McKinney Texas - Relay For Life

16 Apr 2009

McKinney Relay For Life Event

"The not-so-secret ingredient to event growth!" 

A – Act!

Wear a Relay button or your Relay For Life gear when out in public. Friends and associates will ask what it’s all about. Social gatherings and events are always the opportunity to share what Relay For Life is about. Keep in mind—the job of recruiting new teams is everyone’s job: staff, team members and committee members. Don’t wait for someone else to do it. Remember, if every team recruited a new team, the event would DOUBLE!

B – Build relationships.

Throughout the year, remain in touch with your strong team captains, your committee people and your staff. Remember to send cards for holidays, birthdays and to grab a cup of coffee with them now and then. Nothing beats sincere relationships for staying and growing power. Remember, year-round awareness keeps the event healthy, growing and strong!

C – Create opportunities.

If you have no reason to connect with your teams, create some. Hold a Relay Holiday Mixer…or schedule a luncheon or an information forum for your chairs or your committee people. Make meeting them easy…sometimes just an occasional phone call will help keep things glued together.

D – Drive to the community where the Relay is held.

Make it easy for your volunteers to stay connected. Think of what we are asking our volunteers: giving up their free time; working as if they are being paid; doing those things that are often uncomfortable (ask for money, donations etc.); and finding new volunteers to replace them and work with them. When you are planning on spending time with your volunteers, show them they are important by planning your get-togethers, meetings and luncheons in THEIR community.

E – Entertain your team captains and empower them to recruit new teams.

Hold a brainstorming session for your team captains to think up sources for new teams where they may not have thought of them before.  Why not try the “Circle of Influence” activity or “Who Do You Know” handout.

F – Follow up.

After you have made a contact with a friend, a business or a group, FOLLOW UP! It seems so natural, but often, after that initial contact is made, one thinks the worst is over and the follow-up doesn’t happen. Keep a record or a list of such contacts and make sure you follow up.   The “Team Prospect List” could be a great tool for follow up.

G – Get excited about making friends.

Try not to think of recruiting new teams as a job or hard work, think of it as making new friends. Each time you approach a person to introduce the idea of Relay For Life as a team event, think of your goal as making a contact and getting to know someone new. Although your ultimate goal is to commit them to a team, if you are too goal-oriented, you may come on too strong. It is the sincerity of your time and motives that will entice people to want to join your moving ship! Remember, no one wants to be on a sinking ship or one that isn’t going anywhere…they want to be with a crew that cares on a vessel that is sound and headed for success. 

H – Hold onto the most excited team member at the event.  (Hint:  It may not be the captain.)

Keep your eyes on the excited teammates. These are the team members who go all out with their crazy hat at the crazy hat contest; they are the ones who are motivating the rest of the team. Often, if it is a company team, this person did not get assigned the captain’s role, but is more excited and more into the event than the captain. Grab hold of this person and nurture a relationship, there may be more teams inside him or her.

I – Incentives for team recruitment.  Give your recruiting teams a break!

Give your teams a reason to bring in another team! Offer incentives that will give this team a reason to encourage (push) a friend a little more to form a team. These can be anything from free or reduced team registration fees to a chance at a drawing for all teams who recruited new teams. The committee can cook them breakfast or something. Be creative! Offer an early bird registration to help get more teams committed early!

J – Just ask!

Get out there and knock on doors. Ask schools, companies, stores, clubs, student groups, and churches to form a team! Just ask them!  Refer to the 15-20 minute Team Recruitment Presentation.

K – Keep asking!

Until someone says no, you have a reason to keep asking them to be a part. Send a little postcard or drop off a schedule of the entertainment to those who are interested. Sell the team concept all the time to everyone you meet!

L – Learn to turn a no into a yes ... or at least a maybe!

No does not mean never.  It means they need more information before they can say yes.  Practice turning “nos” into “yeses”. Often the person you are trying to recruit is afraid of what they think is a daunting task. When they say there is no time, suggest they delegate to their potential teammates or that it is as fun as their bowling time, but for a better reason! When they say they don’t know enough people, ask them to get out their holiday card list. When they say they don’t like to be in charge, explain that there is little they must do as the captain, more to do as a team! 

M – Make sure your committee knows how to recruit!

Go over some of the tips with your committee. Just because someone is in charge of food, doesn’t mean this person can’t recruit their neighborhood or bunko club to form a team! Talk up recruiting at every meeting.  Remember, team recruitment is EVERYONE’S responsibility.

N – Never be afraid to ask for a team.

Most teams are so grateful for the experience; they will be thanking you after one Relay! 

O – Okay committee people’s exodus from a team.

Often, the natural progression for an enthusiastic person is from a team to a committee person. Make sure that committee person knows, especially if they are very strong in administrative skills, that it is not a crime not to be on a team if duties and the event grow.

P – Put your video in front of many clubs and companies.

Get on the phone and make some phone calls to get your video shown at lunch hours. Lunch hours or staff meetings are the perfect time for a 6-minute Terry Zahn video. It sells the event better than anyone could. Often, clubs are looking for something to sink their teeth into or at least for a few minutes from a speaker or entertainment during their monthly meeting.  Again, refer to the 15-20 minute team recruitment presentation.

Q – Quit saying it won’t work in this neighborhood!

NEVER, never allow this statement at a meeting! Enough said!

R – Recruit student teams.

Student teams add flavor, spice and character to an event. They can even add lots of cash to your totals if you teach them how. Reach out to those youth groups, schools and clubs to recruit student teams.

S – Serve your teams and they will serve you!

Care enough about your teams to stay in touch with a simple, inexpensive postcard or, even better, a free phone call.  For some ideas, use the “Excuses to Telephone Potential Teams” handout.  Get a newsletter out to them with acknowledgements of high contributors, Relay For Life ideas that work and talk about next year’s event.  

T – Teach teams how to ask for new teams and to multiply.

Hold a little training session at your kick-off to empower teams to multiply. Give them a reason to recruit a team…make it worth their while. Have all the teams who recruit a team get a chance to win a free team registration. Or, get something donated like 15 baseball tickets and offer to hold a drawing for the teams who recruited a new team. Recruit more teams, have more chances for your team’s prize. 

U – Use your publicity to recruit teams.

Find a reason to put notices out about Relay For Life often. Meeting notices, team fundraisers, etc., and in each press release put information in about forming a team.

V – Vary your meetings to allow for curiosity seekers to attend.

Hold your team meetings at different times—lunchtime, breakfast and evening.

W – Write to large groups, hospitals, clubs, companies, churches, and ask for a blurb in their newsletters.

Often these newsletters will even print a luminaria notice. If someone comes to the luminaria ceremony because they bought a bag, often next year, they will have a team!

X – Xamine your committee’s attitude toward team recruitment.

It is not just a team recruitment chair’s job, it’s everyone’s job! Encourage them to keep team packets with them as they travel throughout their week!

Y – Yell “good job” to anyone who brings in a new team!

Recognition goes SO FAR in validating people and keeping them energized to work for you.

Z – Zero in on community groups that are not mainstream.

Such groups as ham radio operators, railroad collectors, crafters, farm market councils…they are usually interested in doing fairs, fundraisers and such to get exposure and share their interest…PERFECT for the Relay atmosphere.