Team Spotlight: Sweet Baboos

What is your team name?

Sweet Baboos

How many years have you participated in march for babies?

Two

Approximately how many team members have you had?

16 - but we hope to grow even bigger this year!

What was your reason for first participating?

To remember six babies that we lost, and celebrate two full-term, healthy baby girls!

What is your best memory of a march?

I love seeing everyone come together. There seems to be automatic bonding between teams. Although this may sound strange, I loved marching through the downpour in Davis County last year - getting drenched together and then huddling up under the bowery - you could just feel an energy and a connection with all of the teams involved.

Did you fundraise for your team? Any tips or advice for fundraising?

Emailing is definitely the most simple and effective way for me to fundraise - but i would not recommend sending out emails directly from the March for Babies website (as I've had problems with it), instead send out a personalized email and include a link to your March for Babies team page. Make sure to have pictures on your page for everyone to see. I also think plushland can be a great fundraiser if you find a great venue for selling them. Utilizing multiple ways of fundraising will get the best turn-out. Send out emails, call your friends, ask a local store to collect funds for your team, and participate in something like plushland or a car wash, etc.

How have you felt after participating?

The feeling is incredible. Where else to do you get to help ALL babies who are born in the U.S. while also doing something that is so much fun with your family. There is a great spirit about March for Babies!

Any advice or additional comments for other family teams?

Don't wait for the last minute to get ready for this walk. Fundraising is not an easy task, and believe me, you will feel so much better as a team if you know you put your all into it. Even if you don't have a lot of time to give, start fundraising in January or as soon as you register. Time goes by far too fast and before you know it the walk will be here and your goal is unreached. Just have fun with the fundraising and spreading the word about the walk - the more energy you put into even the smallest amount of time you can give the more positive results you will see. Keep your focus on the reason you are walking: maybe you had a preemie, lost a child, your celebrating a healthy baby, or maybe you are walking for babies around the world. Think about those babies and how important we are to touching their lives and giving ALL babies a healthy start.

Team Sweet Baboos

Submitted by team captain JaNae

100 days!!

That's right - just 100 days to go until the Salt Lake March for Babies! The countdown is on now and it's time to start thinking of ways to reach out and spread the word of your participation. Here are a few things to consider doing to "spread the word".

- Send an email...to everyone! Share your reasons for participating in the march - mention that every little bit helps - direct readers to your personal web link - thank them in advance for their donation.

- Blog all about it! A lot of people have blogs and if you do a great way to advertise your participation is by adding a March for Babies "badge" on your blog. On the March for Babies website you can log into your page and click on the header "spread the word" this page will show you the different badges and tools you can use along with step by step instructions. It is great to do a blog post about your participation in the march and then direct them to you sidebar to see your badge. This badge will remain until you remove it - along with your progress bar (if you wish to have that shown). Every time some visits your blog this badge will appear and remind them to donate.

-Facebook! Okay, so Facebook has more benefits that just spying on old crushes. You can use this site that so many people access everyday as a fundraising tool. There is a Facebook badge you can add to your profile page. You also access this badge on the the MFB website. On your personal page click on the graphic that reads "get a custom widget" this shows you how to install the Facebook application. Once you've added it do a status update about the march. If you have 50 Facebook friends and 1/2 of them donated $5. you have raised $125. Hey, we're on Facebook too so if you haven't joined our page click on the link and do it!

-Signature line...One more tool is to add an email signature badge. This badge will show up at the bottom of every email you send out. So after you initial blast email to everyone asking for their support of you in the march they will be reminded again and again each time you email them. But it won't be annoying because it's a cute little graphic silently reminding them!

-Talk about yourself! Not really, but at work, church, family gatherings find a way to bring up your involvement in the march. Invite them to join your team and if they are not interested let them know they can still support you by a donation. If it's too awkward to bring up out of the blue just mention how your legs are aching because of all of your training for the march! Really, most people want to donate and if they can (and they know that ANY amount counts) they will. If they won't or can't then they won't - no big deal.

Fundraising can be tricky. Some people are great at it and for some it's kind of uncomfortable. But just keep in mind what you are fundraising for. This money isn't for you and your summer vacation, it's going to a very worthwhile cause that you believe in. Money towards research, funding for programs, improvements for NICU's, preventative screenings. These are just some of the reasons you are asking for money...because it matters. Click on the link below for another great tool to help you answer the question - where does the money go?

where your money goes

100 days to go - good luck!!

Step One

Have you registered for the march???

If not, go HERE now and sign up!!

