Kamal Datta (00:00.77) Welcome. So we can start with a quick introduction. Karen, maybe we can start with you. yes. Thank you again for having us. And also thanks for running on Team Red Cross 2018. You ran the Boston Marathon. And in 2022, you ran with Team Red Cross Chicago. Chicago, yes. Yeah, thank you so much for doing that and also for having us on today. So yes, I'm Karen Teller. I've been a runner since I was in my early 20s. Started running at lunchtime. because all the guys were running and none of us women were running. And I just said, well, we should all go out and put on our jogging suits. And that was back before running was that popular. In fact, when I started running, women just started being able to run the Boston Marathon. That was 1972. The first year a woman was officially entered into the marathon. Hard to believe because I just was a normal runner. And so I ran with the guys at March and I continued it. So I've been a runner for a long time. and the founder of Team Red Cross for Boston Marathon. Oh, that's exciting to know. I know you're going to talk about Team Red Cross quite a bit. Thank you for sharing your background a little bit. Samantha, share it yourself. Yeah, I'm Sam Delaney. I'm an event specialist at the Red Cross of Massachusetts. And one of my roles is managing Team Red Cross each year for the Boston Marathon. So I recruit the runners, I onboard them, and I support them up until and after the race. Uh, I've been, uh, if you're talking about my running career, I've been a runner for almost 48 years, almost 49 years. started in 1975 by doing a mile run. And then I ran a little in high school for two years. And then after that, I ran my first marathon in 1993 and now I'm at, uh, 711 marathons and ultras, uh, in that time. I'm coming to you today as a former and current participant of Team Red Cross. I participated in fundraising for Team Red Cross the last two years, and I'm hopefully going to be doing so again this year. Personally, I am a mom of six children. Kamal Datta (02:15.438) I'm also a nurse practitioner. So part of the reason that I actually chose to apply for team Red Cross was because it really aligned with my personal values as a healthcare provider. I love the mission and vision of Red Cross. And it was something that I felt like I could really get behind when I was fundraising and really excited to just be a part of when I ran. My is Madison. I am 26 turning 27 in like 10 days, I think. I live in Florida. I'm from Boston area. So from Southern New Hampshire Salem, New Hampshire originally. And then my family, we now live mainly in our beach house in Salisbury, Massachusetts. We moved there about 10 years ago, full time. So I live in Florida because I'm in my PhD in finance at University of Central Florida. So that's why I came here. that I'm in, this is year four and then I have one more year and then I'll see where my job takes me. So maybe we can start with, Talk about Team Red Cross. know, Karen, you said you are the founder of Team Red Cross. So if you can take us back to, know, Team Red Cross, obviously Red Cross has so much impact on, in the world and a lot of things they do. How was it as you conceptualized Team Red Cross, the founding Team Red Cross, if you can take us back to the journey? Sure, thank you. So it goes back to 2008. I personally joined a giving circle called the Tiffany Circle. It's a group of women that give their time, talent and treasure to the mission of the Red Cross across the country. So I joined that because I went to a breakfast meeting and you you're going to write checks. And I realized why I should join this giving circle. I had been on the board of a couple other small nonprofits. And this one in particular reached my heart because they were The Red Cross was just starting the measles initiative that year and going over to Kenya to inoculate 14 million kids in two weeks. And I didn't even know the Red Cross did things like that. And it's still a campaign that's ongoing. And I said, well, geez, I should join this. And being a runner after a couple of years, I asked the staff, why don't we have a team running the Boston Marathon? I had run Boston about seven times by then and twice for charities. Kamal Datta (04:37.786) And I said, well, why don't we have a team? could raise a lot of money. And none of them were runners. So they're looking at me like, well, why would we have a team? said, could make a lot of money, right? So we applied three years in a row, by the third year, which was 2011. We got to go in front of the BIA. By then I was Boston Athletic Association member. I kind of got myself into the organization through a friend of a friend. I thought that would help us get the numbers. So we finally got in front of the group that selects the nonprofits and they said, well, you're the American Red Cross, you should be a team. I'm like, yes. So the first year of 2012, they gave us 15 bibs. And then we got five in the John Hancock program and my one bib also. So that year we raised 89,000. And if you look at where we are today, last year we raised Thanks to people like Sam and the help with 64 runners, we raised 715,000. So it's been quite a journey and it's been just a wonderful, wonderful growth. to your point of, we just heard yesterday, we do have 60 more bibs for next year, but we go year to year. We're not really certain whether we're gonna be on that nonprofit list with the BAA. So we do keep our fingers crossed every year. Unfortunately, we were selected again this year. Great. So two follow up questions. And I'm very curious. The first is, I know have spoken to a couple of nonprofits who are actually going through the journey, hoping to get one of the charity partners for Boston Marathon. I think they are not there yet. I think they are going through the process that you mentioned that you went through between 2008 and 2011. What are the key things that you did that are contributed to the ActiCAD partner or become a charity partner with like iconic race like Boston Marathon, maybe to help folks who are wants to follow the path that Team Radcross did? I think one thing by the third year we did was we picked a coach. So I think when you run with us, we had coach Dan Fitzgerald. Yes. I live in the city and he just opened his first small store down the street. Kamal Datta (06:53.036) And I thought, well, maybe we don't have a coach, right? So we have to look like we're ready for the marathon. Because the important thing is not just fundraising, but you have to have people that can actually run 26 miles, right? So I went down the street. said to Dan, if I've been trying to get a marathon team together, if we do it, would you be my coach for the team Red Cross? And he said, sure. So Dan came on board. And I think that made a big difference. When we went in and did the application, was Dan is a BC grad. He's a great. Now he coaches thousands of runners. He coaches the Chicago team right across now too. He's a store there. So I think that was a big difference for us. Okay. Oh, that's good to know. And is the process kind of you start all over every year, as you mentioned, that you have to apply every year? Yes, we do. Sam had to fill out, Sam, you might want to talk about that process of filling out the application every year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Chime on that one. Yeah. That'd be great. At the end of every year, we do submit a report of how our team