Now that you’ve registered for Trek Tri-Island, it’s time to fundraise. Trek Tri-Island can be more than a fundraising event - it can be a joyous celebration of how far we've come together!

Why do we fundraise for Trek Tri-Island?
Because we care and support the mission to help create a world free of lung disease. Funds received from donations and events support advocacy, research, local programs and services that enhance the quality of life for people and their families struggling with lung disease.

Getting Started
Fundraising comes naturally when you make it personal by sharing with others why you care about creating a world free of lung disease. If your team is riding for someone with lung disease, ask them if they would be willing to tell their story.

Assemble or join a team!
The more the merrier! Give everyone you know the opportunity to participate in this incredible event for a great cause! How to Form a Winning Team.

Set a Fundraising Goal
Use these fundraising tools to reach your goal:
• Track your fundraising progress with your own personal fundraising page. 
• Aim high! Fundraising is easier than you think.

FUNdraising Tips

Try these fun ideas to increase your fundraising efforts. The more creative you are the better. Your enthusiasm will help you raise money to help fight against lung disease.
1. Host a House Party - This is a sure-fire way to raise money. Collect donations and entertain at the same time. Create a theme (like a costume party) and have fun!
2. Corporate Matching Gift - Ask your company to match the amount of pledges you receive from your fellow coworkers. Or ask a friend to see if they can investigate getting their company to match pledges.
3. Corporate Sponsorship - Identify one of several major companies in your area and contact them directly. They may be willing to sponsor you and/or your team.
4. Garage Sale - Do you really need all that extra stuff taking up space in your garage, attic and/or basement? Gather it up and ask your friends to do the same. Then pick a Saturday or Sunday, put the stuff in the front yard and sell! All your money raised can go toward your fundraising goal!
5. Bake Sale - Become Julia Child or Mrs. Fields and host a bake sale with you and your friends. You can even have it in conjunction with your garage sale.
6. The “Extra Change in My Pocket” Box - Create these little boxes for your friends and family and have them place it on their dresser or desk. At the end of the day they can drop that spare change in the box.
7. Start your own extra change box - Keep a jar near your door and every day put all your extra coins in it…it adds up! Or put it on your desk at work others will join you.
8. Office Fundraising Challenge - Speak with everyone in your office and get them to challenge each other to raise the highest amount. Give the winner a prize like movie passes or a gift certificate to lunch or dinner.
9. Ask your local waitstaff or bartenders to donate a portion of one day’s tips to your cause. You can create a sign for the bartender to place on the bar stating “All tips collected tonight will go directly to the ALA and YOU who’s climbing to raise money for those people living with lung disease.” If patrons see the sign, they may be willing to dig a little deeper into their pockets!
10. Ask your local restaurants to place a money jar at the front of the restaurant - Check with the restaurant manager. They may be willing to place the jar in a high-traffic area so lots of patrons can see it.
11. Fundraising dinner at your local favorite restaurant - Ask your favorite local restaurant to host a fundraising dinner for you. They supply the food and you supply the pledge forms!
12. Happy Hour Party - Invite all your friends (and their friends) and get them to sign your past event shirt. Charge $10 per signature. You’ll even end up with a great shirt to wear on event day.
13. Theme Party/Dinner - Hold a theme party for 10 or more of your friends. Have each guest donate $50, spend no more than $20 per person on food and you’ll have $300 or more in pledges by the end of the night.
14. Host a Movie Party - Pick up a new release at your local video store, make some popcorn, pick up some drinks and invite your friends and family over for the night. Make sure you have plenty of pledge forms out!
15. Birthday Gift Pledge - It will be a lot easier for your friends and family to write you a birthday check instead of spending hours trying to shop for you! And then you can donate the amount to your pledge total.
16. Delegate Give - 10 of your friends 10 pledge forms each and ask them to help raise money for you.
17. House Warming Party - Are you moving anytime soon? If so, ask your friends to make a pledge instead of purchasing a gift for your new place.
18. Signing your Correspondence - Add a short sentence at the bottom of your email signature (if applicable) saying that you’re riding in the 2009 Trek Tri-Island and ask for a pledge. Include an email link to your Trek Tri-Island personal or team page.
19. Travel Agency - Do you always make your travel plans through the same agency? Ask them to donate a travel voucher. You can auction it off at one of your parties.
20. Doctor/Therapist/Veterinarian/Insurance Agent - Ask him/her to write a check for you instead of the other way around! Or ask your dentist. Hopefully it won't be like pulling teeth to get him/her to help you out a little!
21. Hair Salon - Ask your barber or hairdresser to donate $2 of every haircut they complete over one weekend.
22. Mow-a-Thon - Get your kids involved in this weekend activity. Check ahead of time with all your neighbors and ask them if you can mow their lawn for a donation.
23. Neighbor Write - Stick a flyer in all your neighborhood mailboxes explaining why you’re raising money.
24. Meet the Press - Does your company distribute a newsletter? Does your company have interoffice email? Take advantage of these perfect ways to get the word out!
25. Pet Sit - Are your neighbors going away and they don’t want to leave their pet(s) at the kennel? Offer up your services and charge them what they would have paid at the kennel and donate it to your pledge total!
26. House Sit - Are your friends going out of town for a while? Maybe they need a warm body to stay at their place while they are away.
27. Karaoke Night - Who cares if you can’t carry a tune? Spend a Friday night at a Karaoke Bar and sing for pledges!
