexible in what you are requesting to maximize what you can get for free – i.e do not insist on red shirts if you can get white ones donated Use email communications to minimize postage costs, post registration forms online and use an online sign up system Postcard mailings are cheap and can direct users to your website for more information – you do not need to send out thousands of race brochures Offer various prize levels to participants who recruit more donor pledges – see what your vendors are willing to donate and use those items. Order small quantities only.

13. Race Day Logistics Ensure you have enough volunteers to cover key areas/tasks – registration, water stops, split timing, set up/break down of post race food, directing runners to parking/race start, clean up and trash removal Race Event Management company will handle the selection/measurement of the course, timing, scoring, finish/start line set up, and will also train your volunteers on what they need to be doing in various areas Make the connection to World Blood Donor Day and the “story” of your event. A few words from your CEO Testimonial Speaker pre-race Signage that recognizes World Blood Donor Day

14. Setting a Goal for the First Year Event • Keep it Simple! Learn from the first year and grow, do not try to “do it all” • Work with a Race Event Management company to estimate a budget and expected runners (average) for your area. • In Baltimore – average first year 5k events see approximately 75-150 runners. We set our goal for 100 runners. • Depending on the sponsorship structure, number of sponsors, entry fees, and number of participants, history of the event, etc, a 5k road race can generate as much as $100,000 or more in revenue. • Because our goals was to recruit donors, not raise money, we set a very modest financial goal to simply cover all the costs of the race through sponsorship with entry fees being the additional “bonus”. Cost was approximately $20,000. • GOALS for The First Annual Out for Blood 5k: 1) 100 runners, 2) Zero cost, 3) A fun event with positive feedback from participants

15. Results – 2008 Out for Blood 5k • 180 Runners, Walkers, and Volunteers • Raised nearly $15,000 in addition to covering all event costs • Received nearly 200 donor pledges – resulting in approximately 55 donations between June and September • Many pledges had already given when we called them to schedule an appointment • Most of the pledges were already donors, only 6 pledges were brand new donors • Full advertising schedule in the Baltimore Examiner (newspaper) to support the race and the American Red Cross • Coverage on local sports radio (PSA schedule) as well as a local sports personality who acted as emcee for the event • Follow up interview with Red Cross blood recipient, Brian Boyle, local tri-athlete and blood donation testimonial speaker

16. Lessons Learned – Moving on to Year Two!

17. Need a better system to track donations received from donor pledges. Manual process, hard to retrieve accurate data on participants/pledges who follow through with donations unless they actually make an appointment when called. Many pledges may come in spontaneously or call to make an appointment on their own. Eliminated “Presenting Sponsor” option from Sponsor Package. We want to have sole rights to the brand/identity of the event. Eliminated a lot of “fluff” from the sponsor package – most sponsors are not motivated by promotional opportunities associated with the race. Include “Photo Release” in race registration form. Eliminates the need for separate photo release to be signed at registration and for later sorting/identification of all photos. You can never have too much ice! Especially on a hot day. Pre-packaged food is best – granola bars, pretzels, etc. You can pick these up days in advance and not worry about spoilage. Improvements/changes for 2009 Out for Blood

18. Pictures – 2008 Event

21. Contact Information: Katie McGuire, Director Marketing and Communications American Red Cross GC&P Region 410-764-4617 | mcguirek@usa.redcross.org Questions?