Team Chair Handbook 1. Relay For Life Team Chair Role Profile 2. Team Recruitment 3. Supporting Team Captains and Coaching Team Fundraising 4. Running a Successful Team Night 5. Youth Participation 6. Building Relay Excellence The 6 D s
1. Relay For Life Team Chair Role Profile Why we need you Cancer Research UK is seeking a committed individual to lead the recruitment and management of teams for their community s Relay For Life. There would be no event without teams or team fundraising so your recruitment of teams and the relationships you build with team captains is vital to ensure that Relay is successful year after year. A lively and persuasive person is needed to inspire teams to take part in Relay and to help team captains encourage their teams to raise as much money as possible to help Cancer Research UK beat cancer. What will I be doing? Actively recruiting teams from the community prior to the Relay event. Recruitment could include emails, letter writing, phone calls and oral presentations as well going out into the community and sourcing potential teams Encouraging and supporting all committee members in recruiting teams Recruiting a sub-committee to help you recruit teams Ensuring all teams are registered and have everything they need to raise funds and prepare for the Relay. Contacting teams once they have registered online Encouraging your teams to fundraise as much as possible in the lead up to your event Planning and holding regular team/team captains meetings and a bank night with the Accounting Chair Looking after teams on the day of the event Nurturing and supporting recruited team captains after the event to ensure they return next year As a representative of Cancer Research UK you will uphold the vision and purpose of the organisation at all times. What skills do I need? You need to be resourceful and imaginative in where and how you recruit You need to feel comfortable speaking in public You should be persuasive and enthusiastic about Relay For Life, in order to inspire others You should have good organisational skills You should have the ability to motivate others supporting and encouraging their efforts You will need to be IT literate and own a computer How much time do I need to commit? Prior to your event you will be required to attend a Cancer Research UK training day. You will need to start actively recruiting team captains as soon as you can prior to the Relay, and attend all Relay For Life committee meetings (these will probably be monthly and then weekly as the Relay approaches). You will need to respond to ad hoc enquiries from team captains about their role in the Relay and arrange follow-up activities with them after the Relay. Your role might also include pulling together an itinerary of activity for the teams at Relay and you will need to attend the Relay event to ensure all teams are supported on the day. What support will I be given? Although you will be leading on the recruitment of teams and team captains, it is also the responsibility of every other committee chair to recruit teams. What benefits can I expect? The Relay itself is a lot of fun and a great way to meet and make friends with people in your community. It is also a great way to practice your existing skills and learn new ones whilst helping Cancer Research UK to raise money to fund science across the UK. Where will I be based? This role, more than almost any other on the Relay For Life Committee, will get you out and about within your community. Some of the work involved in team recruitment can be done from home e.g. via email, writing letters and phoning potential team captains. However, you can t underestimate the importance of meeting prospective team captains face-to-face, being able to explain the event to them in person and inspiring them to become involved.
2. Team Recruitment The best Relays engage teams and don t leave them to feel that they are merely showing up to take part. Teams are at the heart of every Relay and without them there is no atmosphere and no fundraising so the relationships that you build with your team captains can ensure the success of your event for this year and for the future It s still every committee member s responsibility to recruit teams regardless of their specialist area of focus but as Team Chair you will lead on team recruitment and management.. In order to maximise team recruitment and support you in your role you should work towards recruiting others to help, with a view to forming a sub-committee (Good volunteers are often found amongst your team captains). By recruiting a sub-committee you can reach more potential teams, play to your networks and target different groups within the community as well as enable you to keep in touch and nurture teams after the Relay so they return year on year. Targeting your Recruitment the team recruitment wheel This is a really useful technique to help you map your community and target your recruitment. Do this with your fellow chairs to ensure you reach all parts of your community. It will help you all to remain focussed. 1. Draw a circle on a flip chart - this represents your community. 2. Divide it up into segments by adding spokes to your wheel (10-12 pieces) these represent areas of the Community from which you might recruit teams. 3. Now fill in the segments as the group discusses what parts of the community they might recruit teams from. Keep the labelling generic, so that many teams could be recruited from each segment. Let the committee come up with the categories. Here s a cheat-list for you if they get stuck: Corporations Small businesses Medical Centres/dentists Places of worship Community organisations Health Clubs/sports clubs/beauty parlours Service Clubs Media Support groups City/County Employees Financial Institutions Families 4. Next, discuss how many teams you might recruit from each segment and add the number agreed to the segment. Be realistic but be ambitious. 5. Now, explore who on the committee already has connections within each of the segments a foot in the door is always a bonus but where there is no previous connection there is still value in getting in there and building new relationships. 6. As Team Chair look at the segments with the committee to determine who is best placed to recruit teams from each segment. Also look at your contacts, who do you know that could help you recruit from each segment of your community. 7. This approach means that you don t have people trying to recruit from the same areas and you don t miss anything or anyone in your attempts to cover the whole community with your team recruitment.