28. Talented Friends - Do you have a little piano bar in your neighborhood and a talented piano-playing friend? Ask the owner to let you bring some friends in one night for a cocktail and piano night. Charge anyone who attends and let them know that it’s a fundraising event for the American Lung Association’s Trek Tri-Island.
29. ebay.com - Gather up goods from you and your friends and auction it off on ebay.
30. In memory of…- If you’re riding in memory of someone, include a picture of you with your loved one in your pledge letter, on posters, etc.
31. Television Show Finale Party - It would be fun to gather a big group of friends together to tune in to watch a big season or series finale. Of course, charge them at the door and put the money toward your pledges.
32. Game Night - Get out those board games and start playing! Break into teams and let the fun begin.
33. Host a Poker Game - Call your card-playing friends and invite them over for poker night!
34. Bowling Nights - Plan a fun night of bowling at your local lanes. Ask the owner to waive the cost of bowling and you can collect that money and turn it into pledges.
35. Used Book Sale - Everyone has books that have been sitting on shelves, in the attic or in the basement collecting dust. Ask your friends, family and neighbors to donate books they no longer want and set up a weekend book sale in your front yard. Put up some signs so people will know where the money is going and once they know, hopefully they’ll give you even more!
36. Local Stores - Ask a local store manager what the hot-selling item is these days and then ask if he or she would be willing to donate a percent of the sales from that particular item to you.
37. Company Grants - Find out if your company offers grants to employees who volunteer their time for charitable causes.
38. Church Bulletin - Place an advertisement in your church bulletin/newsletter letting the congregation know what you’re up to. Or better yet, invite them to join you on Trek Tri-Island!
39. Is there a teacher in the house? - Get your students to help you fundraise. Kids are incredibly creative and cute too!
40. Inspirational Bookmarks - Create them and sell them to your friends and family.
41. Rock on! - If you know any musicians, ask them to perform a benefit concert. Tell people that their admission ticket is a check made out to the American Lung Association.
42. Tell your Story - The more you talk about your upcoming adventure, the more people will share in that excitement and want to pledge you.
43. Wine and Cheese Party - Host a party at a local restaurant and ask the owner to donate the wine and cheese.
44. Temporary Tattoos - Swap a temporary tattoo for a pledge.
45. Fraternities and Sororities - Contact the National Chapter of your Fraternity or Sorority and ask them to make a donation. Or contact your alumni organizations. Call your college or university and ask them to place an ad in the alumni newsletter asking for donations.
46. Ask for the Right Amount - Take a good look at who you’re asking for donations and make sure you ask for the right amount. Don’t ask for $100 if you know someone could pledge $1,000.
47. Pizza Party - Check out your local pizza place, they may have a great deal to help you fundraise.
48. Raffle - Everyone who contributes is entered into a raffle to win a special item such as a homemade quilt or baseball tickets.
49. Ask someone you don’t know for money!
50. Send Reminders - Remind people to support you in your fund-raising efforts.
51. Write to your local politicians - You supported them, don’t you think they should support you?
52. Send a letter or email to everyone you know asking for support!
53. Start now - The earlier you begin fundraising, the better off you’ll be. You’ll be able to go way beyond your pledge minimum and then you can focus on your training. Ask as many times as you can - then ask again!
54. Dress Down Day - This is a great promotion for those informal work environments. For a donation (i.e. $5 or more) an employee has the company "okay" to dress down for a day. For added exposure, create buttons or stickers that advertise your team and participation in Trek Tri-Island for employees to wear as their "pass" for dressing down.
55. Root Beer Float Party - Host a root beer float party in the break room and invite everyone to attend as a thank you to those who are supporting you and an invitation to make a donation for those who haven't had the chance yet. This is a quick way to turn $30 into $1,000, and a good way to promote your team and recruit sponsors and riders. Be sure to invite all of your senior management. If they can’t attend, save a root beer float for them in the freezer. They’ll appreciate that you thought of them, and will be more likely to make a donation for your thoughtfulness.
56. Covered Dish Lunch - Ask co-workers to bring a covered dish for a lunch party. Charge co-workers a fee (typically what they would pay for lunch at a local restaurant) as a donation to your team.
57. Office Competition - Does your office have a competitive spirit? If so, challenge another office or department to a contest.
58. Raffle a Day Off or Parking Spot - Ask the boss if he or she would be willing to donate a paid vacation day to the winner of the raffle. Sell the tickets for $5-$10 each to those who want to participate. For larger companies, you also might want to try to raffle off a parking spot right next to the door.
59. Rent a Person/Team - Offer yourself or your entire team for rent for a day. This can also work in a raffle. You can sell yourself and your team's services in the areas of babysitting, cleaning, house sitting, lawn care, handyman, car wash, moving, etc.
60. Dinner or Cocktail Party - For a donation, treat your guests to some great cooking or wine tasting at your home.
61. Livingroom Board Game Olympics - Hold a tournament of your favorite board game at your home. Get a local business to donate a prize. Charge a registration fee and have some fun!
62. Road Rally Treasure Hunt - Charge a registration fee for each person. Organize a route with clues at each site for contestants to find the next stop. Establish a time limit and final meeting place.
63. Polaroid Rally - Perfect for a group of creative people. Have everyone pay a registration fee and bring a camera with 35 mm film. Create a list of items and places for each person to capture on film. Establish a start time and time limit. For added fun, put the photos together in a Power Point presentation to show how much fun it can be to be involved with your team.
64. Have Fun!