What is the Swim-A-Thon?
The Swim-A-Thon is a USA Swimming
sponsored fundraiser in which participants earn money for their team by
swimming lengths of the pool. Swimmers have a two hour period to swim a maximum
of 200 lengths. With over 500 USA Swimming clubs conducting Swim-A-Thons each
year, this program has proven itself over and over again as a successful method
of raising funds for teams, as well as boosting team spirit and increasing community
awareness of the team. The Swim-A-Thon is our club�s primary fundraiser of the
year. King has a long tradition of participating in the Swim-A-Thon and we are
consistently one of the top fundraising clubs in the country!� 95% of the Swim-A-Thon money stays with KING
Boosters and is used to provide for things such as need based financial
assistance, team travel, relay fees, and mini meets for the team�s youngest
swimmers. The other 5% goes to USA Swimming to help support national
initiatives.
The main components of the
Swim-A-Thon are the donation campaign and the swim event. For 2010, our donation campaign will run from 1/15
through 2/28. Our swim event will
occur on Friday, January 29 from 4:30-8:30 pm at King County Aquatic Center. Swimmers
swim at a specific time listed below during the event. There will be food and
fun for everyone during the entire event.
DONATION CAMPAIGN
Swimmers ask for donations from
friends, family, businesses, providers, neighbors, teachers, etc. There are three ways in which KING swimmers can
collect donations.
�
Send out the KING donation request
letter (download
here) or a customized letter with enclosed return envelope.
�
Send out email donation requests via
the KING FirstGiving fundraising web site.
�
Make the rounds in person and ask
for donations or pledges (see pledge form sample). Some choose to get pledges
and money prior to swimming while others get pledges per length and collect the
money following the Swim-A-Thon.
The first option � letter writing -
has proven to be the most successful because people like receiving personalized
mail and you are more likely to catch the sponsor in their right moment of
having extra discretionary spending money available. With the letter writing, a
return envelope is included and checks are mailed back to the club. Donations
are tracked by swimmer for all donation methods, and viewable to members signed
in to the King website.
The second option � email with
online donation center through Firstgiving.com � has been growing in popularity
with our families and their donors. It is easy to set up a customized web page
just for your donations and you can also show your fundraising
progress and a link to your fundraising page from your personal Facebook account, if desired.
Combining options one and two by
sending a letter and following up with an email from FirstGiving
is another method that has proven successful. It provides an option for your
donors to donate in the manner most convenient to them. There is info on
setting up your FirstGiving online account as well as
tips and tricks available online. Several key features of the online account
are support for other languages � if you have friends or relatives who speak a
language other than English, you may create a greeting in any language to add
to your FirstGiving Swim-A-Thon personal fundraising
webpage. For sponsors that live overseas, the FirstGiving
online account is by far the easiest method to donate, as the donation is made
via credit card.
The third option � pledges � are
used if you wish to either have people pledge a donation amount per lap or if
you will be collecting donations in person (such as neighbors or co-workers). These
types of donations are logged on the pledge form. Please ask for a USA Swimming
Swim-A-Thon Packet from your Pool Representative. The Packets will also be
available at the 1/16-1/17 Challenge Meet weekend.
Key
dates for the 2010 Donation Campaign
�
1/15 � Letter writing materials available from Pool Reps (donation
letter, mailing envelope, return envelope). The standard letter is also
available to download on the King website.
�
1/16-1/17 � SPECIAL TREATS provided to
swimmers turning in 10 or more letters (or evidence of 10 or more emails sent
out) at the January Challenge meet
�
1/22 � FREE DONUTS CONTEST
deadline � the pool with the most letters and emails (average per person)
submitted by the end of practice on 1/22 will receive DONUTS at their 1/25
practice
�
1/29 � FREE KING BEANIE CONTEST
deadline � each swimmer who has completed and mailed out 10 letters, emails
(must show evidence of such), or received 10 pledge donations before they swim
their Swim-A-Thon laps will receive the OFFICIAL KING BEANIE at the Swim Event!
�
1/30-2/28 � Continue to send out any letters and emails, get
donations/pledges, and/or follow-up on requests; qualify for individual swimmer
prizes plus team and pool top donations prizes
�
2/28 � DONATION PRIZE deadline � this is the target date to
receive all donations and wrap up our Swim-A-Thon.� Prizes for individual swimmer donation levels
will be calculated as of 2/28 and distributed in March.
