Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge Toolkit

How many miles would you bike, run, or walk to make an impact on those dealing with cancer? Find out by joining one of the Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenges with colleagues, friends, family members, or individually!

Below are resources for participants that answer frequently asked questions about how our Distance Challenge works, help with recruiting more people to join your team, and provide easy and practical tips for fundraising so that your Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge experience is as awesome as you want it to be! 

Click here to download the Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge Fact Sheet!

Running/Walking Challenge

• Running FAQ

  
  

  Click to download: Running FAQ 

• Fundraising Tips

  Once you've set up your personal page, you're ready to start fundraising! Here are some tips and tricks to help you hit your goal:

  - Make it personal: Tell your friends, family members, and colleagues why you are raising money for Expect Miracles Foundation.

  - Raise money per mile: Ask for $5 per mile, $100 when you hit your goal, etc.

  - See if your company has a matching gifts program (and ask your donors to do the same).

  - Get creative in how you ask for donations in emails and social media! Examples:

        - One of the perks of working from home is not having to fill your car with gas so often! Donate the amount you would otherwise spend to fill your tank.

        - Since so many of us are working from home these days, donate what you're saving on dry cleaning bills!

        - Skip the weekly takeout and donate what you would have spent.

        - If 5 people donate today, I'll (fill in the blank: jump in the pool fully clothed, post a video of my pet's silliest trick, etc).

  Remember: when you post on social media or share via email with your networks, always include the link to donate!
  
  

  Sample email (to copy and paste):
  

  Dear xx,
  
  

  I'm excited to be participating in the Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer. My team and I will be logging as many miles as we can May 17 - May 23 and hope you'll join the effort by making a donation!

  To learn more about the organization, our team, or to donate, please visit (Put in your fundraising page's URL). Thank you so much for your support!
  
  

  (Name)

• Recruitment Tips and Tricks

   

  - Reach out to everyone you know: The (social) Distance Challenge is a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, friends, and family, get active, and engage in a friendly competition – so you never know who will want to join your team (or create their own). Think about your professional networks, local neighbors and friends, running clubs, book clubs…get creative and ask them all. You may be surprised at who says yes!

  - Share your team page on social media: On each team page, there is a link on the lefthand side that says “Join Team.” Write a short post about why you’re participating in the Distance Challenge and encourage others to join you.

  Sample email (to copy, paste, & fill in accordingly):

  Hello _____,

  I hope you’re doing well. As you may know, I am a supporter of Expect Miracles Foundation. Expect Miracles Foundation rallies the financial services industry and beyond to invest in life-saving cancer research while advancing the financial and emotional health of people impacted by cancer. They raise funds for research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, and provide grants to young adult cancer survivors facing financial toxicity through its Samfund grants program.  

  Due to the pandemic, cancer patients and survivors need our help more than ever! That is why I’m participating in Expect Miracles Foundation’s 2nd Annual (social) Distance Challenge. I am going to participate in the Running/Walking Challenge Monday, May 17 through Sunday, May 23, 2021, while raising funds for the fight against cancer. I am the Captain of Team ____ and would love to have you as a member of my team! (insert link to team page) 

  Last year, close to 400 financial executives, new and longtime supporters, friends, and family members, ranging from preschoolers to grandparents, walked, biked, and ran a total of 10,453 miles and raised $282,858 for the fight against cancer. This year, the need is even greater than before, so we’ve set a goal to raise $1 million with at least 1,300 participants -- and we need your help! 

  Will you consider joining Team ___

  If you’ve never done peer-to-peer fundraising, Expect Miracles will be providing fundraising tips and tricks on their website and I can send you a sample fundraising email format. Most importantly, every step and every mile will bring us closer to our goal of changing lives and improving outcomes for those impacted by cancer. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope to welcome you as a member of Team ___ soon!

  Best,

   

• Six Person Team Marathon Challenge

  
  

  What is the Six Person Team Marathon Challenge?
  - Inspired by Team Six Pack in the 2020 Inaugural (social) Distance Challenge, the Six Person Team Marathon Challenge is an opportunity for you and five teammates to complete 26.2 miles collectively during the week of May 17-23. You can split the miles evenly but don’t have to, so long as each participant runs at least one mile.

  What if we have more than six people interested?
  - Teams must be made up of six people. If you have more than that, we’ll ask you to split into two teams and recruit additional teammates so that each team has six participants.
  
  If everyone is running the same distance (26.2 miles), what are we competing for?
  - For this part of the (social) Distance Challenge, teams will be competing for time rather than mileage.  Please keep track of your individual time for your portion of the marathon; we will add up your team’s total time and the fastest team will win!

