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Having trouble thinking of what to say? We’ve got you covered. Personal emails to friends and family can make a huge difference. However, we know it can sometimes be hard to come up with the right words. Use these sample emails to get you started.
Hi {first name}!
Imagine never being able to ride a bike with your family or not having the chance to ride with friends? For a child with special needs, riding a bike is much more than exercise, it's about making them like just one of the kids.
As you may know, my child, Travis, has cerebral palsy. He’s a really sweet, smart young man who loves to be outdoors, but doesn’t have a chance to get out and play the way most kids his age are able.
We’ve joined the Great Bike Giveaway in an effort to collect enough votes to win an adaptive bike. Today you can help give Travis the opportunity to ride a bike just like his friends and family do.
Travis would LOVE to have a bike. He can’t ride a traditional bike. This may be our only chance to get a bike for Travis. Please take a few seconds to vote and help us get the most votes (or at least enough votes to qualify for a random drawing).
Today you can help give Travis the feeling of freedom and independence -- all it takes is one click:
You can also donate at {insert your custom url here}. If we raise enough, he’ll be guaranteed his own bike!
Hi {first name}!
Most of us remember our first time riding a bike. The thrill of riding down neighborhood streets with friends and family looking on.
Unfortunately, there are too many children with special needs that cannot ride a traditional bike and special, adaptive bikes cost families thousands of dollars.
For this reason, Friendship Circle created the Great Bike Giveaway, a campaign to help children with special needs receive an adaptive bike. If {insert name here} gets the most votes he can win a very special bike!
Today you can give {insert name} the feeling of freedom and independence -- all it takes is one click: Vote now at {insert your custom url here}
Everyone loves to vote for their favorites! You just need to make people aware that their vote can make a difference. Here are 10 ways you can work to get the word out and make your child a winner!
Sending out emails is probably the single most effective way of getting votes. Use our sample emails in the resources section to get started. Make sure to include a picture of your child and the link to where they need to go to vote. Send an email to every person on your contact list.
Sharing via a social network can be the easiest and fastest way to ask for votes. Make sure to use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to spread the word. Social bookmarking sites like Reddit can also be helpful in getting the word out. When sharing your child’s page don’t be surprised if people you have not spoken to in 20 years will send a message saying they will vote to help your child get a bike.
Whether you work for a company with 50 or 50,000 employees you may want to ask your boss for permission to send an email to all staff or at least your team. This can generate a lot of votes very quickly!
Organize a Casual Friday for a Cause at work through your HR department. Your teammates or colleagues can wear jeans if they place a vote or donate to your cause. Organize a Potluck with a Purpose; ask people to bring a dish to pass and those that want to partake can vote towards your child’s bike.
Gather your closest friends and family members and ask them if they would be willing to help you reach out and get votes for your child. Ambassadors can use their networks and connections to reach out to influencers, media, and people with access to many people!
The media is always looking for a story, you may as well make it your story they cover. So how do you get ahold of the media in your city or town? Here are three ways:
Celebrities can be a huge asset if they are willing to help spread the word. The celebrity doesn’t need to be the biggest movie star in Hollywood, a local celebrity can be very helpful to get the word out! Explain your child’s needs and how an adaptive bike can benefit your child. Ask them if they could share your page on their social networks, or make a quick 20-second video asking people to vote. Ideas for local celebrities can be popular radio show hosts, athletes on local sports teams, popular social media influencers, or news anchors.
Reach out to your child’s school and ask them to throw their support behind your child. Ask them to include the information in an email that goes out to parents or send home a flyer with voting information.
There is nothing like food and a party atmosphere to get people energized! Gather at least 5 of your close friends and family, ask them to bring their own laptops over (make sure you have wi-fi setup). Get some music on and bring out some food. Then get down to business!
Challenge yourself for the support of your friends and co-workers: If you get a certain amount of votes you will climb a mountain, run a 5k or face your biggest fear! This will motivate people in a number of different ways. Everyone likes a challenge, so this may spur more people to get more votes.
Print out hundreds of flyers from our resources section, stand in a public area such as a mall, outside a sporting event or any place where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. As people are walking by, offer them a flyer with information about the Great Bike Giveaway. People can vote from their phones or vote when they get home.
If you have never pitched a news story or spoken with the media before, approaching them for the Great Bike Giveaway might sound intimidating. It doesn’t have to be! Reporters are just normal people. News publications and broadcasts need to fill a daily quota of words or air time in order to produce the news. They are looking for stories!
They might have the hard-hitting, “if it bleeds it leads” stories covered, but they need human interest stories to keep their content balanced. Many of them will be happy that you’re helping make their job easier by uncovering a feel good story with a local angle.
A pitch is a brief personal message to a person who works in the news media. The purpose of a pitch is to introduce the media to the Great Bike Giveaway with a short teaser about you and the campaign overall. Pitches are typically sent via email, but they could also be over the phone or even sent via social media.
Successful pitches make a reporter want to cover your story because it is relevant and interesting to their readers, listeners or viewers. It’s important that your pitch be short - it’s not a press release - but it should contain enough information to pique their interest.
Cold, hard facts are a journalist’s best friend. Include statistics, numbers and data to support your claim that this story is relevant and worth covering. Our fact sheet contains a collection of compelling facts and figures about the Great Bike Giveaway, children with special needs, and the health benefits of biking. Make sure to include:
We bet you have a pretty powerful story. Share that story, briefly, in your pitch. Who are they? What challenges do they experience? What activities do they enjoy? Why do they deserve a bike? Why did you get involved?
Remember, this year meeting your fundraising goal ensures that your child will receive a bike.
Get creative! Don’t be afraid to take a risk by pitching your story with a unique angle or an out-of-the-box opening line, especially if you’ve tried a traditional pitch and haven’t seen Results.
If you don’t hear back within a few days, send a brief follow up message.
Finding the right reporter is key when pitching your story to a local newspaper. Most journalists cover a specific “beat” or range of topics like education, business, local news, or restaurants. Do your research before reaching out so that you can find the right person. Look for writers who cover local features or nonprofits for this contest. Avoid sending your pitch to more than one writer at a given publication.
Pitching on-topic is the most important thing to remember when approaching a blog; choose sites that are relevant to the Great Bike Giveaway. Blogs are more personal than traditional publications and often cover more lifestyle topics than a news website. Some of them reach a very wide audience. Be sure to read a few of the blog’s previous posts and get a sense for what stories the writer likes to cover, so that you can tailor your pitch to their tastes and audience.
Producers decide which stories should be covered, so try reaching out to the producers directly if you can. Make sure any images you send are high quality, since they might end up on television.
Radio is a storytelling medium, so make your pitch a story. Build a story around your child. Reaching out to the right person is also important. For some shows, the host also serves the producer role or they may have a separate producer and sound engineer. You may be able to find this information on their website, so you can contact the right person on their team.