Donation Success Tips
START COLLECTING ADDRESSES NOW!� The key driver to success is getting as many
letters and emails sent out as possible. In support of this, we have fun
contests, giveaways, and prizes lined up to motivate letter writing
action!� Supplies for letter writing are
available from Pool Reps, and also available all weekend long at the January Challenge
meet, so bring your address book to the meet and kill some time, plus qualify
for your OFFICAL KING BEANIE when
you turn in 10 letters/emails and/or received 10 pledges/donations. We are
providing postage stamps all weekend long, so there�s at least $4.40 worth of
motivation, plus there�s a treat waiting for you at the meet if you get your 10
letters/emails turned in!
Parents can help swimmers find names
and addresses and emails of people and businesses for their letter
writing!� Start with addresses and emails
for family members, friends, and neighbors. Another good source for donations
is people you do business with such as your family doctor, dentist, insurance
agent, tax accountant, real estate agent, or lawyer.� The donations raised from Swim-A-Thon are
tax-deductible contributions.
SWIM EVENT
When:���� Friday, January 29, 2010 from 4:30-8:30
p.m.
Kids will swim with their regular practice group, at the
times shown below. �
�
National
and Senior � ����� 4:30 pm in the
Scoreboard pool
�
Developmental
� ������������ 4:30 pm in the Dive Tank
pool
�
Power
& Regional � �������� 5:30 pm in the
Scoreboard pool
�
Novice
� ������������������������ 6:30 pm in the
Dive Tank pool
�
Age
Group � ������������������ 6:45 pm in the
Scoreboard pool
Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled
time or come and enjoy the entire event of food, fun, prizes, and
swimming!
Where:���
What:����� SWIM & FUN!
New This Year � Swim-A-Thon Teams
�
This
year we are introducing a third dimension, the team component, to the
Swim-A-Thon (SAT). This will be in addition to the usual tracking and prizes by
practice pool and by individual. Swimmers will be assigned to one of eight
teams, and will swim with their team at the SAT swim event on 1/29 at KCAC.
�
Each
team will be comprised of swimmers from each group � developmental, novice, age
group, regional, power, senior, and national. The teams are randomly selected
and will compete for additional prizes during the SAT. How does this work?� Each practice group swims at a certain time,
and in a certain pool, as shown above. Lane 1 will be the Red Team, Lane 2 will be the Orange Team, etc. The team members
from Red Team will swim in lane 1 for the duration of the event, but within
their assigned practice group swim time. Look for some relay action between
teams at the swim event, as well as a team spirit
competition!
FAQs
How long do we
have to raise money?
You can start now to obtain pledges
from friends, family members and businesses. Ask your dentist, ask your
neighbors and ask your family members to sponsor you for Swim-A-Thon. Some
parents take the pledge form to work and ask their co-workers or place the pledge
form on a bulletin board. You can ask for a flat dollar amount or a per length
pledge, it�s up to you. All monies need to be collected and turned in by
February 28 to you pool representative or their designee.
How much money
should we raise?
Each family or individual on King
Aquatic Club should have a goal to raise $200.00. Our team goal is to raise
$60,000. It is important that every team member participate! A team effort is
needed by everyone to accomplish our goal. Please remember these pledges will
significantly help our club.
When and where
do we turn in the money?
Money should be turned in to your
pool rep, or the SAT coordinators, Tara Vagen and Crista Haugen. Please return any unused USA Swimming Pledge
packets or letter writing materials, to help us keep costs down.
Do we have to
participate?
Since this is our biggest annual
fundraiser for the team, we would like every swimmer to participate. Group
prizes are awarded based on participation. It is not difficult to raise pledges,
your parents can help and all you need to do is ask! Remember, you are giving
your potential sponsor a tax write-off opportunity. Many people look for
non-profit organizations to reduce their tax burden even in economic hard
times.
Where are the
Swim-A-Thon Pledge Forms?
Pledge forms are available from the
Pool Reps.� Note that the pledge form
requires a bit more work on the part of the swimmer than other donation
methods.� The swimmer gets the pledge and
then returns to the donor after the Swim Event to collect the pledge amount.
How Do I get
Pledges?
Pledges may be collected from
family, friends, teachers, neighbors, business associates, etc. and logged on
the pledge sheet that is included in the Pledge packet. We suggest, if
possible, collect your money at the time of the pledge.
What if we have
other questions?
Please direct questions to the
Swim-A-Thon coordinators:
Crista Haugen � [email protected]
or 206-384-1511
Tara Vagen
� [email protected] or
206-790-2757