Okay, so now you are signed up. It's time to take a few minutes and update your

individual profile page and your team profile page (if you are the team captain).

Remember, these pages are where you will be directing the majority of

potential donors. Here and now is the place to get personal, open up,

share your story.

Why are you behind this cause? Why are you walking for babies?

What is YOUR story?

Unfortunately not all of our stories have a happy ending.

Not all of us have pictures to share of babies who beat the odds.

But you have a story...

You may be walking for a friend, sister, co-worker or all five of your healthy

babies who were born full-term.

You may walk because Utah in the spring is beautiful ~ and why not

help an amazing organization.

Regardless of your reason for walking YOU have a reason

and by sharing your story will commit you even more to our cause ~ your cause!

While you updating your page make sure to update your fundraising goals.

How do you pick a goal?

You can use a birth weight - 2 lbs 7 ounces would make for a great $2,700.

Three nieces and nephews? $300.

$10. for every day of 14 days in the NICU - $140.

$5,000. - because you're ambitious like that.

Get creative and pick a goal!

So, you've registered. Updated all of your information and determined a fundraising goal.

For now you're set. And coming up is how to

SPREAD THE WORD!

(in really fun, easy ways!)

...stay tuned

Team Spotlight: Jonah Baby

Leading up to our March for Babies event on May 15, 2010 we will be doing "Team Spotlights". These spotlights will show pictures and stories from participants of past walks. We hope these spotlights will help get you geared up for our event, learn some tips and ideas, get inspired by their stories and also get to know some of the other teams. So if you happen to see someone from our spotlights please say "hi" if you run into them at a rally (details to come) or the event on May 15!

Also, if you and your team would like to be featured please email us and let us know!

What is your team name? Jonah Baby

How many years have you participated in March for Babies? Two years

Approximately how many team members have you had? Five

What was your reason for first participating in the march?

We participated because of our 28-weeker who is now 2 1/2. We also had a stillborn baby at 24 weeks. Both of these experiences drew us to the March for Babies.

What is your best memory of a march?

The walks are so much fun for my kids, the activities are very well done. We love seeing all of the other teams and posters of children.

Did you fundraise for your team? Any tips or advice for fundraising?

We did not fundraise very well, next year we will know better how to do it.

How have you felt after participating?

Such a good feeling doing something like this for a great cause. It brings people together who have had similar circumstances.

Any advice or comments for other family teams?

Get as many people involved as you can!

It is so fun to see the big family teams and know they are together for the same cause. It is especially touching to see shirts or other ways of pulling the family teams together.

Team Jonah Baby

Submitted by team captain Melanie

Help for Haiti

I'm sure all of you have seen the awful devastation in Haiti caused by the earthquake on January 12. The March of Dimes issued a press release on Friday January 15 with details of a special gift of $100,000. to UNICEF to help aid pregnant women and infants in Haiti. Please read to the attached statement http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/49267_62824.asp

The March of Dimes has set up a way for you to help immediately. You can text the word: BABY to 20222 and your phone will be charged $5.00 for a donation to the March of Dimes. These donations will be directed to the thousands of pregnant women and infants impacted by this devastating event.

Time to Register

If you haven't already, please register for the 2010 Salt Lake March for Babies! We have about four months until the walk and the very first step in participating is registration. Please go to http://www.marchforbabies.org and if you have participated before and have an existing team click on LOG IN HERE (about the middle of the page). Login using your user name and password - if you have forgotten either of these please have them emailed to you from MOD. Using your existing information from years past will make things easier for everyone. Once you have logged in you can register for this year's walk, make yourself the Team Captain and have other people join your team. If you have any questions on registering please email us or contact support at the login page.

Once you have registered this is a great time to update your March for Babies team page and individual page. These pages should have updated information for this years walk - maybe update with a picture from a previous walk, new motivation for walking again, a story behind your goal amount. This is your opportunity to let people know why you are participating and why the march is important to you.

So take a little time and register this week, think about your fundraising goals and update your page. Your participation in the march is what makes the event successful!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Salt Lake March for Babies Family Team blog! We hope you will find this blog helpful in your participation in the March for Babies. We will be posting information on the upcoming march, tips and information for fundraising for your team, ideas to motivate yourself and your team and also team profiles on family teams who have participated in the march from previous years.

We also hope to include information on prematurity in the news, prevention tips and anything else we think that you as a participant may be interested in knowing.

Please bookmark this site and let us know if you have any questions or let us know if there is anything you'd like to share or see on this blog.

We hope to make the 2010 Salt Lake march one of our biggest and best! Please help us achieve this goal!