performed and that kind of gives us the green light to apply again. So over the summer, we submit an application with everything that our nonprofit does, success of our team in the past and our plan for supporting the runners. And that's how we ended up getting selected. great. So and but it's not a guarantee that past success will lead to the next year's number of babes that you're asking for. or requesting. So up until yesterday, we were sweating a little bit, but really happy that we're back in. Okay. So before the Bank of America took over the, the, the official program was every three years you, so you have bibs for three years initially, this was 12 years ago. And then you rolled off and they picked up a new, so it was always, I think last year they had 168 nonprofits, you know, teams. But That's kind of changed right now, especially with Bank of America as a major sponsor. We're not sure how they rotate the organizations. And they actually opened up this year through organizations not in New England. So worldwide organizations could apply. And that was not the case before. OK. OK. There's a lot more competitive to get in, just like it is for regular runners trying to get into the, as you know, you're qualified, still may not get into the Boston Marathon. Kamal Datta (09:14.286) And it's tough, it's really tough, it gets tougher every year. Same with the nonprofits. You are associated with the Team Red Cross for quite some time. I was very curious, your experience with Team Red Cross, especially running Boston. Yeah, it's been a great experience for me. was when I got diagnosed with stage four cancer, unfortunately, my speed had went down. So I wasn't able to. was I wasn't able to qualify for Boston, unfortunately. I got diagnosed July 30th of 2019. 2020 was the pandemic, 2021, it still going on. was just, at that time I had gone through my third surgery. I was starting my second round of radiation, second round of drug treatment. So by that time my speed was down. So I reached out to them as far as being a fundraiser. as a way to get into the Boston Marathon. And this will be my third year fundraising with them. And I find it to be an awesome experience working with Sam and Karen and the gang at American Red Cross. It's been incredible experience for me in a great way to benefit. So my cancer is actually benefiting the American Red Cross. That's awesome. Now I'm sorry to hear that stage four that you've gone through, I'm sure probably are doing well now. Good to hear. You probably had a of joining other nonprofits. I would be curious, did you weigh in before you joined Red Cross? Some of the things that Red Cross, or team Red Cross that stood out to you? I looked at a couple different options. There were several that I sent out the email to. The American Red Cross was significant for me because my godchild or niece, Kristen, works for the American Red Cross. Kamal Datta (11:05.934) She's been involved with them. think she's worked with them now for almost 17 or 18 years. So that plays a special part in my heart. due to like, even like with the hurricanes going on, American Red Cross has been so beneficial. The other part that I knew about the American Red Cross is a lot of cancer patients need blood during their treatment. So that was another thing that touched me with the American Red Cross is if I ever need blood, I'll probably be going to them for the donations. So that's another thing that really made me go toward the American Red Cross. The fact that it helps so many cancer patients as well. That's good to know. As you are a nurse and you're a runner itself, so you probably had a lot of choices in addition to Team Red Cross. I would be curious, like, how did you decide, okay, Team Red Cross, you said you have personal connection too, but did you explore other? other charity running organizations that you can connect with too, ultimately decided Team Red Cross? Yeah. Well, you know, I went to the web, the BAA website and there are a vast number of different charities to look at. I kind of perused. There were a couple other ones that I was a little bit interested in that aligned just my family or my personal values. But really Team Red Cross was the one that really jumped out at me as something that I was familiar with, that I'd heard of, that, you know, I knew the work that they did kind of globally. Right. I thought, wow, as a health care provider, this would be really a cool team to be part of. How did you end up working with Team Red Cross to fundraise? know you are when you ran Boston this year, right? Yeah. So basically, long story short, A few years ago in 2021, in January, my family lost our home in a fire. we lost it. was horrible. I can actually talk about it now. I couldn't talk about it for the longest time. We lost everything and burned to the ground completely. So obviously that for the next couple of years, my family, it will always stay with us because you lose your life. You don't have a show. So that was really sad. so along the way, recovering from that, my parents like Kamal Datta (13:25.634) the next few days, like they run to the Red Cross, like people were donating to the Red Cross. Red Cross was actually like there for my family in like very important ways. And of course, it's special what we have a lot of friends and other family that were caring for us, but it was really cool to have the Red Cross like by our side. And like my mom was just very inspired. Like she's like, want to like help back. So she signed up to volunteer like a few months later for the Red Cross. So then from there, I just felt like I had like this connection to the Red Cross and I've always loved volunteering. I I tried to find the time in my schedule. So I thought it like made perfect sense. just felt like for some reason, like when the new year hit in 2020, 2024, no 2023, I had this like, I'm like, I'm gonna run an marathon this year. Like that was like my new year's resolution. Well, next year. So I applied that September. And then I... It was, it just like felt like it was right. The time was right to do it. It was like very like called to do it. So. Karen, I'm curious, as you said, you had 15 babes starting 2012 to now where you are raised 7.5 last year, million dollars to team Red Cross. I'll be curious to hear about a little bit of the journey that you went through to scale from 89,000 to 7.5 billion. because I was fortunate to be part of two races that I did. And I know the incredible how the team that grows does provide to its runners, the team that they run in every year. But I'd be curious how it was scaling the team to where it is today. You know, it wasn't that hard because we already had a kind of a format. We've improved every year on what we do for the runners. And Sam will talk a little bit about the monthly meetings we have. We had those back then. We've gotten better at it. We have speakers come. We encourage the runners. What we've done a good job with is upping the amount of fundraising, right? So we started at 5,000. We went to something like 7,500. Now we're, we were at 10,000 and I think this year we're trying for 12,000, Sam, I think, right? 11,500. 