Fundraising Guide

Your Fundraiser Matters!

From all of us at MARE, thank you for supporting our mission by wanting to create your own fundraiser for the 16th Annual Jordan’s Furniture Walk/Run for Adoption! Every child deserves a permanent home, and we’re so lucky to have inspiring, determined people like you on our team to help make that a reality. By starting your own fundraiser in addition to walking or running your 5k, you’re multiplying your impact on the lives of children and teens in foster care.
This year, we’re aiming to raise $115,000 on behalf of of the 1,400 youth in Massachusetts foster care with a goal of adoption. We know you have what it takes to help us get there, and you’ve already taken the first step by creating your fundraiser.
While fundraising might seem overwhelming at first, we’re here to put some tips and tricks to help you become the best, most effective fundraiser you can be in the weeks leading up to your 5k.

Share Directly

Send your fundraiser directly to 5-10 friends of family members

Your closest contacts are the people who are going to be the most likely to donate, so contact them directly by sending them an email or text asking them to support your fundraiser. Explain to them why you’ve chosen to walk/run for adoption, and let them know why their donation matters - even just $5 could change a child’s life forever!
Your closest contacts are the people who are going to be the most likely to donate, so contact them directly by sending them an email or text asking them to support your fundraiser. Explain to them why you’ve chosen to walk/run for adoption, and let them know why their donation matters - even just $5 could change a child’s life forever!

Send directly to a few more friends

Next, send your fundraiser to 10-15 more close contacts, or however many you’re comfortable with. These contacts could be friends, family members, co-workers, or anyone you think would support your fundraiser. These messages should also explain why you’re walking/running for adoption this year and how their donation will make a difference in the lives of children in foster care.

Share on Social Media

Create Your First Post

After you’ve made some progress by sending your fundraiser directly to close contacts, it’s time to share it on social media! We recommend starting on Facebook where it’s easy to tag friends and encourage them to share your fundraiser themselves. You can share your fundraiser on Facebook directly from Classy by clicking the Facebook icon on your donation page.

Start by thanking your close friends and family members who have already donated and tag them in your first post so that their Facebook friends will see it too! You never know who might be drawn to your mission and moved to donate. This first post should introduce your followers to your fundraiser and explain why you’re participating. Similarly to your close contacts, explain to this audience that any donation, no matter the amount, will make a difference!

Make sure to use the hashtag #WalkForAdoption whenever you post
about the walk/run so that MARE can keep up with your progress, too!

Share why you're fundraising

As mentioned before crafting your story helps people connect to the cause. Not every social media post has to ask your followers to donate to your fundraiser. Sharing a more extensive story about your connection to the walk/run for adoption will help your followers to understand why it means so much to you. Seeing someone they know have a personal connection to an important cause will encourage them to donate when they see your “ask” posts in the future; they may even be inspired to register for the walk/run and start a fundraiser of their own!

Share your progress

A great way to show your followers that you’re making a difference is to create daily, weekly, or monthly fundraising goals. These milestones could include $50, $100, $200, and so on. Whenever you hit them, post on social media to update your followers. Thank and tag those who helped you get there. Encourage them to create a fundraiser of their own!
Create an incentive for your donors
- Try adding an incentive to your fundraiser to make it even more personal! This could be as simple as telling your followers that if they help you reach your $200 goal in one week, you’ll wear a crazy hat during your 5k. You can also encourage some friendly competition! Whoever donates the most to your fundraiser wins. You can incentivize the competition even more by having a prize ready for the highest donor (buying them a coffee or getting a gift card are some great prize ideas).

Facts to Share

When reaching out to friends and family about donating in support of your Walk or Run, feel free to share some of these facts and statistics about how their support makes a life-changing difference!

Youth in Massachusetts foster care

5,500 Massachusetts youth are currently in state foster care.
2,500 of these youth have a goal of adoption.
1,400 have a goal of adoption with no relative or other adult to offer a permanent home.

In the 17 years of Jordan's Furniture Walk/Run for Adoption...

Over 6,000 people have walked or run to raise awareness about adoption from foster care.
We’ve raised over $1.2 million to help find adoptive families for youth from foster care.

Impact on youth

Compared to youth who age out of foster care, children who are adopted into a permanent family are statistically…

50% more likely to attend college
50% less likely to be arrested
47% less likely to become homeless
24% less likely to be unemployed
23% more likely to graduate from high school .