PEER TO PEER FUNDRAISING

24th Annual Veterans
Day Dinner

Join us in raising critical funds for homeless, low-income and at-risk San Francisco Bay Area veterans with your own fundraising page!

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QUICK START

Registering is easy!

Veterans Day Dinner participants can raise funds and use the power of social networks to collect donations and recruit team members. It’s easy and fast.

REGISTER

Our Peer to Peer Toolkit

Welcome
Team Planning
Fundraising ideas and tips
Reward levels
FAQ
Swords to Plowshares’ 24th Annual Veterans Day Dinner Virtual Event is almost here!
‍We are so grateful for the continued support of our community and hope you will join us for a little fun and a lot of cheer as we celebrate our local veterans, supporters, and honor the Frontline staff who have shown amazing courage and dedication during this pandemic in order to serve our veterans.  

The Veterans Day Dinner is Swords to Plowshares’ largest fundraiser of the year.
Proceeds from the event provide critical financial relief to direct service services and programs not otherwise covered by restrictive grants. This year, we are asking for something a little different than we have for past dinners. As our organization, and the world, have shifted towards virtual environments, we need your help and participation to bring this event to life and share your messages of hope, success, and support for San Francisco Bay Area veterans with the broader community. Your participation is so important to us. We thank you for your commitment!

Who Inspires You?
‍Your connection with Swords to Plowshares and your inspiration to donate your time, money, or expertise to help veterans is unique. We would love to hear more about what inspires you and what causes you care most about. Are you a veteran yourself? Do you know/love one? Were you unaware of veteran issues until you met a veteran or advocate? Whatever brings you hear; we are grateful to have you in our community and hope that you will share your motivation for your generosity and good work.

Team Planning

Thank you for serving as a Veterans Day Dinner team leader! You have an opportunity to reach out to friends, family members and co-workers, sharing your story and message of support. Ask them to join you or donate to the event. This guide will help you plan a successful Veterans Day Dinner campaign and includes tools and resources that can help you and your team stay organized and motivated in your fundraising efforts.

Create Your Team
Recruit Team Members
  • Call or e-mail potential members and ask them to join your team. For corporate sponsors, send out to your employees and invite them to become members. The more members, the closer you are to reaching badges & prizes!
  • Think of your family, friends and co-workers as potential candidates.
  • The most successful teams have 10 or more members.
Recruit Team Members
  • Help your members register and join the team. Send this packet and lead them to the event homepage for more information.
  • Send updates to keep everyone engaged and informed. Templates are available on your fundraising page to make this quick and easy for you.
  • Don’t forget to thank your team for their commitment and involvement. Remember, you are making the difference in our community and in a veteran’s life.
Start Fundraising!
  • Use the e-mail and social media templates provided in your account or create your own. Send to friends, family members, co-workers and share across social media channels.  

 

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Fundraising Ideas & Tips

Online fundraising
  • Veterans Day Dinner Online Tools: Utilize the built-in tools on your account to send emails, follow-up messages, thank-yous and keep track of your donations in real time.  
  • Social Media: Use your social network for good by sharing your campaign with Facebook friends, Google+ circles, Twitter followers, and LinkedIn connections for support and for help spreading the word.
Team Fundraising

Team fundraising through your work, circle of friends, or other group can be fun, rewarding and give you an opportunity to raise more money for Bay Area veterans. This year we encourage a little friendly competition by awarding prizes and recognition at the VIP pre-event to teams and individuals with the greatest reach, funds raised and thoughtful campaigns.

  • Anyone can join! Gather your group of friends, family members, co-workers, volunteers, veteran affiliations/group members or slight acquaintances and register to begin.  
  • Note: The tallies will be counted on November 10, 2020 at 12pm to determine prize winners. So, make sure to get a head start and register today!
Individual Fundraising

Try to do as much of your fundraising online as possible - participants can raise three times as much money fundraising online!  

  • If able, start the campaign off with a donation of your own. This will show your dedication to the cause and help others visualize the progress towards your goal on the fundraising thermometer.  
  • Encourage your supporters to check to see if their donations can be matched by an employer! There is a tool right on the donate page for your supporters to check their company’s matching gift program. You may be able to double, or even triple, your impact and funds raised by leveraging matching gifts.    

Reward levels

Once registered, your team (or you as an individual) are in the running to win prizes and public  
acknowledgement of your fundraising excellence at the live event.  

Teams
  • TOP FUNDRAISER: Most money raised
  • TOP LEADERSHIP: Most badges awarded

Individuals

  • THE INFLUENCER: Highest number of donors  
  • EYE FOR DESIGN: Best designed/most thoughtful profile

 

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FAQ

What is online/ peer-to-peer fundraising?

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) fundraising is a fun and simple way to raise awareness and raise funds for causes that you care about. You can fundraise on behalf of Swords to Plowshares by creating your own Veterans Day Dinner campaign and sharing the URL with your social networks through social media and/or e-mail. All donations can be made on your campaign and contribute directly to Swords to Plowshares’ emergency COVID-19 response campaign.

Do I have to type in all my email contacts?

No. You can upload your address book through Gmail or Yahoo if desired. The import wizard will guide you through the process. You can also send through your own Outlook account but be sure to include your individual page URL.  

Will donors receive an automated thank you letter?

Yes, everyone who donates online will receive an emailed thank you letter. You should also send them a personal email thanking them for their generous donation and for helping you get one step closer to your goal!

Can you give by check?

Checks to your campaign can be mailed to:  

Swords to Plowshares
Resource Development
401 Van Ness Ave, Suite 313
San Francisco, CA 94102

Make sure to include a note on the check indicating the fundraiser. You can also record offline donations by logging in to your dashboard and clicking the link to enter offline donations.

How do I use social media to help raise more money?

Swords to Plowshares provides a Facebook fundraising tool right on your dashboard when you register. You can easily connect your fundraiser with Facebook by following the instructions on the “promote your email” tab. You can also share your page URL and post updates through all social media channels. Bonus: use the hashtag “#vdd2020” to connect with the event and other fundraising efforts.  

Are donations to my page tax-deductible?

Yes! All donations to Swords to Plowshares’ 24th Annual Veterans Day Dinner are 100% tax-deductible. Our EIN is 94-2260626.


For additional information regarding fundraising, please contact our team at Swords to Plowshares by emailing development@stp-sf.org, or calling 415.252.4788.

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