• Social Media Graphics & Sample Captions

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Sample Caption to copy, paste, and fill in accordingly:

  Caption to announce participation:

  Twitter: I am going the distance in the fight against cancer in the @ExpectMiracles1 (social) Distance Challenge. Please help me reach my goal of $XX by making a donation: INSERT PERSONAL PAGE URL #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree

   

  Instagram/Facebook: I'm excited to be participating in the 2nd Annual Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer! I'm going the distance for the fight against cancer, but I need your help. If you're able, please consider donating to my fundraising page to help me reach my goal of $XXXX. INSERT PERSONAL PAGE URL #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree

   

  Caption to recruit team members:

  I'm going the distance for Expect Miracles Foundation and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer! If you're interested in joining (insert your team name), click here: (Insert team page link). Together, we'll make an impact, one step at a time. #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree #strongertogether 

   

Biking Challenge

• Biking FAQ

  
  

  Click to download: Biking FAQ  

• Fundraising Tips

  Once you've set up your personal page, you're ready to start fundraising! Here are some tips and tricks to help you hit your goal:

  - Make it personal: Tell your friends, family members, and colleagues why you are raising money for Expect Miracles Foundation.

  - Raise money per mile: Ask for $5 per mile, $100 when you hit your goal, etc.

  - See if your company has a matching gifts program (and ask your donors to do the same).

  - Get creative in how you ask for donations in emails and social media! Examples:

        - One of the perks of working from home is not having to fill your car with gas so often! Donate the amount you would otherwise spend to fill your tank.

        - Since so many of us are working from home these days, donate what you're saving on dry cleaning bills!

        - Skip the weekly takeout and donate what you would have spent.

        - If 5 people donate today, I'll (fill in the blank: jump in the pool fully clothed, post a video of my pet's silliest trick, etc).

  Remember: when you post on social media or share via email with your networks, always include the link to donate!
  
  

  Sample email (to copy and paste):
  

  Dear xx,

  I'm excited to be participating in the Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer. My team and I will be logging as many miles as we can May 17 - May 23 and hope you'll join the effort by making a donation!

  To learn more about the organization, our team, or to donate, please visit (Put in your fundraising page's URL). Thank you so much for your support!
  
  

  (Name)

   

• Recruitment Tips and Tricks

   

  - Reach out to everyone you know: The (social) Distance Challenge is a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, friends, and family, get active, and engage in a friendly competition – so you never know who will want to join your team (or create their own). Think about your professional networks, local neighbors and friends, running clubs, book clubs…get creative and ask them all. You may be surprised at who says yes!

  - Share your team page on social media: On each team page, there is a link on the lefthand side that says “Join Team.” Write a short post about why you’re participating in the Distance Challenge and encourage others to join you.

  Sample email (to copy, paste, & fill in accordingly):

  Hello _____,

  I hope you’re doing well. As you may know, I am a supporter of Expect Miracles Foundation. Expect Miracles Foundation rallies the financial services industry and beyond to invest in life-saving cancer research while advancing the financial and emotional health of people impacted by cancer. They raise funds for research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, and provide grants to young adult cancer survivors facing financial toxicity through its Samfund grants program.  

  Due to the pandemic, cancer patients and survivors need our help more than ever! That is why I’m participating in Expect Miracles Foundation’s 2nd Annual (social) Distance Challenge. I am going to participate in the Biking Challenge Monday, May 17 through Sunday, May 23, 2021, while raising funds for the fight against cancer. I am the Captain of Team ____ and would love to have you as a member of my team! (insert link to team page) 

  Last year, close to 400 financial executives, new and longtime supporters, friends, and family members, ranging from preschoolers to grandparents, walked, biked, and ran a total of 10,453 miles and raised $282,858 for the fight against cancer. This year, the need is even greater than before, so we’ve set a goal to raise $1 million with at least 1,300 participants -- and we need your help! 

  Will you consider joining Team ___? If you’ve never done peer-to-peer fundraising, Expect Miracles will be providing fundraising tips and tricks on their website and I can send you a sample fundraising email format. Most importantly, every step and every mile will bring us closer to our goal of changing lives and improving outcomes for those impacted by cancer. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope to welcome you as a member of Team ___ soon!

  Best,

   

• Social Media Graphic & Sample Captions

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Sample Caption to copy, paste, and fill in accordingly:

  Caption to announce participation:

  Twitter: I am going the distance in the fight against cancer in the @ExpectMiracles1 (social) Distance Challenge. Please help me reach my goal of $XX by making a donation: INSERT PERSONAL PAGE URL #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree

   

  Instagram/Facebook: I'm excited to be participating in the 2nd Annual Expect Miracles (social) Distance Challenge and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer! I'm going the distance for the fight against cancer, but I need your help. If you're able, please consider donating to my fundraising page to help me reach my goal of $XXXX. INSERT PERSONAL PAGE URL #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree

   

  Caption to recruit team members:

  I'm going the distance for Expect Miracles Foundation and raising money to support people and families who have been impacted by cancer! If you're interested in joining (insert your team name), click here: (Insert team page link). Together, we'll make an impact, one step at a time. #emfdistancechallenge #youarethehope #cancerisntfree #strongertogether