11,500, okay. So we keep up in that number because we know it's more competitive, right? And we can encourage our runners to raise more money because Kamal Datta (15:45.688) for raising money for missions, right? So it is the Boston Marathon. It's a unique marathon compared to all the other ones. yeah, so the journey was a lot of fun for me. I've had a lot of support from Dan, our coach who's been there from day one, and his staff members. The Red Cross is definitely behind this 100%. So I always get some great staff person like Sam's been with us now to help out. It's been a wonderful journey. Oh, no, we have had some tough years. mean, so the first year was 2012, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing year. Yeah. Most of our teammates, nobody was injured, but even our CEO at the time was running and he didn't get to finish. He was in Kenmore Square that day and then had to go, you know, he got a call from the secretary. His children were in the stands, you when the bomb went off, bombs. And then he had to run to the command center. our headquarters and start, you know, the stuff that direct cross does during an emergency like that. So that was, that was a tough year. sat right across from the first bomb that went off. I was at the finish line, watched one of my friends finish that ran on our team. And then, you know, the explosion happened and I thought it was, you know, just a manhole cover or something. I hadn't, we had no idea sitting there what it was, but, and then, you know, then we had, really bad weather year. think you didn't run that year, 2017. was like hot, cold, windy, brutal. And then COVID. So we still have seven runners, I think, Sam, that can run this year. So last year, they'd only have to raise 5,000 because they were signed up for the race at Kutmer Run in 2020. So we take a little bit of a hit on that because instead of the 10,000, we said, you already raised, some raised the full 10 by the time they canceled. Some didn't, but our agreement was 5,000 instead of, so we have, I don't know how many will come back this year, Sam Raim of that seven, some might, some might not. But so it's been, it hasn't been a, you know, smooth in that every year is the same, every year is different. And as you run marathons, you could train, I've trained for marathons and that day it's hot. I can't run in hot weather, right? ran 2003 and I didn't finish. I ran 23 miles and I said, Kamal Datta (18:10.318) I'm just getting on a T and going home because it's too hot. So this day I'm mad because I wish I got the medal. Oh, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you just don't know what, especially Boston, what the weather is going to be by day. Right. Can you share a little bit about your fundraising experience? Because this is something you're trying to highlight, you know, basically you have a very personal connection with Team Red Cross, but some of the things you did to fundraise, because I think this year for Team Red Cross, when I was chatting with Sam and Karen, is 11,500. So it's a sizable in a fundraising amount that people have to raise if you want to be part of Team Red Cross. But I was wondering last couple of years, or some of the key things that you did that worked for you. I think some of the things for me that's worked out, I just published a book running my salvation from stage four cancer and that book alone. All the profits from that book will be going to the America Red Cross. So I'm kind of doing it in a little different way. So any of the book signing fees that I get, any of the top fees that I get, they will all be donated to the America Red Cross. So that's a significant, that'll be play a part in my donations. Plus from the sales of the book, it's getting the word out that, you know, the America Red Cross is who I'm fundraising for for Boston. So that's helping my donations as well. Plus the fact that I run so many marathons, I know so many runners, being I've been running forever, almost 32 years of marathoning, that gives me a significant advantage as far as reaching out to people. It increases my network by like tenfold. So I had no experience raising money, I have to say. That was really new for me and I was a little bit nervous from the get go. You know, it's a big ask. And it was little bit wanting to think about raising ten thousand dollars for for each race. And it was easier for me knowing that I really could get behind the mission of the Red Cross. So, you know, the Red Cross helps people in need during disaster. They do disaster relief. They help veterans and veterans families. Kamal Datta (20:31.4) They provide health education, at least in the United States, maybe further for people in terms of basic life support, advanced life support, water safety, babysitting, all of these different things. And then, of course, they are one of the, you know, biggest donors of blood. So they have volunteers all over the country that you know, donate blood. So in terms of talking points, it was really easy for me to share with like family and friends and people that I was reaching out to why I wanted to support the Red Cross. So that was like the major thing. I had some friends kind of warning me about it, I guess, was like, it can be stressful trying to raise all the money. And I really wasn't very worried about it. I was like, I want to do this. I would never let like the stress of raising money like keep me from running the marathon. I actually had really good experience. think I went in with like a kind of like a plan of ideas of what I would do. So one major thing was just like social media. And I'm really not a big social media person, but I actually think it's huge when it comes to raising money. Like I have a, actually like, I think I know a lot of people, like my parents know a lot of people. So posting frequently on Instagram, Facebook. but it was different, not just posting a picture and like, please donate to my cause because then people just like continue to see that and they don't feel the need to donate. So I tried like creative with like the ways I would put things on Instagram. So like sometimes I would run like 10 miles and then I post Instagram story and be like $10 to 10 miles question mark. And then I put my link or I would, it would be, I think there was like a Red Cross giving back day. So on that day. I posted my marathon link and I said, for the first 10 people who donate $10, I'll donate to you $5 Starbucks gift card. So it was like, they're donating to me, but like, I'm willing to donate to them because at end of the day, it's all kind of giving back to the Red Cross. So I would do a little like that. And then the biggest thing was I did an event. So in Boston at Stats Bar and Grill in South Boston, all my friends are there. So I did an event near Christmas time. Kamal Datta (22:45.186) there. And basically, it's really awesome. So the bar lets you like, use their space for free, like they give you a kind of a certain space at the bar. And then you just bring any of the decor you want. And they let you choose two drinks. And they like, part of the drinks. And then for every drink, you got like $2 of the drink. So like, and then at the same time, I brought in raffles. So I had like a raffle table. And that event gave me like, probably one fifth of my money right there was that event. So basically I just talked to a lot of people who had done it in the past, but I also honestly like I knew Boston because the barathons in Boston, a lot of these restaurants and bars are like very willing to help you because I know it's a really like important event and these are really important causes. So I honestly called a lot of places. Like my friends also like walked in for me because I obviously