Athletes For Crohn's FAQ

CONTACT the Hope For Crohn’s® Administrative Team:

Send an email outlining your issue to info@athletesforcrohnshfc.org. If you tell us in that email what the problem is, outline what changes you want to make or how we can help, we can usually get that fixed for you quickly. We want you to spend your time sending out fundraising emails, training, and getting on with the rest of your life, not fumbling with a website you might be having trouble with. Once your page is set, you are good to go, so let us help you.

or Third party provider.

Many of the basic questions or issues you will need help with are addressed in FAQ's, including how to add line breaks and photos to your page. Also, within the FAQ's you will find information on how to easily send up to 200 emails directing your contacts to your fundraising page, how to upload your address book directly to our third party provider, and other helpful information.

If you are still having difficulty, the best, fastest way to get help is to contact Active.com directly. They are the company that designs and hosts our donation pages. They are very responsive and helpful. If you need assistance with your page, whether it is creating the page, uploading a picture, etc.. They will be able to assist you.

To contact our third party provider customer support, email us and select option__ Their phone support is generally faster than via email; however, if you are too busy to call you can send an email referencing your fundraising page's web address and your issue and you will usually receive a reply within 24 hours.

Download an

3b. Can you give me some tips on how to write a good donation page?

When you sign up for the team you will automatically receive a personal donation webpage that includes the most significant information about Hope For Crohn’s® and our mission. Think of this standardized page as a starting point that you can add to. The best pages are personalized as outlined below. At a minimum, this standard page will provide your supporters with information about Hope For Crohn’s®. For the best, most effective donation campaign, make sure your page follows these guidelines:

Write a message that tells people WHY you are participating in this 5K, 10K, marathon, triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon, or cycling event.

Tell your supporters about HOW you are connected to Crohn’s disease.

Explain how much participating in this event means to you and how their support is so important to you.

Include a picture of yourself or of the person you are honoring. If you do not have such a photo, use a photo or logo of the event you are participating in. This is usually available in the dropdown menu where you can upload photos. If not, email info@athletesforcrohns.org and we will get you what you need.

Share the message about how much Hope For Crohn’s has done to fund research and how their efforts are getting the message to the community and raising awareness of Crohn’s disease.

3c. How do I send emails from my fundraising account? Do I have to use third party provider to send emails?

Simply log on to your active.com account, and click on the "Send Emails" tab. There, you can enter up to 200 email addresses at a time. Those email addresses are automatically stored in your account's database, so when you are ready to write to the same group again, those names and email addresses are already in your address book. Write a short message on the active.com message form and hit "send."

You do not need to use the active.com email tool if you do not want to. If you prefer to use your regular email account, you can send the link of your fundraising page from your regular email account. Just be sure to know that some email servers limit the number of recipients you can include per email, so you may have to send your message out in batches of 25 recipients. Be sure to include the link to your fundraising page in the body of your email that you send out to your prospective supporters.

4. Are donations tax deductible? Will donors receive documentation of their contribution?

Hope For Crohn’s® is a 501(c )(3) non-profit organization. The tax ID number is 27-4806163.

All U.S. donations are tax deductible. Your online donors will receive a confirmation of their donation automatically shortly after making the contribution. This confirmation can be used as a tax receipt. Donors who send checks for $1 or more will receive a donation mailing from Hope For Crohn’s®

5. Where should I mail donation checks? All check donations must be attached to a donation form and should be mailed to the address listed on the donation form, by turn-in date, 4 weeks before the event, to Hope For Crohn's® Donor Services/Fundraising, P.O. Box 2814 Dublin, CA 94568. Please download form

6. Who should I make my check out to? Please make all checks payable to: Hope For Crohn's.

7. Are donations tax-deductible? Yes. All monetary donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

8. Are registration fees tax-deductible? No. Registration fees are not tax-deductible. Membership fees are also not tax-deductible.

9. Can the Hope For Crohn's® accept international donations? Yes. Hope For Crohn's® can accept international donations online with a credit card. International donations cannot be accepted through any other method because of processing complications.

10. For international donations made online with a credit card, will the amount entered in the Hope For Crohn's® Event online donation form be in U.S. dollars? Yes. For international donations made online with a credit card, the amount entered in the Hope For Crohn's® Event online donation form will be in U.S. dollars.

11. Do all donors receive a receipt? Yes, anyone who donates, regardless of the amount, will receive a receipt if they provide a valid email address. For those who donate online, the receipt is generated directly after the donation is made and donors can print that receipt for tax purposes or personal records. For those who mail in a donation and provide a valid email address, the receipt is generated once the donation has been processed and is e-mailed to the donor. Those who donate $250 or more and do not have an e-mail address will receive a copy of the receipt in the mail.

12. What is a matching gift and how do I apply for one? Many companies (both large and small) offer employee matching gift programs. This means that when an employee makes a donation to a cause or non-profit organization, the corporation will “match” that donation with an equal (or greater) amount to the same group. For more information about matching gift, visit the www.hopeforcrohns.org events/new page for more details.

