Monday, May 31, 2010

Just Days Left for Double-Doubling!

Thanks so much to everyone who has raised money for Team Vegan's Double-Doubling!

Many, many more people will learn about the hidden horrors behind the standard American diet – and the steps they can take to live true to their values – because of your fundraising efforts!

This opportunity to magically multiply money runs from now through 11:59pm Wednesday, June 2. In case you missed earlier emails, more details can be found here.

Please consider helping however you can. Thanks!


Friday, May 28, 2010

Thanks!!

Hey there!

Been busy around here -- dozens and dozens of folks have contributed to the double-doubling, and we're trying to get everything up as quickly as possible. Team GreenBall is also back in training (Ellen took some time off after track season).

We're also trying to keep up with events on the official VO blog and Facebook page.

But we wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for helping raise money for VO's work, especially since it will go so far! So --- thanks!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Wow! Doubled Doubling!!

Huge News!

Another donor has come forward to help Team Vegan change the world!  Any money donated to a member of Team Vegan from TODAY (May 24th) through and including June 2nd will be doubled immediately by this donor.

That's right – every dollar donated between now and June 2nd will immediately be doubled, dollar-for-dollar, by the same amount from our anonymous donor – up to $1,000 per team member!

And all the money contributed – including the doubling by this anonymous donor – will again be doubled by John and Fany in August!   It is win-win-win* for the animals!

Among others, Team Vegan includes such outstanding leafleters as Michelle CehnPhil LettenDarina SmithJim Hillman, The Animal Awareness Project  – all of whom would greatly appreciate your support!!

Any questions? Please contact us!  

* Example – Uncle Eddie and Aunt Nora contribute $50 to VO via your page. An additional $50 also goes up at the same time! Then, in August, John and Fany will donate and additional $100 to Vegan Outreach. $200 worth of booklets reach new people!! So please take advantage of this opportunity!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

More from Kellie!

Finishing up Kellie's fundraising suggestions:

·         Do something that is outside your comfort zone.  If you can currently run a 5k, say you’ll run a 10k.  Or instead of doing one big thing (running a marathon), do two smaller things.  Do a leaflet-a-thon and walk a 5k.  Donors are more likely to give to people who stretch their limits (but not so much that they can’t complete the task).

·         If appropriate, invite potential donors to come to your race or other event so they can see you complete your task!  Donors always like to see follow through and know that it was the right thing to give money to you and Vegan Outreach.

·         Give an incentive: do you bake?  "Free vegan cookie with every donation!"

·         Have a fundraiser such as a vegan bake sale. Contact vegfund to see if they would be interested in funding the sale (provided you meet specific requirements).

·         Portray veganism in a light that appeals to each person you’re asking.  If you know people who are into the environment, educate them on the environmental aspects of veganism along with the animal ones. The same thing with workers’ rights, world hunger, etc.  Make vegan outreach an organization that everyone can relate to and has a stake in.

·         Blog about your fundraising along the way.  You can use this as a gentle reminder to friends who have yet to give.  The more passion they see from you along the way, the more they will take you seriously and want to help you out.  On the same note, if someone gets an update seeing that you only need to raise $200 more to reach your goal, they might be inspired to give that final $200.

·         Reciprocate!  When asking friends for donations, remind them that if they ever need a similar favor in the future (provided the organization is animal-friendly), you would be happy to oblige. Or if you have already donated to one of their causes, remind them of that.


Thanks so much to everyone who is raising money for Vegan Outreach. As you might have seen, we’ve reached over half a million students this semester – with your help, we’ll reach even more next term!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Wow!


Congratulations! 12 ... and a half! Unbelievable!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Vegan Power!!

Wow -- Jurek sets new record!

"Scott Jurek, a [vegan] Seattle physical therapist and ultramarathoner, broke the American record in the IAU 24-Hour World Championship run Friday in Brive, France, by covering 165.7 miles in the one-day run. Jurek, 36, broke the previous U.S. mark of 162.46 miles set by Mark Godale of Aurora, Ohio, in 1999."

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Tips from the Top!

Team Vegan’s current leading fundraiser, Kellie C, has agreed to offer up some of her best fundraising tips. Only 13 days into Team Vegan 2010, Kellie has gotten $1305 for Vegan Outreach’s work!

Here are some of her tips – we’ll share more later.

 Start with your inner circle and work your way out - first contact close friends, then social friends, then acquaintances, then people you used to work with, etc.

 Be sure to remind people that all donations are matched, dollar-for-dollar!

Ask for a donation as an early holiday or birthday present.

Ask people/groups that may not be vegan but have a general love for animals (i.e. Rescue groups, wildlife groups). Even if they don’t donate, they might look at Vegan Outreach’s website.

Ask your mom and dad's friends - they can't say no to someone’s child!

 Use social networking - facebook, myspace, favorite message boards. Don’t just ask friends on those sites, but post messages to groups you belong to (meetups, facebook groups, etc)

Write up an e-mail about your fundraising campaign and ask your friends and acquaintances to forward it to people they think would be interested.

When asking non-vegans for donations, emphasize why Vegan Outreach is special.  Sometimes non-vegans get hostile or intimidated by animal rights organizations, so I like to emphasize Vegan Outreach’s friendly, non-abrasive, well-researched approach to education. You can show them the booklets Compassionate Choices and/or Even If You Like Meat.

As always, please contact us (veganoutreach (at)gmail (dot) com or anne (at) veganoutreach (dot) org) with any questions or comments.

Thank you so much for your dedication to making a better world for everyone!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Hi Team Vegan!

My name is Dan Kuzma (a.k.a Vegan Dan), and I have been asked to be an online coach for Team Vegan! I am extremely excited about this opportunity as I am passionate about Vegan Outreach and running! As a long-time runner (competitive and recreational), I have gained great wisdom and knowledge from my own experiences as well as from other runners, and I would like to share with you what I have learned...

