Are You the Voice of Your Cause?

When I began planning my first Team Sarcoma fundraiser in honor of my late husband, I did not have a clue what was involved. I figured I would get my friends and family to help, that some company would donate the printed t-shirts and people would just show up by word of mouth. It didn't take me long to figure out it would take much more effort than these few things. It would also take a lot more time and money - some things I lacked.

Before planning the fundraiser, I became part of a Twitter group that met biweekly for breakfasts here in Lancaster County. I was able to meet and connect with local people from all different backgrounds and businesses. As I shared with them my story of loss and my desire to hold a fundraiser, these people wanted to be personally involved.

My first fundraiser in 2010 was possible because 75% of my donors came from the relationships and connections I had made through Twitter and that morning breakfast meetup. Friends and family assisted, but I know that the impact this online group had on the success of my event was phenomenal. Few of them knew of Sarcoma cancer prior to hearing my personal story. It was through sharing that

I didn't begin as a brand and didn't even have a team name until closer to the event time. I was just Crazywidow on Twitter. I talked about my grief openly, invited people to ask questions. I involved my readers in my story. Without that personal connection, my fundraisers wouldn't have been nearly as successful. This year again, 75% of my volunteers helping with the Team Sarcoma: Bike/Walk/Run are relationships I made through Twitter.

Ken Mueller, one of my great volunteers, shared that he wanted to be involved because he" loves good causes and loves to support friends. When the two meet, it's great." I met Ken through Twitter. Ken let me share my story through his blog, he invited others to walk with me on my journey, he helped me set up the social media aspect of the event and lo and behold, our first year we raised $5,000 for sarcoma related non profits.

Whether you run a business, a non-profit, or are just trying to promote yourself, relationships must be built on ourselves alone before adding in the other stuff. My hope in a successful fundraiser would never have happened if I had not first invested time in building relationships and trust within my community. My intent was to get involved in my community, but in return, my community got involved in my cause. What relationships are you building online? Are those relationships with you? They should be.

Originally published through Whole Story Media Group