wasn't in Boston, I was here. So I had friends like walk by the bars and ask them personally. Like sometimes I would even have them ask like, you able, willing to donate? Cause we actually had some like stores and like these boutiques in Boston, like donate gift cards to me. So it's honestly just a lot of like asking because like, it didn't feel as hard asking for me because I had such a personal connection to it. Like it's truly for the cause. Like it's not for me, it's for the cause itself. So I like that, that helped a lot. And like if it's a no, it's not personal. Like businesses have. Thanks for sharing. So let's go back from to the runner point of view. Sam, I think I wanted to chat or learn a little bit more about the different support that Team Red Cross or you provide to the Team Red Cross members that who run every year. If you want to highlight a couple of things that you know, Team Red Cross does for its runners that running every year. Yeah, so with Team Red Cross and we know that it's a really big ask to raise $11,500. And the fact that they're doing this for us over any other charity is an honor. So we try to give them all the support that they'll need to raise that large amount of money while also training for a marathon and also living their lives. It's a lot of work. It's a lot to ask. So since I work on the fundraising team, they do have access to me and my colleagues to ask for advice. We give them templates for pitching a story to their local news and stuff like that. And then we also have Karen. Kamal Datta (25:08.62) who, mean, this team is her baby. So Karen is always here to help. She's experienced as a runner, experienced as a fundraiser, and super close to the Red Cross mission. So we have a pretty good support network for these runners. And as Karen mentioned, we do monthly virtual meetings where we try to bring in a speaker. There's someone who has run with us in the past, someone who volunteers with the Red Cross, just somebody to kind of say, I've been where you are, and here's what I did to be successful. And yeah, Team Red Cross, I we get applicants from all over the world because the Red Cross is a globally recognized charity. Right, right. So we get them from all over the world, all different time zones. Organizing these monthly meetings can be kind of tough. So we record them and send it out to everybody. But what we try to do is really build that camaraderie and really make it feel like a team. They're not 60 individuals running with us. They are Team Red Cross. And I've, I mean, we get really good feedback about the emails that we send out about the meetings we have. And then on marathon weekend, we have two in-person get togethers. So on that Sunday, Karen hosts a brunch for everyone. They can bring a family member, a friend, whoever's in town supporting them. And on that day, it's so fun to see all of these runners get together and finally meet in person. And they all feel like they know each other already. And it's just, it's really great. It shows that what we're doing works. And then on marathon day, typically every year we have a sponsor Webster bank. have a branch on Boylston street about point two miles past the finish line. So they host us on that day. We have breakfast, we have lunch, we have snacks, we have a TV, tables, chairs, of course, a restroom, AC. So the runners can meet up with us before we all walk to the buses together to get to the start line. And then throughout the day, their friends and family can just hang out inside with us. They have a place to go. The runners can come back. We cheer for them as they walk in. We take their pictures. And it's just a really, really fun two days with these people. So we give them, you know, fundraising support and we give them a lot of moral support too. One thing about the monthly meeting, like what drives it? Like I know it adds value to building that camaraderie with the runners. Like what do you have seen that? Kamal Datta (27:34.85) that does to the runners? It keeps them informed. It reminds them that we're here for them and we're not just going to drop them until marathon day. So in these meetings, we'll go over any updates from the Red Cross, updates from the BAA about the marathon. There's a lot of information that comes out from like February to April, a lot of reminders of what to do with their gear, what wave they're in, all that stuff. So we... just try to keep all that information front and center, keep them updated the second we hear news. And I heard from a few runners this year at Webster Bank, they were saying, they came from France and they were saying, we appreciate all of your emails. We appreciate the virtual calls. It could seem like a lot when I'm firing off all these emails, but they said it's exactly what they needed. Like too much information is better than no information. So they really have that. connection with us. They know that they can email us, they can call us, and we're always going to be here to give them whatever support they need. You said you just opened up the application process, right? So people who are trying to be a part of Team Red Cross for 2025, what are the things that you would be looking for in them? So there's a lot of competition. The email you saw today, that went out to around 1,400 people. Sure. That's how many people are interested in these 60 bibs that we have. There are really three main criteria. We want to know that they can run the marathon in under six hours. We want to hear about kind of their running story. We want to know that they can raise the money. So if they've done it in the past or they have a really solid plan and a strong network to get it done, that's something that I need to know. And then also just a relationship with the Red Cross. Like I said, it's globally recognized. So we'll have people from Indonesia reach out and say, the Red Cross in my country helped me years ago and I've never forgotten and I want to give back. And it's those kinds of stories that are really touching. And it's not like I'm looking for a story just like that every time, but I mean, it definitely helps knowing that they have that connection with our organization. It's a no brainer to let them on the team. Right, right. that's a good point. And how do you validate or some data points that you look into those applications to confirm the first two points that Kamal Datta (29:58.828) You know, they can fundraise or they can finish under six hours. Like, is there any past data points that you look for in the application? Not really. it's, it's not something we can really verify anyway. Right. Yeah. But I mean, some of them do like send in pictures of them with their medals and stuff like that. just having them kind of explain with confidence. what they've done in the past is helpful. They fill out this information in their application online, but then I'll set up a phone interview and kind of have them elaborate on that. I'll ask them follow-up questions. And it really gives me a feel for their confidence level with fundraising and with running. And then also just who they are as a person. You know, we've had some people say running has improved my mental health. This is a dream of mine to get my six star in Boston, that kind of thing. So just really getting that like, human to human connection over the phone helps. From a fundraising point of view, what are the things that the past teammates that have done worked great? And some