Be sure to include the name of the event and the team member’s name on the check's memo line so that your donation will be recorded correctly. For Example: Sarah Attop, Marin Marathon

Please note that all donors who pay by check will always receive a thank you notification documenting the tax deductible contribution for any donation over $1.

Cash donations should be converted to check form, since cash should not be sent directly in the mail. If a donor gives you cash, simply deposit it to your bank account and send a check from your account following the directions above. Include with your check a short note that tells us the name and address of the donor so that we can provide the thank you note documenting the tax deductible contribution to that donor.

IMPORTANT! Your Responsibility: Please add the check and cash donation amounts to your online personal fundraising page by following the instructions in the next Q&A. Adding the donations that you receive offline to your online fundraising page will allow a grand tally of all your donations to appear on your fundraising page.

Note: We will assume that all checks sent to Hope For Crohn’s have already been added to your donation page by you when we receive them.

13. How do I get the cash and check donations included in my donation pages? How do I add money that came from company matching funds?

Adding these cash and check donations is your responsibility. It is easy. Simply log on to your fundraising account. Once you log in, click on the "Campaign Center" at the top of the page. Then click on the tab "Track Offline Donations." Here you can manually add the checks and cash that you have collected so that your total funds raised will be reflected on your personal donation page. Do not worry about entered addresses. It is not necessary to include that to get the donations to appear on your page.

If you get stuck, click on the "Help Center" button on your Active.com account page. If you still need help, contact info@athletesforcrohnshfc.org. Once you have added the check or cash amount, fill out a “Donation Submission Form” and follow the directions previous given above and send to Hope For Crohn’s Fundraising and Donor Services Office.

14. What about "Company Matching"? How does that work?

Many companies offer a Matching Gifts program, whereby employers match contributions made by employees. This is a BENEFIT for the employees. Be sure to use it. (Note that the match is made by the company that your DONOR works for, not your company.)

Have employee fill out the Matching Gift form from their employer This is often a form which is submitted online through the company’s intranet. Sometimes the site leads them to a downloadable form that they can print out, fill in and fax back. Or, it may be a form that is obtained through the employee's HR department, filled out and faxed/sent to us. The fax number to send the form is 925-891-7868.

After completing the form, the donor should get a confirmation email or letter. Just forward the confirmation to info@athletesforcrohnshfc.org, and we will take care of it from there.

Once we receive the confirmation, we will credit those funds to your donation page. (Note that the credit is made before the funds arrive – that often takes months – and that your company does not post those funds on your donation page – we do. We simply give you an online ‘credit’ once we have seen that the funds have been successfully requested.)

Tips to Maximize Matching Gifts Contributions

Important: When you send the letter to your donor, be sure to mention the date and amount of the donation. This is information that will be asked of the employee, so the easier you make it for them to fill out the form, the more success you will have!

If you receive a donation from a couple, and one of them works for a company that matches and the other does not, they can still submit a matching gifts request to the company that does match.

Sample Email for Matching Gifts:

"Dear Terry,

Thank you so much for your generous donation of $100 to Hope For Crohn's 5-K Family Fun RunWalk fundraising campaign for Hope For Crohn’s®. It means a lot to me since my brother is suffering with Crohn’s disease and Hope For Crohn’s® is doing so much to help find a cure.

If your employer participates in matching contributions, they will match your donation dollar for dollar if you complete the matching gift request form and send me a confirmation!

Thanks again for your donation. I hope you will take a minute to submit the matching gift request and forward the confirmation to me so that I can get closer to achieving my fundraising goal of $1000!”

14. Can I make changes to my donation page once it is set up? Can I add a picture? Can I increase my fundraising goal?

Please note that you can change your donation page at any time. You can increase your goal or add photos, change copy — whatever! In fact many of our best fundraisers continue to update their page with their progress noted. To make changes, go to third party provider site and log on to your account. Click on "Campaign Center" and then “Customize my Web Page." There you can make any changes you need.

Tip: If the photo you uploaded ever drops off of the page, look for it in the drop down menu in the “Add an Image” section of the “Customize My Web Page” process.

Athletes For Crohn’s FAQ.

Athletes For Crohn’s Membership

1. What are the team member benefits? What can I expect to receive as a member of the Athlete’s For Crohn’s Team?

As a member of the Athletes For Crohn’s Team, you will receive:

Personalized, easy to use online donation pages, customized to your message.

Support for fundraising, including tips, success strategies, motivation, sample emails/letters, tools and online donation pages that make raising funds easy.

Training: Free online customized training plans and "how to" book from Athletes For Crohn’s Team Coach.

Weekly Newsletters, providing team news, fundraising ideas and weekly training tips.

Team Jersey, "Join RAB" shirts for your cheer squad and many other goodies.

“RAB HOPE” Bib to wear on race day.