The first thing that I have learned (and experienced firsthand) is that every body is different and reacts differently to various types of training programs. Some people can run 10 miles a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The majority of us, including myself, need to balance our training and incorporate rest days to maximize our benefit from running.

I started off running 5k Fun Runs, worked my way up to 10k's and half-marathons, and then sold my soul to the marathon. Eventually, I wanted to see what more I could do, and over the past 3 years I have been running ultramarathons, including numerous 50 mile and 100 mile trail races!

Like many of you, I juggle a busy schedule - full-time school, full-time work, family, friends, activism, and so forth. Running is a part of my life, just like eating, sleeping, and all those other things. I have experimented with many training programs, created a few of my own by adapting already existing plans, and I have helped and guided many friends, family, and even complete strangers in achieving their goals!

I want to help you achieve your goals and raise money for Vegan Outreach to help reduce animal suffering, so please contact me for any assistance!

Once we are in contact, we can communicate through emails, phone calls, or if you are in the Northeast Ohio area, I'd be happy to meet you for some training runs! I am donating my time and energy to help you, motivate you, and answer any and all questions that you may have!

You can email me at vegan200@gmail.com, and we can go from there!


Friday, May 7, 2010

Five Points for Team Vegan Stars!


Hello Teammate!!

I can't tell you how thrilled and excited I am that you have signed up to be a part of Team Vegan – and actively work to continue and expand Vegan Outreach’s efforts for the animals! As you know, we are dedicated to reducing as much suffering as possible per dollar donated and hour worked – so you can know we'll do our best to make your efforts has as big an impact as possible.

Some important notes:

1. GiveDirect – the third-party site that processes the donations without taking any fees (Vegan Outreach never sees your credit card information) – had been giving errors recently. It is back up now. If someone you know has tried to contribute lately, please ask them to try again. We apologize for the problems.

2. If you haven't finished registering, please complete your profile by midnight (Friday), so we can know who is going to be an active member of the team. Look here:
http://www.teamvegan.biz/team
to see if your page is active, with an image uploaded (doesn't have to be a picture of you).

If you have any questions or problems, just write to me (veganoutreach (at) gmail.com) or Anne (anne (at) veganoutreach.org)!

3. If you have had second thoughts and realize you don’t want to fundraise for Vegan Outreach, that’s fine. There are two ways to opt out – just write back to me or Anne, or set your fundraising goal to $0, and we’ll cut your profile. Then you shouldn’t get any more emails, and we can keep the Team as lean and mean as possible!

4. If you are looking for a hook for fundraising, Mother’s Day could work! Or, as Anne said in the post below, you can ask people to contribute just because you are so right-on!
5. Finally, please let us know your thoughts, ideas, questions, needs, etc. In addition to this blog, there is the Team Vegan Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48622168203

Or just write to me or Anne!

We’re doing our best to have Team Vegan work as efficiently – and inexpensively – as possible. This gets more booklets to more people, but things may be unclear or incomplete at times. So please let us know how we can help you help animals!

For the animals,
Matt Ball
Executive Director, Vegan Outreach

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Welcome! May 5, 2010


Thanks to all of you who've completed your profile! It’s exciting that so many dedicated people have signed up!!

Since there are so many of us now, I'm going to repeat myself for some of you; but please do read the entire post so that we're all on the same page.

The Team Vegan fundraiser ‘runs’ until 31 July. We have donors in Canada who will match everything raised in that time period – up to 75K. So we'll keep a running total on the Team Vegan site towards the goal of 75K. Once we reach the goal (or we hit July 31), the Canadian donors will send VO the matching money.

As an incentive to get people to join the team, another donor will put 100$ in everyone’s ‘pot’, provided they have a completed ‘profile’ by 7 May. This is money that Vegan Outreach will get right away; thousands of dollars which put to work for the animals. (This money will be matched, too, in the end, by the donors above.) This 100$ will show up on you goal bar on your page on 8 May. (I have to enter all donations separately. I want to do this all at once, hopefully for even more than the current 80 team members!)

When you fill out / finish your profile, please ignore the 1000$ required minimum. We're in the process of fixing that little glitch – but in the meantime, please ignore. There really is no minimum.

Whatever you raise for VO will be matched in the end, and we’ll be thrilled.

Ask family and friends to sponsor you for a race, a walk-a-thon, cat-sitting, leafleting adventure, birthday, Mother’s Day, or just because you're so right on! Walk dogs, pick up trash, cut hair and have people donate what they would have paid you to Vegan Outreach on your behalf. Whatever you feel comfortable with!

And be sure to come by the Team Vegan Facebook page.  Post a comment, introduce yourself, offer advice, etc. (Most of the photos are from previous years. Don’t worry when you see so many people running!)

We’re thrilled you have chosen to be a part of this important work! Please let me know if you have questions.

Peace,
Anne

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Kickoff!

It is May 1, which means that Team Vegan is now officially underway!

Check out the team, with 69 members as of this typing (that's exactly as many as were in my high school graduating class)!

Kellie is leading the way, with $930 raised for the animals already -- well done, Kellie!

You still have a chance to be a part the team. If you complete your profile by May 7, a generous donor will contribute $100 to your fundraising efforts, and that $100 will be matched by John and Fany!

So please come by and set up your profile!

Already a member of the team? Start asking friends and family for fully tax-deductible contributions -- just send them to your profile page! GiveDirect (the site that processes donations with no fees withheld) was down earlier today, but it is up now.

Are you a donor who wants your money to go twice as far for the animals? Come by and make a donation to one of the team members, or donate to the general fund -- your contribution will be matched, dollar-for-dollar!

Thanks so much for being a part of this work!