Corporate Recruitment Chain
Community Group Recruitment Chain
Remember Getting posters and leaflets into your community at the start of your campaign will raise awareness of your event. Cancer Research UK will support you with this activity and your staff contact will be able to provide more details. Your personality is a powerful tool, if they like you they ll be more likely to get involved. Cold mailing has a very low success rate and we would not recommend planning this sort of activity. In all cases where a warm contact exists, use it as a way in Face-to-face is the best way of recruiting but don t forget to take contact details so you can follow up and maintain the relationship Ask local community groups and businesses if you can present at meetings/lunchtimes etc Use your local Relay For Life DVD to inspire others a picture paints a thousand words Share your personal reason for being involved Work with the Survivorship Chair and ask a cancer survivor to help you give talks and share their reason for being involved Always carry posters with you and ask everyone you visit how many posters they can display e.g. notice boards/toilet doors/lifts etc When placing flyers in places you visit look for where they will have most impact, on a table under a pile of magazines won t bring you great results but on the main reception counter or point of sale will definitely raise awareness of your event. Follow up ALL potential interest Encourage teams to register as early as possible. Registration = commitment Nurture your team captains and keep an eye open for potential committee chairs! Plan your team/team captain evenings. Tell them how important their money is to Cancer Research UK, share fundraising ideas, encourage friendly competition and teach them how to raise money it s easy when you know how. ask your staff partner for latest news from CRUK and stats that will increase the feeling of value in the teams. Get your teams recruiting other teams and inviting cancer survivors Foster team spirit, fun and a sense of competition between teams Communicate, communicate, communicate and build a love of Relay Thank your teams time and time again their contribution is helping to beat Cancer sooner 3. Supporting Team Captains and Coaching Team Fundraising As soon as a team is recruited it s important to get them registered by directing them to the website. Once registered, they can start fundraising for Relay. Relay is not a sponsored challenge event fundraising takes place in advance and in support of the Relay through donations, Candle of Hope dedications and all manner of individual and team fundraising. The Relay is a celebration of the monies raised and a demonstration of the community s support of Cancer Research UK s work to find new ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating all forms of cancer. This is why Relay is such a unique and magical event, and it is important that there is a clear understanding of what Relay is and what Relay isn t when someone registers. Use team/team captain nights to motivate teams and get them ready for Relay. The most successful Relays have 4-6 team/team captain nights in advance of the Relay and encourage their teams to attend the get togethers from the moment they re recruited. Team/team captain nights are your opportunity to motivate participants to be great teams and raise as much money as possible to help us to beat cancer sooner. They should also be used to encourage the banking of monies to minimise the amount of money banked on the day of the event.
Registration Fees 17 and under = Free 18 59 = 15.00 60+ = 10.00 Registration fees cannot be gift aided and are non-refundable. This fee will cover the administration associated with the event. Included in the fee will be the Relay T-shirt for every team member unless they opt out when registering and does not form part of fundraising income. The team captain and team member kits Once your team captain and team members have registered on the Relay website or via our Relay hotline number (0300 1231026) we will send them everything they need to get going with their fundraising: Welcome letter T-shirt Donation form They will also receive a bi-monthly e-newsletter from Cancer Research UK with lots of handy fundraising tips and advice 4. Running a Successful Team/Team Captain Night The best team/team captain nights should be light, interactive and fun so that people will want to return for the next meeting but don t forget that overall you want it to be informative and motivating. Why not organise a fundraising night each time e.g. quiz night, fancy dress party etc but don t forget the key areas such as how to fundraise/what to expect on the day of Relay/invite a survivor/participate in cancer awareness etc get them to share their ideas so that they feel very much part of the whole event. Tips & suggestions for Team Captain s Meetings in the run up to Relay Plan schedule and venue(s) for meetings in advance & distribute so that your team captains can plan them in. Ring and remind people closer to the day to get final attendance figures. Have a fundraising opportunity at each night for all teams to get involved in. At the first team night you could show the Relay For Life DVD and explain the standards Invite a survivor to speak at one of the meetings Teach teams about Cancer Research UK and how their money will help to beat cancer sooner Give teams useful and inspiring fundraising ideas. Encourage team captains to motivate their teams using goals, incentives and praise. Monitor their progress against their fundraising goals and make it fun. Distribute a sample walking timetable which could be used to organise their team s Relay Rota (an example of this can be found at www.realytools.org) If you have gaps in your Relay committee or need help/entertainment/equipment ask your teams if they can help or know anyone who could help. Remind teams to invite everyone they know to the Relay and to invite survivors to attend as Guests of Honour. Distribute copies of newsletters if you have them. Try and get food or giveaways donated to help the meetings go with a bang. Encourage other committee chairs to attend the meetings, Remember to thank everyone for their time. Get teams thinking about on-the-day fundraising and encourage them to share their ideas with each other.