Pre or post race parties for larger events

Team support and cheer zones along the course for larger events.

Athletes For Crohn’s Facebook Pages and Athletes For Crohn’s Facebook Event Listings

The knowledge and satisfaction that you are racing for hope to make a difference in the day and life of a Crohn’s patients and their families to give them hope.

2. Is there a fee to join the Athletes For Crohn’s Team?

Athletes For Crohn’s Team members pay $25-$85 to join the team. This fee helps cover a portion of the administrative costs of the program and helps us maintain our ability to direct close to 90% of total budget to research and outreach programs. Athletes For Crohn’s Team members receive benefits such as fundraising assistance, free training materials and programs, promotional materials, team jerseys and other amenities. This practice of paying a fee to join the charity team is now standard across virtually all charities and assures that funds raised are going to the scientific/medical research, and not to administrative or other non-research oriented costs.

3. What are the key things I can tell my donors about Hope For Crohn’s®?

Below are several of the key points you can share with your donors:

Hope For Crohn’s® is a 501(c)(3) charitable fundraising organization located in the Tri-Valley Area. We are a dedicated group of volunteers whose mission is to raise awareness of Crohn's disease and to generate funds for Crohn's research.

There are several medical treatments for Crohn's currently being used by Crohn's patients to either help them maintain remission or to get them into remission in the area of pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements, nutritional diet, biologic pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, and other medical treatments suggested by physicians. There is no cure for Crohn's as of today. Patient's with active Crohn's live daily with pain. Our hope is for a cure for Rachel and others who suffer as she has. Please read Rachel's story and other Crohn's patients.

Hope for Crohn's® fundraising events benefit organizations that are on the leading edge of Crohn's research to help the 780,000 people in the United States that are affected by Crohn's disease.

Hope For Crohn's will offer research grants to researchers benefiting Crohn's disease in the areas of:

Basic Clinical Research

Population Specific Research

Genetic Research

Immunotherapies

Nutritional Prevention

YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE! RACE FOR HOPE!

Fundraising

1. How much do I have to raise?

Fundraising minimums range from $250 to $350, depending on the event. Check the particular event on the JOIN RAB page for details. We have seen from experience that virtually all of our team members can reach these fundraising minimums with our guidance.

Athletes For Crohn’s is a fundraising effort for Hope For Crohn’s®. When you join the Athletes For Crohn’s Team, you are making a commitment to help fund benefit organizations that are on the leading edge of Crohn's research to help Crohn’s patients who suffer daily in pain.

Athletes For Crohn’s has a limited number of guaranteed entries for most of our events and pays a significant fee to the event for those ‘bibs’. We offer access to these guaranteed with the understanding that the team member will raise the minimum funds and in this way are able to reach our annual fundraising goals for the Hope For Crohn’s Athletes For Crohn’s Program.

Hope For Crohn’s provides you with training and fundraising tools, a team experience, team apparel and other amenities. We are looking for team members who are willing to work hard and do their part to reach their fundraising goal and beyond.

Team members are asked to raise half of their total by 8 weeks before the event, and the final amount by 4 weeks before the event.

We work with you to help you reach these goals, and have a 99.5% track record of getting our team members to these “minimums’ and beyond. You can be confident that if you follow our advice and strategies, you will not have to pay any money out of pocket.

2. What is the best way to raise money?

A vast majority of team members are able to raise their donations simply by executing the donation pages we have set up for them on Active.com. The easiest way to raise the funds is by using our “RACHEL’S FUNDRAISING TIPS!”

A good donation page, a healthy email list, several follow up emails, and communication of ongoing progress all contribute to an easy and successful fundraising campaign.

We strongly encourage you to use the online system for collecting donations whenever possible. It makes your job of fundraising much easier!

We will provide you with lots of other fundraising ideas and tips along the way. These campaigns work because they are built on donations of $25, $50 and $100. Even in these challenging financial times, our athletes are meeting and exceeding their goals when they follow our suggestions.

3.How do I set up my donation page?

The fastest, easiest way to raise money for the Hope For Crohn’s® Athletes For Crohn’s Team is to set up a personal donation page.

When you sign up to join our team, you either log on with your Active.com account or register for one. Once your registration is complete, you will receive a donation page confirmation via email. Your donation page is turnkey ready, and will automatically contain basic information about Hope For Crohn’s.

The most successful fundraising pages are the ones that have been personalized. To personalize your donation page, simply email us and we will send you the link. Once you log in, look for the tab at the top of the page that says "Customize My Page.” There you can customize your "welcome message," which is what your page visitors will see when they come to donate to your campaign. You can also upload a photo, change your page layout or color scheme, and set or change your fundraising goal.

Note: the email address that you used to log on is your "Username." If you forget your password, you have to reset it yourself. .

3a. Who do I contact if I am having trouble with my donation page?

We want to make this easy for you. We don’t want you to spend lots of time if you are having trouble setting up your page or uploading a photo. If you run into trouble, you have two choices