Nonprofit leaders and fundraisers are navigating extremely choppy waters as economic uncertainty continues, federal funding cuts take hold, and competition for charitable support increases. Meanwhile, many everyday donors are searching for ways to give back to offset, in a small way, the stories of suffering and hardship filling the news.
The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, started by the late Superman actor and his wife, is ready to make the most of this moment. “When there’s so much chaos, that is when people are motivated to do something good,” says Kelly Lamb, senior development manager at the Reeve Foundation. In her role overseeing its Team Reeve program, she has coached more than 700 volunteer fundraisers on how to throw successful do-it-yourself events that bring together families, colleagues, and communities to funnel donations to paralysis research and care.
When Lamb began directing the program in 2019, Team Reeve generated $400,000 in annual fundraising revenue. Last year, it brought in $1.1 million — at very little cost to the charity.
Most of Team Reeve’s volunteers come through the Reeve Foundation’s National Paralysis Resource Center after supporting a loved one through a spinal-cord injury or experiencing one themselves. They want to give back to the organization, and Team Reeve offers them the perfect opportunity to do so.
Volunteers organize between 20 and 70 events per year, including bake sales, lemonade stands, parents’ nights out, pickleball tournaments, and tastings at local wineries or breweries.
Lamb lets volunteers call the shots: Organizers know their networks best, and it’s validating and motivating for them to throw events they would enjoy and expect to have broad appeal, she says. “They have more fun if they can make it a family or community event.”
Athletic contests like marathons and bike rides are also popular choices among the Team Reeve volunteer fundraisers, but because accessibility is core to the mission, many of the organizers think beyond races: “A marathon feels very daunting, especially if you’re living with a disability,” she notes.
Next comes the guest list. She helps volunteers think expansively about whom to invite and how.
“You have to think of your audience in buckets,” she recommends. “You have your work bucket — send out an email to all your colleagues.” In the days leading up to the event, she tells organizers to put the information in their “out of office” email replies for an extra promotional push.
She also encourages volunteers to reach out to their networks of old friends. “If you were in a sorority in college, text them in a group chain,” she says. “There’s always going to be the person who immediately donates and that pushes the rest of them to donate.”
Community building starts with personal connection, so Lamb encourages all her Team Reeve leaders to share with friends, family, and colleagues what drew them to want to help find a cure for paralysis. Donors “may not necessarily be donating because they care about your cause, but they care about that individual and what that person is trying to accomplish,” she says.
Each volunteer gets a personalized fundraising page where they can promote their event. The most successful pages have several elements in common.
“Storytelling is the biggest key,” she says. “You have to have photos on your fundraising page. You have to tell your personal story because that’s what gets people to donate.”
A compelling story can make a huge impact. She describes one fundraising drive by a woman who suffered a spinal-cord injury in a skydiving accident after her parachute didn’t fully deploy. Following her recovery, she raised more than $2,000 for the Reeve Foundation by asking people to sponsor her as she trained to summit Mt. Everest.
Urging organizers to come out of their shell is the key to helping them attract supporters and feel more comfortable asking for money. “The No. 1 thing I coach people on is the acknowledgment that you’re doing this for a really good cause,” she says. “People underestimate how much their local community wants to get involved.”
She advises them to think of the channels in which they will make that ask, tailored to how they typically communicate with their friends and family: “Would it be better for it to be a letter, in person, an Instagram story?” To help, the Reeve Foundation provides a template for a peer-to-peer appeal letter and enlists DIY fundraising veterans to offer mentoring on how to ask for money successfully.
Finally, she always recommends organizers link their fundraising page to their Facebook account if they have one, even if they don’t use the platform often. If a Facebook user provides access to their contacts, it will notify their entire friend list.
That move may feel daunting, but as she coached one volunteer, “We’ve entered the shameless period. Be shameless in your promotion.” That person then raised $3,000 in 24 hours, all through Facebook.
Here are some additional tips from Lamb to take volunteer-led fundraising events to the next level.
Tap Into Corporate Partnerships
Lamb says volunteer fundraising events are a natural fit for corporate team-building, with mutual benefits on both sides. She encourages her organizers to use their work connections to amplify their impact.
Eric LeGrand — an entrepreneur and former Rutgers football player who experienced a spinal-cord injury — helped facilitate a partnership between the Reeve Foundation and the financial-services company Nasdaq in 2023. The Reeve Foundation secured bibs for Nasdaq Accessibility Network runners in the New York City and Chicago marathons that year, yielding $75,000 in donations.
It was such a success that Nasdaq has continued its support of Team Reeve ever since — even sending the foundation an unprompted $10,000 check this year “just as a thank-you,” says Lamb.
Team Reeve’s costs are “virtually zero,” she says. The main expenses are in paying race fees when required for athletic contests and sending Superman-branded keychains and T-shirts along with printed materials to have on hand that explain the Reeve Foundation’s mission and resources.
Organizers are otherwise on the hook for nearly all event costs, so she advises them to seek local businesses to host or sponsor the event and ask friends to set up tables and chairs. “The logistics of the event run smoother with more people,” Lamb says.
Team Reeve’s policy is that costs should not exceed 20 percent of expected revenue, and Lamb says it typically stays under 10 percent: “It’s a really, really good return on investment on those events.”
Offer Easy Options for Giving — for All Generations
To make giving as easy as possible, Lamb suggests selecting giving vehicles based on your donors’ demographics.
The Reeve Foundation accepts gifts made through Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, GoFundMePro, social media, wire transfer, crypto, and donor-advised funds, in addition to cash and check. Lamb says she has picked up on generational differences in how people prefer to donate, so she makes sure all options are available.
Donors over age 60 are most likely to write a check or draw from a DAF. There are often fewer donors in this group, but they give the biggest amounts, she says.
Gen X donors are apt to give online using PayPal, Apple Pay, or a credit card. Millennials and Generation Z like Venmo and Cash App best.
Millennials especially are more active donors, she says, and Generation Z isn’t far behind. While their average gift amount is lower, volume is notably higher — perhaps because they’re more eagerly seeking uplifting communities to join, she suggests. “They’re more technology literate and have less disposable income, but they want to participate,” Lamb says. “You need to meet your donors where they are.”
Ensure That Volunteers Enjoy Their Experience
Lamb says it’s vital to make sure that Team Reeve organizers have such a good time that they are eager to fundraise again. About 20 percent of the foundation’s volunteers return to plan another event. “We keep that communication with them so that hopefully they keep coming back.”
Two of her standouts, who have raised a lifetime total approaching $120,000 on behalf of the Reeve Foundation, are about to embark on their fourth Team Reeve bike ride. Last year, Mark and Heather Segal raised nearly $44,000 by cycling from Bellingham, Wash., to their home in Larchmont, N.Y. In August, they will begin a ride from Paris to Porto, Portugal.
Lamb says the foundation will promote their efforts by handling the social media and sharing video clips the couple takes along the way. “Our followers love to see DIY fundraisers, and what people are doing just on their own,” she says.
