When my husband and I decided to participate in the Overnight Walk together, I was really glad to have a partner to support me through a long night that will surely be emotional and draining. However, I was nervous about the fundraising. Since we were doing this together, that meant we were asking the same pool of people to contribute to both of our fundraising accounts and I wondered if we would be able to reach the $2000 goal together. First, I spent a lot of time on the email we sent out to our friends and family as well as the information I posted on the donor page. I made sure to start off with the story of how suicide has affected us personally—my best friend was lost to me a year and a half ago after a long battle with bipolar disorder, and my cousin Jim was lost nearly 15 years ago. Some friends told me that my story really moved them and I was glad that the time I spent on the writing helped motivate people to donate. Next, I decided to cast our net very wide. I was nervous because I didn’t want to ask people I didn’t know very well to support the cause, but at the same time, by expanding the reach, we accomplished two goals—we were able to raise more money and we helped raise awareness, which is one of the main reasons why we are doing this walk. We sent our email out to friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers, bosses, and a long list of friends and family members of Kari and Jim. I also posted the information on Facebook. We have been pleasantly surprised by how many people contributed—even people I thought would not be able to donate contributed what they could. Finally, I asked all my friends to forward the email to friends of theirs who may have been touched by this issue and we have received donations from people we didn’t even know.
Once we got donations, I made sure to send a personal thank you to everyone within 24 hours of receiving the donation. I think people are glad to know how much I value their contribution. Surprisingly, these donors have turned around and thanked US, saying they are glad that someone is undertaking such an endeavor. And about half the people who donated told us they have been affected by suicide as well. This made me realize that sending it out to people who were virtual strangers to me was an important step because we never know how many people have experienced suicide personally and would be willing to contribute to an organization dedicated to prevention. We are finding community in this terrible phenomenon. The mere idea of this walk has been inspiring to us and to our friends and family already. We look forward to the night when we all walk together through the streets of Boston, honoring those who cannot walk with us.
- Deborah Bennet
Team Tante Kari
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Deborah...isn´t it amazing how the most unexpected people end up responding to your donation plea? I´ve found that sending out my own emails was pretty much like when my brother died... u put urself out there in a way, people u expected support from don´t really do much, if anything at all....and then u r totally amazed by people u would have sworn would not give u the time of day! Thank God for all those surprises...for they make the journey so much more pleasant!
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