Tips & suggestions for your final Team/Team Captain Night before your Relay Get teams to finalise their on-the-day fundraising so that there is a range of activities for the public to enjoy. Make sure each team captain knows what to do on the day, where their pitch is and how to find it etc Ensure that they all have a list of items that they need to bring. Ensure that they all have a programme (or know where to get one). Encourage them to bring their monies as this is their last opportunity to bank before the Relay. Inform them of any event rules/logistics of the event. Tips & suggestions for your Team/Team Captain Meeting on the day Make sure teams know what is happening/when and what they are expected to do (e.g. the survivor lap) Ensure that they know where the onsite banking area is. Have spare programmes available Acknowledge top fundraising teams on the day. Visit the teams tents during the weekend Tips & suggestions for your Team/Team Captain Night after the Relay Celebrate, recognise and thank the teams Announce final fundraising total and any additional opportunities to raise funds e.g. Store collections Announce next years date and encourage them to return Obtain feedback - Ask them what they liked about the event and what they d like to see changed. Your team captains are the future chairs of your event, ask if any of them would like to join the committee. Coaching team fundraising Encourage each team member to try to set an individual target of 150 Encourage each team members to get 20 Candle of Hope dedications (suggested minimum donation of 5.00 for a dedication) as this is an easy way of raising 100. Encourage team member to collect Gift Aid on donations wherever possible. Remind teams that Relay is not a sponsored event people can give you a donation to help beat cancer but not to sponsor you to walk around the track donations should be received prior to the event. Use the Cancer Research UK Fundraising Planner to inspire them to fundraise all year round. Ask teams to share their best fundraising activities with each other. Remind your team captains to keep a record of their team totals and to share these at team meetings. Ask teams to pay in fundraising income as they have it. Six tips to productive teams 1. Get teams to register online and pay their entry fees as soon as possible. 2. Encourage teams to set fundraising goals and start fundraising as soon as they have registered. 3. Make sure all team members collect Gift Aid on donations where this is possible 4. Share fundraising ideas with your teams, create ambition and friendly competition 5. Build relationships with your teams; treat them as names and not just numbers. 6. Communicate regularly & share good ideas - newsletters which can be e-mailed are a great way of doing this 5. Youth Participation By building upon the number of young people participating in Relay For life events you can introduce them to the charity early and it will hopefully be the beginning of a lifelong involvement. This will create a whole new network of young supporters who will encourage their friends and family to become involved with Relay For Life and promote the work of Cancer Research UK.
Cancer Research UK Relay for Life Child Protection Policy The Child Protection Policy is necessary as Relay For Life encourages youth participation. We therefore need to protect both children and young people under the age of 18 and vulnerable adults at the event in relation to Child Protection issues. Your staff contact will be able to provide you with a full up to date copy of our procedure and (through consultation with our Legal department) will be able to answer any questions you may have. 6.Building Relay Excellence - The 6 D s of Development Wondering how to improve the performance your Relay year on year? Use the 6 D s. Before we explore the 6 D s (D stands for Development) it is important to remember what Relay For Life is and is not. Relay For Life the event is the celebration and recognition of the months of fundraising and awareness raising that the community undertake, it is the opportunity to remember those lost to cancer and to celebrate the lives of those surviving cancer but donations are not sought for participating in the event. Across the Globe people get involved with Relay to beat cancer they raise donations throughout the year for that very cause and to fight back! Remember that the Relay event is the time to celebrate being a community that joins together to have fun and recognise these amazing achievements. The 6 areas of Development below have been identified as being the key areas that drive the growth and development of Relay. 1. Leadership Development 2. Team Development 3. Fundraising Development 4. Survivorship Development 5. Event Development 6. Cancer Awareness and Information Development Leadership Development The most successful Relays have clearly structured Committees (similar to a business environment) & recruit Lead Chairs that enable them to reach and engage a broad base of people in the community local business, churches, government, organisations, schools etc. There is one person per Lead role, the seven Lead roles are filled first and each person fits the key skills required of the role they agree to. In addition, they have a solid understanding of their own role and the roles of others and commit to attend National role specific training. They have great communication channels with each other and with CRUK and have well structured meetings. The Leadership of key roles is rotated and new Committee Members are constantly sought to bring freshness, open new doors and aid the growth and development of the Relay. Succession planning (continuity) is part of the planning process and good committees will have identified