of the things that can be an example for future runners who are going to be part of Team Red Cross. So first of all, like you were saying, yeah, it's really petals of the metal the second they sign that contract. We usually recruit in September, but it was kind of pushed back this year. So on the back end, I did extend the fundraising deadline just to make sure they're not getting too much time cut out from under them. Again, it's a huge ask to raise this much money for a charity. A few things that usually work for runners, employee matches are huge. Never underestimate an employer match. they, a lot of people who know their company matches, they'll send something out to all of their coworkers. And even if they give 20, 50, a hundred dollars, that really adds up. So it's kind of your mindset to like looking at everything as every dollar counts. Don't look for the giant gifts from people. Just try to get as many people as you know, to give just a little bit and having that mindset, I think makes it seem a little bit less overwhelming. Okay. Some people will. Kamal Datta (32:17.08) do these campaigns on like their social media where they're kind of documenting all of their training and having people essentially like sponsor a mile kind of thing. Like as they progress, people keep giving. The peer to peer platform that I'm sure you used, Give and Gain, is pretty helpful. It makes it really easy for someone to give. You can post your updates on there, post your story and just share that link everywhere. Another thing is, like third party fundraising events. So if you reach out to a local restaurant or a local bar and try to host like a Red Cross night where a certain amount of the proceeds from that night will go to us, that's really helpful too. I've had some runners come back to me and say that one of those nights raised $4,000. And like that's a huge chunk of their fundraising commitment. So definitely go out there, reach out to local restaurants and bars and just try to get a few hours of their time, you know, just on a certain night to donate. Another thing is reaching out to like local news outlets or even smaller, like running blogs and stuff, just to get that kind of visibility. Cause your local community, we're really supportive of you going all the way to Boston to run this. So people have had success there too. Is there any other fundraising tips you can share or guides that work for you? I think it's important to stress that when you're doing the fundraising is that stress that, know, if you can help me, would be, it really is significant. So if you can, if you donate, if you could maybe see as someone in your family or someone else that you know can fundraise, because if you can fundraise and you know your parents, your brother, your sister, your friend, your spouse, whoever, that's a double donation. So every time. You keep branching out. So if you can get them to donate and maybe they know somebody, so you keep branching out. The further you branch out, the more likely you're going to get donations and the more you're going to have. So don't be afraid to ask, you know, Hey, you know, does your friend or does your running group, especially running groups, if you can get a running group, say, you know, just your local running group or whatever to get that going, it really helps. And the sooner you do it, the better because. Kamal Datta (34:38.444) The problem is that you're gonna have a lot of other people doing fundraisers for different organizations and stuff. So the earlier you can get the message out to people, the better it is for you and the more chances you're gonna have to people to donate. And obviously now with the hurricane situation happening in Florida and all that stuff, donations may be a little tighter this year because some people are already donating so much to different charities. So you have to be... And that's all be stressing is that, the money, you know, for the America Red Cross is doing this and that and what other, but that's what you have to do is stress the, what the charity is doing. Is there any specific examples you can share that worked really with you as you embark into your fundraising journey? Well, I think you have to tell people about why it's meaningful to you. I personally, like I believe in connecting with people like face to face. know a lot of people use social media and I think it's a wonderful tool to use in addition, but I really think it's important to sit down with your family and your friends and your social groups and people you work with and just really tell them your story. Like why this charity means something to you? Why running means something to you and why this particular event? And really get them to buy into why they should, why should they care to donate to you? What does it mean? And so for me, I think it's so important to do as much of that face to face as you can. And then, of course, using it, a tag at the bottom of your email, a social media post. You and I talked earlier about giving gain as a way in which people can easily, without much effort, log in to donate to you and to make it really easy for them. Are there some strategies or tips that you can share that work with you? know families, definitely you can pull them together. But did you do some get togethers where you bring people, colleagues or people you knew, where you share your story? Kamal Datta (36:52.31) Yeah, so I'll say I can share some things that I've seen other people do as well. But yes, I mean, so in terms for me, it's about like if you're going to host friends for an event, make sure you're just being very clear and straightforward up front that, I'm having everybody over for a chili dinner or a taco dinner or whatever, or to, you know, socialize. And I'm doing it for the purpose of, you know, sharing. about the Red Cross or sharing about my fundraising efforts, you know? And so I think it's always important to make sure you're being upfront about why. And then, you know, people will do like, like I said, like a chili dinner, a taco dinner, a potluck. I've seen different friends of mine and people that I've run with host events at like a bowling alley or an other venue where they're saying, hey, come and hang out. And I've kind of matched with this organization that they're going to give back a certain percent of their earnings from this particular day to support my cause. great. I've also seen people do some really other creative things. A couple of women I know like mass bought a bunch of hair ties and socks. I put a cute little label on them about how they were raising money for their charity. and did a little Facebook post about how they were selling these items to raise money for their cause. people, you know, sometimes people like to get something in return for their donation. And this was a way that people could do that. Oh, yeah. Great. Anything else that worked for you? I have something I can show you if you. Yeah, if we can share your screen, that would be great. OK, so this what I did was leading up to the marathon. I posted this on Instagram. So I said, guess my fastest mile. So I made this, my friends who's a real, it's called Canva, they're really good at this. So basically I made this board and said you can buy a mile. So it was $26 a mile and people then moved me. And it was basically like, you guess what's the fastest mile I'm gonna run a marathon day. This was 26 times $26, it about $700. And this board, like