Join an Event:

• 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 MMRF PowerTeam Coach Tom Holland.
• Weekly Newsletters, providing team news, fundraising ideas and weekly training tips.
• Team Jersey, "Support Team" shirts for your cheer squad and many other goodies.
• Tribute 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.
• MMRF Facebook Pages and MMRF Facebook Event Listings
• The knowledge and satisfaction that you are making a difference in fighting multiple myeloma.

The MMRF PowerTeam raises money and awareness for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). The mission of the MMRF is to relentlessly pursue innovative means that accelerate the development of next-generation multiple myeloma treatments to extend the lives of patients and lead to a cure.  Ninety percent of the MMRF budget goes to myeloma research and related programs. Many team members have a direct connection to multiple myeloma, but we also have many athletes who join us because they want to support an outstanding foundation that is leading the way in cancer research and personalized medicine. 

Please visit WHY JOIN OUR TEAM to learn more.

MMRF PowerTeam members pay $25 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 related programming. MMRF PowerTeam 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.

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

• The mission of the MMRF is to relentlessly pursue innovative means that accelerate the development of next generation multiple myeloma treatments to extend the lives of patients and lead to a cure.



• As the world's number-one private funder of multiple myeloma research, the MMRF has raised over $200 million since its inception to fund laboratories and trials worldwide.



• When Kathy Giusti and her sister Karen Andrews founded the MMRF in 1998, there was very little hope for multiple myeloma patients. The same drugs had been used to treat the disease for the past several decades. There was very little research into the disease, and there were no new drugs on the horizon. As a result, patients were given a life expectancy of only three years. 



• Today the  life expectancy of a myeloma patient has more than doubled.  This progress is directly related to the new drugs that have been brought to market by the MMRF and its partnerships with MMRC research institutions and pharmaceutical partners. 



• The pipeline of new drugs and treatment combinations offers myeloma patients more promise than ever:  The MMRF is making great progress with next generation treatment options that we hope will be available in the not too distant future for patients all along the continuum:  from “just diagnosed” to “out of options.”  The pipeline of treatments is one of the best in all of cancer.  And, these new treatments aren’t just benefiting myeloma – they are benefiting more than 30 other cancers. 



• 90 percent of the MMRF’s budget is dedicated to support research and related programming, earning the very highest ratings from the nation’s leading charity evaluators such as Charity Navigator. 



• YOUR EFFORTS CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!

Fundraising minimums range from $1000 to $5000, depending on the event.  Check the particular event on the MMRF Endurance Events page for details.  We have seen from experience that virtually all of our team members can reach these fundraising minimums with our guidance.

The MMRF Endurance Events Program is a fundraising effort for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.  When you join the MMRF PowerTeam, you are making a commitment to help fund groundbreaking research that is extending the lives of patients and getting us closer to a cure for multiple myeloma.

The MMRF 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 MMRF Endurance Events Program.

The MMRF 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 4 weeks before the event, and the final amount by 4 weeks after 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.

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 Surefire Formula for Successful Fundraising.

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.

The fastest, easiest way to raise money for the MMRF PowerTeam 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 the MMRF.

The most successful fundraising pages are the ones that have been personalized. To personalize your donation page, simply log on to your account by going to: www.activegiving.com. 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 to Active.com is your "Username." If you forget your password, Active.com can email it to you.

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:

Send an email outlining your issue to EndruanceEvents@themmrf.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.

Many of the basic questions or issues you will need help with are addressed in ActiveGiving's 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 ActiveGiving, 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 Active.com's customer support, email givingsupport@active.com or call 1-877-228-4881 and select option 2. 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 ActiveGiving Fundraising Help Guide

When you sign up for the team you will automatically receive a personal donation webpage that includes the most significant information about the MMRF 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 the MMRF. 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 marathon, triathlon, or cycling event.



• Tell your supporters about HOW you are connected to Multiple Myeloma.



• 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  EnduranceEvents@themmrf.org and we will get you what you need.



• Share the message about how much the MMRF has done to fund research and how their efforts are getting the medical community closer to finding a cure.

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 would rather, 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.

MMRF is a 501©3 non-profit organization. The tax ID number is 06-1504413

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 the MMRF.

Please follow the protocol below to make sure that your account is credited for checks and cash donations!

• Checks should be made out to: The MMRF.



• 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: John Smith, New York City 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. Please utilize an MMRF Deposit Slip to assure that the checks are received in a manner that will expedite processing.



• 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.



• Please send collected checks to:

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
MMRF Endurance Events
383 Main Avenue, 5th Floor
Norwalk, CT 06851
Attn: Alicia O'Neill

IMPORTANT! Your Responsibility:  Please add the check and cash donation amounts to your online personal fundraising page by following the instructions in the next FAQ. 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 the MMRF have already been added to your donation page by you when we receive them.

Adding these cash and check donations is your responsibility.  It is easy. Simply log on to your Active.com account at www.activegiving.com. 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 EnduranceEvents@themmrf.org.

Once you have added the check or cash amount, fill out a Deposit Slip and follow the directions outlined in the previous FAQ question to get the funds to the MMRF.

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.)

The MMRF has a quick and easy tool to help determine which employers have Matching Gifts programs. Check out our Matching Gifts Search tool:

If you do not see the company you are looking for on the list, call their Human Resources Department. The database is sensitive to exact wording, and the database may not be totally up-to-date. So, if you have a few donors from one company, it doesn’t hurt to call the HR Department to double check.

Once you get the information, here is all you have to do:

• 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 (203) 966-8381.

• After completing the form, the donor should get a confirmation email or letter. Just forward the confirmation to EnduranceEvents@themmrf.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:

• Check the MMRF Matching Gifts Database whenever you receive a donation. If you find that the donor's employer is one that has a Matching Gifts program, copy the information on your findings and send it to your donor when you send them a thank you email.

• 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 Tom,

Thank you so much for your generous donation of $100 to my NYC Marathon fundraising campaign for the MMRF. It means a lot to me since my father is battling multiple myeloma and the MMRF is doing so much to advance critical treatments.

Did you know that your employer, Goldman Sachs, has a matching gifts program? They will match your donation dollar for dollar if you complete the form below and send me a confirmation! That’s all you have to do! Here is the information:

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 $4,000!”

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 www.activegiving.com 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.