Whether a large corporate team or a small group of friends and family, being on a team has several benefits. Team members can turn to each other for support, training rides, and fundraising ideas. Trek teams are also given extra incentive opportunities.

It's a proven fact that event participants who are on a team will on average raise more money for the cause than those without a team to support them. Participants who are on a team are also much more likely to stick to their commitment and participate in the event.

Be a Team Captain!

All the information you need to be a team captain is right here!

Forming a winning team is fun and easy. Only four riders are needed to start your team. Recruit more riders to share the fun and increase fundraising. So recruit friends, family and co-workers for this year's Trek Tri-Island!

How to form a winning team

• Select a team captain and a team name. Teams can
represent corporations, clubs and organizations, religious
groups and schools, or can consist of friends and family.
• Approach your marketing, matching gifts or contributions department about team support. Even if your team is not a corporate team, you will often find that your employer will support you individually.
• Share the work. Form a Trek committee or recruit a co-captain.
• Set goals for the number of team members and the total dollars to be raised by your team.
• Recruit team members. To be an official team, you must have a
minimum of 4 people on your team (including you); there is no limit to
how large your team can be.
• Get all team members to sign up online. Make sure all team members use the same team name and not variations of the name.
• Announce that you are forming a team at the next staff, club or faculty meeting or e-mail your friends and family to get them to join your team or give you a pledge.
• Distribute registration forms with your team’s name to friends and colleagues.
• Keep an updated roster posted to list all confirmed team members. Email is great for this!
• Encourage your team members to continue with their fundraising
efforts. Maintain regular contact and encourage them often. Remember, they are raising funds to help create a world free of lung disease, and they are to be commended for their teamwork and their dedication.

Register as a team! Or if you have questions, contact Carna Lapping at clapping@alaw.org or call 206-441-5100.

Team Captains

Being a team captain is easy and rewarding. As team captain, your responsibilities include recruiting team members, maintaining communication with them, and ensuring they are up to date on Trek information.

The Team Captain position is an important one, but a lot of fun too. In fact, your role can help lead to the success of your team and to the success of the Trek Tri-Island.

Team Captain Responsibilities include:

• Recruit team riders, making sure they get the materials and information they need.
• Organize a coaching meeting with your team members.
• Publicize the Trek Tri-Island at your organization. There are lots of "team-tested" ways to spread the word within your company and generate enthusiasm (please see the "Recruiting Team Members" section for more specific recruiting and publicity tips).
• Motivate and encourage team members.
• Establish team goals and timetables: total dollars raised, number of riders, etc.
• Determine and ask for company support. Ask your company to match donations or buy team t-shirts.
• Coordinate team training session.
• Keep in touch with team members. Check in with them periodically to see how they're doing; keep them up to date on what's happening with the team.
• Coordinate creation of team t-shirts.
• Explain American Lung Association® in Washington goals and programs, and encourage riders to fundraise as much as possible.
• Send registration forms and donations to American Lung Association® in Washington in a timely manner.

An important part of being team captain is assembling the team. Talk to your friends and family and get them excited about Trek. If you are putting together a team from your work, here are some specific tools to help you achieve your recruitment goal:

• First, get the company involved if you can. Talk with your boss and  someone from the front office.  See if you can enlist their support for matching donations, team T-shirt or jersey with the company logo or just moral support.
• Put an article or announcement in the company newsletter.
• Use email to spread the word about your Trek team. Invite co-workers to join the fun!
• Display Trek posters and brochures in your personal office space or ask if you can post materials in common areas.

The Recruit Three, Ride Free program can be a tremendous benefit to your team. It works this way: recruit three new Trekkers (people who never ridden Trek) and receive a $500 fundraising credit as soon as they have achieved their minimum fundraising ($500). There are two ways to use this credit: cover your own personal fundraising minimum or give it to one or more of your team toward their fundraising.

Tell any recruited team members to indicate that you recruited them when they register. Then when they have reached their minimum, we'll contact you about the credit allocation. There is no limit to how many "threes" you can recruit. Each group of three will generate $500 in fundraising credits.

Each year Trek Tri-Island participants raise over $200,000 to help everyone in Washington State breathe easier. Team members generally raise more than non-team members because of the support they give to and get from each other. Further, teams have the advantage of pooling their energies and ideas to create group fundraising strategies.

Here are a few tips on fundraising:

Ask everyone you know to sponsor you - and we mean EVERYONE! In addition to friends and family, ask your dentist, hairstylist, long-lost college roommates, anyone you come into contact with in the course of the day.  Brainstorm and come up with a list of prospects - you'll be surprised at how long the list grows.  Then ASK!  Most people you ask for a pledge will give you one and every dollar counts!

Go for it! We know fundraising makes some people nervous - we also know that worrying about fundraising is much harder than actually doing it - so just get started! Before you know it, you'll have reached your pledge minimum and probably even go beyond it. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised at just how easy this fundraising stuff can be.

Many companies match gifts to the American Lung Association® in Washington. Find out if your company is one of them. This is an excellent way to increase your pledges.  NOTE: Matching gifts count toward your fundraising total only if the necessary forms are completed and sent along with the donation being matched.

Have a sponsor sheet at your desk or post one outside your office or near the lunchroom. Then ask people who stop by to sponsor you.  Some people may sponsor you without being asked. Also, carry a sponsor sheet with you at all times - you never know when you'll encounter someone who wants to give you a donation.

Bake sales, auctions, car washes, and garage sales are all great ways for team members to pool their time, energy and talents to maximize their returns. NOTE: Please do not send us cash through the mail.

Call us for support! Whether you need additional sponsor forms, tax receipts for donations, a few more "trekker-tested" fundraising tips, or just a little moral support, we're here to help. Trek Tri-Island is a fun event for a worthy cause!

Remember: You are asking people to support the important work of the American Lung Association® in Washington. Learning all you can about our programs will help you feel even better about asking.