it went so fast. Kamal Datta (39:14.094) I think the first day, like I already sold like 10 squares. People were like really into it. And I did this like the weeks leading to it. So it was kind of like excitement. Cause I had a lot of people come into the marathon too. And the other thing too is like, it says 26 for 26, but a lot of people 26 for one. But like once people are donating, they typically just donate more to you. So like I'd have someone say, I'll take square 26, but here's 50 bucks. So this was like, I actually had never seen anyone do this. I have my friend's idea. So give her the credit. And this was a really cool idea. And then it was so fun because like people were like really tracking you on marathon day. They're like excited to see. And then I gave the winner, I think I gave him like a hundred dollars cash. nice. Yeah. Yeah. So my friend Abby ended up winning. And I know it's really weird, but my 26 miles actually the fastest, which sounds crazy. then. It was like really, it was really fun though, because at the end everyone was like making me pull up my miles and was like, which one was it? Which one was it? Yeah. Yeah. that is very creative. Yeah. And I can show you one more thing than I did too. No, it is really good to see that you went very creative on those different ideas that you implemented. it's pretty awesome. Yeah. I think that it makes a difference when you have like some creativity involved. Yeah. Okay, I don't think you can. Can you see it now? Yeah, I can see it. Okay, so this is like an example of a poster we had at the event. So we made like really, really big ones. So then we did like we did a cover charge at my event. So it's $15 to get in. So this is the restaurant event that you did, right? Yeah, so we brought it in like these posters and we had these like app white when you walked in, we had my poster and then we had like cover charge of $15. We put my QR code, which was really cool. And then we had like these drinks to donate. So we had like the two drinks and then like, just kind of decorated it really well. And then we had like 10 different raffles. So like that like makes people kind of like want to come. Like people were like loving the raffles. So. nice. Nice. Yeah. That's pretty great. Nice. No, thanks for sharing. Now those are the things that you have seen work for you and it's in some of our other folks that work as well. Are there in this process, did you learn something? Hey. Kamal Datta (41:30.102) If you're doing for a fundraising, don't do this versus say instead do this. Do you have some learnings that you want to share? I mean, honestly, my biggest thing was, you know, connect personally with people. If you're planning on doing everything just over a Facebook post or an email letter that you mass send out to people, you're just not going to get as good of a return. And so it's always good to have those as an adjunct, I think. I think figuring out a way to really try to connect and even whether it's in your workplace or it's in, you know, your kids, kids, friends, parents, or groups of people that you're seeing on a day to day basis or on a weekend basis. think it's really important to do both. And if you're planning on only kind of sending out a mass email, you're probably not going to get as much in the workplace. I mean, you can set up a little table, you can set up a little sign. set up a little jar in the lunchroom. And I think it's really about, again, like telling your story and really talking to people about, I'm trying to accomplish this goal and these are the reasons why. And I would sure appreciate your support. Karen, probably you have seen quite a few runners since 2012 and you fundraised yourself, your runner, anything that stood out to you that worked for runners or for yourself personally that you want to share for future Team Red Cross members? I think the most simple thing, I tell the runners every time we have a meeting. So I ran Falmouth Road Race. We were talking about that earlier last year, and I didn't really fundraise. I didn't want to go beg people to give me money for film if I was running for a different charity. And I put it in my email. So every time I had an email, my signature was, I'm running Falmouth Road Race for XYZ. Please contribute with the link. So if you just, you know. Do you send out that big long letter at first, like I always did to everyone I know? And then they say, I'll give money. And then they forget to click on it, right? And then they get blocked for emails because you get so many emails. But whenever I send an email just to a friend now, it always had that link. then probably by the 10th time they've seen it, they're like, oh, I better just give her money. I forgot to give her money. It worked. I raised over $6,000 not with one letter that I sent out. Just people saw I was running it. Oh, okay, we'll give her money. Kamal Datta (43:52.782) So I think that's a really simple thing every runner can do. Yeah. It's very, very simple. That's great tip. Anything else that worked for you or that runners you have seen over the years? No, mine was just really the begging and putting that in. I mean, with local runners, saw bowling. Somebody had a bowling event and they raised $3,000. I went to it in Boston. Just a little bowling. bowling alleys are very charitable and they have a charity day. So thinking outside of the door, I would never have thought of that. There's the bar fundraising, but bowling was a lot of fun. They had a lot of different charity teams there and had a couple of events and didn't cost that much money to go to it. So Sam does do a good job. And I think, as you said, when you're on the team, there's monthly meetings where somebody will say, oh, I did this last week and somebody says the light bulb goes off. Oh, I'm going to try that too. Maybe that'll work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As Team Red Cross has international team members, right? You sometimes depending on where you are, cannot be culturally and a giving may not be prevalent in the society. Like, are there any special help you have to provide to international team members who are running for Team Red Cross? I haven't really encountered that problem. The people who are international usually have like a big Red Cross presence there. And so the people they know are very willing to give. But I know what you mean about like the cultural aspect of asking people to donate to something you're doing. Yeah, I haven't had anyone tell me that they've had an issue there, but that's interesting. I'll have to think about that in the future. I have talked to a couple of folks who are not you know, where it's not common for people to give. And I think that was their main point to bring up, like they tried, you know, all the common ways to fundraise and it didn't go anywhere. And they have to be very creative on how are they asking for money because they can't just do it or it was not allowed to do fundraising events. If you're not like a big organization, not personally, you can do those culturally or societally and there's no allowed. So. Kamal Datta (46:15.406) They have to go in different ways, creative ways to figure out, how do I fundraise them? So I was curious since if you see a lot of runners from across the world, do we have to provide any additional support to those folks? Probably not, right? Yeah, I haven't encountered that, but I'm going to keep that in mind. If anyone