[nfbmi-talk] March for Independence Team Building Revised Instructions

[David Andrews]

National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund



March for Independence


Building Imagination through Team Work


What is a March for Independence Team?
A March for Independence Team is a group of 
individuals who have committed to work together 
to raise money for the NFB Imagination 
Fund.  Each member of a team will set their own 
individual goal of fundraising to contribute to 
the overall team.  By working together as a team, 
individuals can leverage their personal effort 
and encourage other team members in their 
outreach.  Establishing a team is also a way to 
encourage individuals who may not be able to 
attend the 2008 March for Independence, but who 
still wish to contribute to the effort, as a 
means to participate.  Individuals who register 
to participate as a team, but who are unable to 
attend the event should register as virtual 
marchers (more about virtual participation 
below). Examples of individuals who may band 
together as a team include chapter members, 
members of the same scholarship class, 
individuals interested in Braille literacy, or members of the same family.

Why Form A Team?
Forming a team is another tool that individuals 
can use to increase motivation around the NFB 
Imagination Fund, increase participation, expand 
the circle of influence of the individual 
fundraiser, and create community and imagination 
around the March for Independence.  Many feel it 
is easier to ask for money when it can be 
attributed to being part of a team rather than 
simply an individual ask.  Forming a team allows 
individuals to come together to add a creative 
twist to their participation in the March for 
Independence.  For example, in our first March 
for Independence, one of the teams was Skating 
Canes­a group of blind people who raised money in 
support of their rollerblading through the March 
for Independence.  You may wish to form a team 
around some special participation or activity 
planned as a part of our March for Independence 
or you may base your team on other factors which 
unite such as a chapter, family, business, or 
perhaps a group of people who have set specific 
personal fundraising goals. For example, “the 
Thousand Dollar Club”. A team is a great way to 
invite friends, family, and chapter members who 
will not be able to attend the NFB National 
Convention to join in the effort.  You can invite 
them to join the team and let them know that the 
other team members will represent them in the March for Independence.

What is a virtual marcher?
           A virtual marcher is an individual who 
commits to raising money for the March for 
Independence – Walk for Opportunity, even though 
they will not be available to actually 
participate in the event.   Virtual participants 
receive the same benefits and rewards as actual 
participants, with the exception of actually 
walking the 5K.  Teams can be totally virtual, 
actual, or a combination of the two.  Virtual 
marchers will have the ability to create their 
own Web pages and use the online tools to help 
raise money for the March, as will actual participants.

How Does A Team Work?
Each individual team member will establish his or 
her personal goal for fundraising.  Individuals 
will then go out and solicit contributions using 
any and all of the tools available.  However, as 
a member of a team, you can use your team as an 
additional marketing point in asking for 
donations.  Additionally, your team will have an 
overall fundraising goal that you can use to 
motivate your donors.  Donors may decide to 
contribute to the individual or to the team­this 
is helpful when you and other team members are 
soliciting the same donors because they do not 
have to choose whom to give to.  As a result, a 
team accumulates contributions to their overall 
total in two ways.  When a contribution is made 
to an individual team member, that contribution 
is credited both to the individual and to the 
overall team total.  Secondly, contributions made 
directly to the team are credited only to the 
team total (these are team gifts).  Thus, the 
total amount raised by a team is the sum of the 
team gifts and the gifts that have been given to 
each individual team member (see the below 
example).  At the end of the campaign, the team 
gifts that are not attributed to an individual 
will be divided equally among each member of the 
team and this will be considered part of the 
final amount raised by the individual.

Team Fundraising Example:
Team NFB has three members: N, F, and B.  Each 
member of the team went out and received 
donations for the NFB Imagination Fund.  Team 
member N raised $1,250; F raised $800; and B 
raised $2,250.  Additionally, donations were 
given to Team NFB in the amount of $600 (team 
gifts).  As a result, Team NFB ended up with 
$4,900 in total donations and the individual team 
members were credited with $1,450, $1,000, and 
$2,450, respectively (each individual was 
credited with $200 or one third of the total team 
gifts received).  This resulted in team member F 
reaching the medallion level even though the 
contributions that F received directly did not 
total $1,000.  This is the power of teamwork.  It 
may be that F encouraged more people to give to 
the team, and thus most if not all of the team 
gifts were a result of her individual fundraising.

How Do I Form A Team?
First, find at least one other person to start a 
team with you.  Second, identify a team name (the 
name might relate to why you are working together 
as a team­e.g. the Skating Canes).  Third, 
identify one person to be the team captain.  The 
team captain is simply the person who will have 
access to the team captain tools on the 
marchforindependence.org Web site.  The team 
captain should be the team member who is going to 
track the team’s progress and cheerlead along the 
way.  Fourth, the team captain should go to 
marchforindependence.org and establish a team for 
the 2008 March for Independence.  Lastly, the 
team captain should personalize the team Web page 
to reflect the personality and goals of the 
team.  Once the team is established, other 
individuals can join the team directly from a 
link on the team page or during their own 
registration process.  Individuals who are 
already registered for the March but want to join 
a team can do so at any time by contacting Kristi 
Bowman 
(<file:///mailto:kbowman@nfb.org>kbowman at nfb.org 
or (410) 659-9314, ext. 2406, at the National 
Center for the Blind.  Once you are signed up, 
you can begin using your team membership to 
encourage greater participation and gather more donations for the team.