So, you’re interested in creating a team for the annual
Walk for LifeTMfundraiser?

What constitutes a team?
A team is any group of coworkers, fellow students, religious/civic organization members, friends, or family members who pre-register, raise money, and walk together on the day of the Walk For Life. Teams can range in size from two to more than 100 walkers. Any team thatregisters 25 or more walkers by Friday, September 12 qualifies for a Team Meeting Station at Walk For Life.

How do I register Team Members?
There are six different ways, listed here, that you can register for Walk For Life. You will need to provide your name and contact information (address, city, state, ZIP, e-mail, and phone number). If you are joining a team, be sure to also indicate your team name and number.

Ways to register Team Members:
WEB: Visit www.firstgiving.com/utahaids to register your walkers. Walkers will immediately be able to create username and password to begin fundraising online. They will also be mailed a Walker Kit.

PHONE: Contact Utah AIDS Foundation at (801) 487-2323

FAX: Use the Team Fax Registration Form to register Team Members, or provide the necessary info listed above and fax it to (801) 486-3978

MAIL: You may also mail registrations with all the necessary information to: Utah AIDS Foundation Walk For Life, 1408 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, UT  84105

OFFICE: Stop by, hand in your registrations, say “hello,” and meet the staff. The Utah AIDS Foundation office is located at 1408 South 1100 East in Salt Lake City.

If someone registered for Walk For Life as an individual, can they still join our team?
Yes, pre-registered walkers can still be part of your team. To transfer walkers to your team, call the Utah AIDS Foundation at (801) 487-2323 with the walker’s name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, if available. Team Members can also click on “Join A Team” in their online Fundraising Headquarters and add or change their Team Name. 

What is a Gold Team?
Gold Teams are the top 5 fundraising teams. In recognition of their outstanding efforts, Gold Teams have a separate Meeting Area, Sign-In Area, as well as a team photo taken on the day of the event.

Here are some tips to make your team a success: 

·        Attach a Walk For Life Registration Card stamped with your team number onto employees’ paychecks. Put a sign-up sheet in the break room.

·        Have unique, good quality shirts designed for your team members. Members are proud to wear them long after the walk and are telling others where they got it (so the shirts become a recruiting tool for next year). This is also a great way to increase your company’s visibility.

·        Getting people with dogs to sign up and register their dogs, who oftentimes wind up raising more money than people (dogs even get a special Walk For Life bandanas to wear too)

·        Leave a group weekly group voicemail for all employees about the Walk For Life. Start up a friendly competition to see which department can get the most people registered. Also, talked about participating at the Walk at every managers meeting and at every employee training.

·        Create a team of people who you went to high school with, and use it as a makeshift reunion. Mass email everyone who I went to high school with (use Facebook) and ask them to join your team!

·        Have sign-up sheets at a company-sponsored coffee and bagel Walk For Life Kick Off breakfast

·        Bring some of friends to the Utah AIDS Foundation office to volunteer a few nights a week before the Walk. The people who have never walked before see photos at the office, or they hear stories about what happens along the route, and then they join the team and get excited about the Walk.

·        Open the company team up to anyone who wants to walk with us (friends, family, clients, etc). Have a raffle to raise money and during the sale of the tickets, ask if they want to join the team.

·        Recruit team members in social gatherings: have a wine tasting party and at the party and hang up flyers and sign-up sheets throughout out the room

·        Advertise with signs and set up tables in your company cafeteria with laptops so people can register online during lunch. Try to keep people motivated by sending e-mails and encouraging them to be 500 Club Members

·        Provide a nice incentive: give a corporate donation to the first 10 registered walkers

·        Every week have a new company message, contest, or event that supports Walk For Life! Put reminder messages on company websites and login pages.

·        Get a "story" about your team on our company’s intranet site or newsletter.

·        If your company or school requires community service, give extra incentive hours to team members who "Walk For Life". Award additional community service hours for money raised.

·        Make sure to share your reasons for participating in the Walk with others. Share photos of friends and family who you have lost to HIV/AIDS, along with letters explaining why your team wants to raise money for this cause. Telling people your story is more powerful than just asking for a donation!

·         Start early and get a few people on your team who have a passion for fundraising. That way, it creates some competition to have everyone raise a lot of money. Sent out weekly e-mail updates and list everyone’s fundraising total, from highest to lowest to really get the competition going!

·        Create a MySpace or Facebook page for your team. Social networking sites are a great way to recruit team members, get donations, share advice, and promote team fundraising events

·        Hold drawings for people who hit milestones such as $250, $500, and $1,000. Let team members know when the next drawing would be, what the prize is and what milestone they have to hit to be included. Send out celebration e-mails highlighting when anyone makes the 500 Club.

·        Set up large plastic water bottles to collect spare change for the Walk. Some banks will sort the coins for free; other banks and also grocery store machines charge a small fee to do the sort and counting.

·        Host a “wear your jeans to work” day! Choose a day prior to the Walk and we send out an announcement that if you donate $5 to Walk For Life, you can wear jeans that day instead of your normal business attire.

·        Be Persistent. A lot of final donations come from people that you follow up on. People have busy lives and can get side tracked.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEAMS, PLEASE CONTACT NATHAN MEASOM AT 801-487-2323

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