does bring it up and see what we can do to support, I think the people who do apply know that they have the network. to make it happen. And if they don't, they personally give. So that's probably why we haven't encountered it, just because the applicants do feel like they have that ability to raise the funds. Makes sense. Yeah. Now we talk about a couple of do's, different ways to fundraise. Are there any don'ts that you said, hey, don't do those. That's not going to take you anywhere. Don't procrastinate. OK. I think that's my biggest one. You think you have all this time. Yeah. And it makes up on you. So I think that's my biggest one. I don't think I've had any runners tell me what wasn't successful, but Karen, maybe you've heard more stories just over the years. So I'll give that one to you. Thanks. No, I don't know any that. We've we've had a few situations over the years where some of the runners couldn't quite make their, you know, their guaranteed amount they would raise. And that's been tough. We've had to have the tough talk with them, right? And that's one-on-one discussion. Sam's had them, previous staff people, I hadn't had guts. I didn't really have to get involved in that, but I knew about it. And I think it's challenging. We feel bad. And we've had, I think the tougher thing is when people get injured, right? So if you're running a marathon and you're guaranteed to raise $11,000 this year, and then you get injured after the cutoff time, which is usually February, we can't give that bit away. And then we feel bad for you, but you Gary, you said you're going to raise this money. That becomes an issue for all, I think all the nonprofits. What do you do? You know, you're going to pass that. Obviously we feel bad about it, but we also are judged by the BAA on how much money we raise. So we're kind of like, Sam, we have to do this report and we get rated for, how did you do that year? Right. So it's, it's, it's, that's a tougher one. Kamal Datta (48:36.128) I think for us, the injuries, that's why we try to make sure the runners are coached along the way. We have Dan that coaches everybody. They're not over training so that anything can happen. You know, we've run marathons, it happened before. So I think that's the tougher one on the fundraising and when someone gets injured and what do we do? Okay. No, yeah, it can be, you know, Not a great feeling to have. Like, I know people like the week before got injured, can't run. I mean, that's too late for sure, but happens. Is there a lot of occurrence like, you know, you have 60 team members running. Have you seen that kind of periodically that happened that somebody would have to drop off because of X, Y, reasons? Yeah. So for the 2024 marathon, I had a few runners get injured. early enough that I was able to replace them. And in their contract, I mean, they're making a pledge to the organization in their contract that states that, you know, before the BAA opens their registration and you are locked into a bib, as long as we can replace you, you're waived of, you know, the balance that you haven't raised yet because we're able to replace you. So that happened with a few runners, like probably around the holidays last year. And then we did have two runners get injured after that cutoff. One of them was pretty complex. He needed surgery. so that kind of, you know, we waved it for him. He had raised a lot. Another runner, she was injured and she said, well, I already have my flight booked in my hotel, so I'll see you there. I'll hang out at Webster Bay. And then she had a lot of like employer matches still pending. So those came through and it met her requirement. You know, everything worked out really well, but it, really depends. Like Karen said, we have to have those one-on-one conversations and kind of figure out a good balance between honoring your commitment and just being compassionate to this person who just got bad news. You Right. And I mean, you mentioned some runners are running with Team Red Cross for years, right? So because definitely they get a lot of value out of being a part of team year after year so that they're continuing that too. Now that's great to look at being compassionate from those scenarios. for sure. Now, so you had the help from Team Red Cross. Kamal Datta (51:00.492) You were very creative in your fundraising efforts and you were able to successfully fundraise. During this whole journey, was there some do's and don'ts that you would recommend anyone that wants to follow your steps? In terms of running or fundraising? Fundraising. Okay, let me think. Do's, I would say, like you really try to think of one like event you can do, like one big thing. Like I don't, think it's hard if you don't have any single like thing that people are going to or something that's very, very different. Cause like that got me like a big chunk of money right there. Like I think you kind of try to like distinguish yourself and not, I don't think like the don't would be like, don't post on social media every single day and just say like, please donate to my fundraiser. Because it just, at that point it feels like I kind of forget what you're raising the money for. And like people start to kind of like, It's almost like when you see something so much, kind of don't even recognize that it's there anymore. So like, I would be kind of strategic, like, and one, would do it. like, would be, I would post like one month until the marathon and I have this much money and I like try to be super like explanatory and strategic and what I posted, but don't be afraid to ask. I think that's a big don't, is don't be afraid to ask because it's not about you. It's about the cause. And if they don't want to donate, That's okay. Like find people that do want to donate. Makes sense. Great. Don't wait. wait. Start as soon as you can. I started like the second I knew that I was running, I posted like very shortly after because you think you have a lot of time. Like this, I started training in December and like I pretty much started fundraising at that point. And I ran it in April. You think that's a lot of time, but it's, it's at this point, $11,000, $10,000. It's a lot of money. So you need all the time because then you won't be stressed. I wasn't stressed at all going into the marathon because I already raised all the money and that was because I started early, I think. It's a challenge. So don't be shy about it. think they have to remember that you're raising the money for a good organization. And I always say the day you run the marathon and you've the American Red Cross on your shirt, you're single, you're going to feel so proud because people scream. Have you been in Boston? Scream, go American Red Cross. Yeah. Kamal Datta (53:25.548) one of the marathons I was running with team Red Cross and a fireman was right in front of me. So I didn't know there was a fireman running, but everyone was screaming, fire Red Cross, go, go, go. Went up the hill, like, the guy kept me going up the hills with him. It was really a great feeling. So I any champion that you run for, you're gonna be proud of. And I'm very proud of the American Red Cross and wearing that red cross on my shirt is, you know. Everyone knows it. So it's a great organization. You feel good. So don't feel bad about asking for the money for the mission because you're not just running this for yourself. You're running it for a mission that saves people's, you know, lives in