Last night, I
received a congratulatory call that Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) has
been selected for a $3,000 small grant from QBE North America (my
company)!!!
Originally when I
started my PanCAN team, I declared that I will raise at least $5,000 and have
at least 50 runners/walkers on my team. To date, I now have $6,607 in donations
and 57 members on the team! Including the $3,000 grant, I've raised a
total of $9,607!!! That's almost DOUBLE my original goal - HOLY
GUACAMOLE! And I still have 4 weeks until the 4/20 race day!
I never thought I
would be able to pull in such support and power - EVER! Of course, these
things just didn't just "happen". There is an energy,
perseverance and strategy that helped materialize these results. Some
things I've learned so far in my journey:
·
Start EARLY – With a goal so
intimidating in the beginning, I tend to procrastinate because it seems so out
of reach and impossible. Whatever excuse
you’re making to put off setting up that donation page or taking the first step
for any project, just start the dive toward it.
Don’t feel prepared? Nobody ever
does but that’s where great discovery lies – in unknown territories that you’ve
never been before. This helps buffer
against roadblocks that might occur along the way. It took a total of 3 weeks to put together my
grant application because I had a lot of holes to fill in and on the night I
submitted the application, there was website error where I had to contact IT support
in Australia to fix a bug in publishing my submission.
·
Think Positively – No Matter What. Oftentimes,
I envision how it should look like and get caught up in how things can go
wrong. Imagine the rejection, imagine
the “no’s” and apathy that I could receive from people. By imaging failure, we set ourselves up to
fail. We seal our fate just by thinking
negatively of a situation. There WILL be
no’s and apathy but for every 10 no’s we can get 1 yes! And for that one person who gives me a “hell
yes” – I just found another network who might give me 100 more yes’s. Let the momentum start by saying “YES” to
yourself.
·
Share your
cause/story – as much as possible.
Shout it out! Squash that fear
when that little voice tells you “who’s going to care”? Broadcasting your story creates intentional
and unintentional connection to your potential supporters. What did I mean by unintentional? I learned that people can connect to
different parts of your story. Someone
can like the charity that I’m supporting because their uncle/father/friend also
passed away from pancreatic cancer.
Another connected to how I’m stepping up to lead a running/walking
team. Another simply felt inspired by the
amount of passion and energy I had for PanCAN.
I wear this charity on my sleeve and my heart on the other.
·
Remember you’re not a
lone soldier.
Asking for support was a huge hurdle since
I grew up thinking I had to do everything by myself. When people connect to your cause/story, they
may want to support you by finding others who can also sympathize. I had people coming out of the woodwork who
wanted to support! Friends from high
school, my sorority, friends of friends who never talked to me yet we now have
a common thread. Don’t underestimate the
power you actually hold to touch, move and inspire.
No longer a team of
one. For the 2013 picture, I will have
my friends, family and a loving supporters who made a contribution to the cure
for cancer. This will be the legacy I
leave for my father on his 20th year memorial.
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