the worst time when you're just into a storm like Helena just happened. Yeah. We we still don't know where 600 people are in North Carolina. Right. And we're there right now with what? 68 shelters that are set up. Your money is going to that to be. you know, we have to respond and we have to be prepared as communities. And that's what your money is going towards. So you should be really proud of that. How was the support from team Red Cross itself? Did you get ideas like working with the team Red Cross? think they have a monthly check-in or monthly get togethers as well. So how was it helpful for you to get some ideas or maybe implement those? It was really helpful. I loved the monthly meetings. So every like meeting people would actually like we'd all sit down and they'd be like, anyone wanna share like helpful tactics? So I actually think that was really helpful too. I'm trying to think if I utilized any of them. No, but like some of the ones that people would suggest, I'm like, I should have done that. I kind of, was like, sometimes it was like some, this one guy's name is Mark, he like sold bracelets, which was really cool. So like he wrote like Boston Marathon, he sold bracelets, which I thought was like a really good idea. So like more some unique ideas that too late, but people would just kind of talk about like, what was working for them, which I thought was cool. I also thought it was just nice that like, obviously, like, it's not easy for anyone. It was just kind of nice to feel like we were all doing it together. Yeah, cross was amazing. And I loved the fact that we had monthly meetings, they had so many resources, they had like a spreadsheet actually, that was like in the past how people had fundraise. So there was ideas in the spreadsheet, like, Kamal Datta (55:46.062) It was incredible the support. Like I can't imagine running with any other organization because I had a lot of friends that did not like have the same resources that I did. The last question and this is probably, I don't know if there's any answer or not, but I'll be curious. Do you have any challenges or kind of that you can share overall from a team that cross operationally? okay. Like if you say end to end, like you have to apply for. you know, to BAA, you know, get the number of babes. Now you have to recruit the charity runners and now they're supporting them to the next couple of months. And then, you know, the race day comes as you go through the whole process. Are there any challenges that stood out? You know, these things can be done better or I wish there's a better way to do those things. Yeah, I mean, I think over time it's really become a well-oiled machine. I feel really good about the process from start to finish. As an event specialist for Massachusetts, I have two events that I manage and it kind of goes all year round with the planning and preparation. So I'm able to give a really solid amount of time to this project, to these runners. Every year we definitely do try to work out the kinks a little bit. You know, with the BAA's registration happening in January and February, we have to kind of adjust when our first milestone for fundraisers is. Like there are always little things to tweak. We also take the feedback from runners really seriously. whenever they tell us something is working, we're gonna hold onto that. But overall, I feel like it's a really well-oiled machine. know, have good, I have a pretty clear expectation of what the BAA needs over time. we, schedule ahead like the times to support these runners we have. Yeah, it's it's a well-oiled machine I think every year will improve little bits here and there but pretty good. That's good to know anything Karin you have to add? I would say the only thing year to year is always we handle it but it's the anxiousness of the runners they start in December asking when what time should I start at the finish line or I mean those be the start my Kamal Datta (58:11.33) You got a plenty of time for that. So it's like chilling down the anxiety. I think that's what I've experienced over that time, right? It's the same questions, the same anxiety, not even so much about the fundraising, but also the running. And that's where coach Dan comes in, right? To calm them down. And these monthly meetings with speakers talking about the course, we have a lot of people that have run on our team, as you mentioned earlier, a year over year, and they speak. from personal perspective of what it was like to run the marathon. And things like that helps the runners calm down a little bit. okay, if it's really rainy, here's what you do. Or it's really hot, here's what you do. And we spend a lot of time on that subject, right? To calm everybody down and say, we'll be there, right? Say we're there at the finish line for you. There's first aid stations and we man the Red Cross is manning 25 of those Red Cross. Red Cross workers are all on the marathon course, 300 of them, volunteer that day to help you get through. So I think that's the most challenging. think Sam and the staff has done a great job at having little competitions, monthly or weekly. You raise X amount of money, you'll get a free whatever. And that's a lot of fun. try to make it fun. And Karen, I want to touch on the runner anxiety part that you just mentioned. That's why we communicate so much and so often because I'm an anxious person. I get it. If I don't hear something, I'm going to reach out. I'm going to ask all these questions and just reassuring them that you don't have to have any of that on your mind. The second I have the information, I'm sending it to you. I'll send it to you two months out. I'll send it to you one month out. I'll send it to you one week out. That stuff you can push to the side, focus on training, focus on fundraising. we're here, like just letting them know that they have a reliable source of information and they don't have to go seek anything out. We've got that part covered. That's a big thing too. I always say at the brunch to the runners, I like statistics. So, you know, if you look at, we're in the running community. So I think everybody's run, you know, half marathon or marathon, cause they know a lot of friends that have, but realistically only 0.05 % of Americans run a marathon in their lifetime, right? Kamal Datta (01:00:34.368) only 0.05, 0.01 in the whole world. So you are part of a very small percentage of people that are training and running a marathon. Be very proud of that. Right. Yeah. Great accomplishment. Again, you you think, you know, we had a runner last year, Sam that ran 700 marathons or something, right? Yeah. He's got stage four cancer. He wrote a book about it. Amazing guy. Has to with diapers on. Just almost made me cry, right? And he's so strong, but running gets him through everything in his life. He's run on every continent. He's run, you know, amazing guy. And then there's someone that's on our team, the first marathoner ever running, the running Boston. Well, that's pretty ambitious, right? That was my first too, but Boston to run your first time is really hard, but you are the six star people. So I love the diversity of the team. And the six star people are just as anxious as the first time marathoners, right? For different reasons. Right. Yeah. No, I really appreciate you sharing your journey and really I'm sure it will be helpful for the runners, the organizers, and even from the charity partners, as I mentioned. So thank you.