potential successors, recruiting them into Vice roles or sub-committees to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the event. In addition, they listen to their participants and encourage their input. Team Development For the most successful Relays, team/participant recruitment and retention is a number one priority because without teams there is no Relay and no income. The more teams/participants they have and the more they motivate and engage them the more likely it is that the teams will raise more s. The most successful Relays are those that develop a strategy for recruiting teams and participants and have a great communications plan to keep people engaged and enthused. They think about their different audiences e.g. team returning for 3 rd year as opposed to a brand new team who know very little about Relay. They adapt and often personalise their communications to suit their audiences. Good communication and building relationships helps participants to feel integral to the event, creates excitement and ambition and ensures everyone has a positive experience before, during and after the event. Great relationships = great commitment In addition, great communication can ensure they share fundraising ideas with their teams, it will enable them to know how their teams are doing towards their goal, it enables them to encourage, thank and recognise their teams which often lead to less no shows on the day. They obtain Information and knowledge from their Staff contact about the research work of Cancer Research UK and they share it with their participants, it creates a feeling of value and worth. They use recruitment incentives as a useful tool, and ask those already registered to be Relay advocates as word of mouth is a powerful form of recruitment. Relays that encourage teams of 11 15 members, who promote the fact
that Relay is overnight and encourage their teams to stay raise more than those who tend not to. They co-ordinate on the day fundraising so that activity is varied, safe and fun. They set expectations with their teams and share kit lists and programme of events in advance. Relays that have a theme such as fancy dress are those that appear to have more energy and engagement from participants and visitors alike at their event. Fundraising Development The most successful committees understand that Relay is not a sponsored event and is more the grand finale of months of fundraising in the community. They are not afraid to talk targets with their participants, they make the ask and share their own stories, the reasons why they need to raise more money to beat cancer. They connect with people at an emotional level and value people and their contributions. Teams that are led by enthusiastic, motivated and committed Team Captains are those that raise more money. Committees who encourage their teams to raise money through a combination of individual/team fundraising activities and who approach it as an on-going all year round basis are the most successful. Fundraising ideas and activities should be shared, and it is good practice for the committee to also arrange some FR activities of their own. Encourage on-line fundraising as; if donor is eligible, Gift Aid is automatically obtained and generally an on-line donation tends to be more than an off-line one. Effective communication is essential in ensuring that teams have the correct tools and ideas to go out into the community and fundraise. Reward and recognition of those who have aimed high and achieved is important and to remember you are only limited by your own creativity and drive, enthusiasm is infectious. Recognition of all donations is important as when teams feel valued they are likely to want to do more. Incentives are used to create friendly competition and encourage participants to go that extra mile. United we are stronger than cancer. All are presented with a certificate by the committee at the end of the event and communication is ongoing so that the teams feel part of the bigger picture. Survivorship Development Cancer survivors are the VIP s of Relay For Life. The most successful Relays put survivors and their carers at the heart of the event and involve them in every aspect of Relay. Survivors are not only critical to the spirit of Relay, but also to the event s financial success. Successful Relays place an emphasis on engaging survivors in as many ways as possible, before, during and after the event. The successful survivorship chair usually has a very close connection to cancer in some way. They are outgoing, willing to approach people and at ease talking about cancer. They strive to have survivors represented on the committee, as team captains and team members too. They are not afraid to ask survivors to be actively involved such as speaking during ceremonies. Having survivors as case studies, to share their own personal messages about why we Relay assists in the promotion of the event and inspires others to get involved/raise more money. Visible presence by cancer survivors at Relay not only serves to highlight that anyone can get cancer but also that thanks to money raised at Relay more and more research can be done and in turn, more people will survive cancer now and in the future. They show us all that there is Hope and that we ARE making a difference to those that face cancer now and in the future. Most successful Survivorship looks at how Survivors are hosted, how they engage them with each other and the event, their wellbeing and their enjoyment. They also ask for feedback so that they can continue to grow and develop Survivorship at their event. Event Development The most successful Relays create an inviting and engaging atmosphere. They think about the IMPACT that they would like to make at the event and plan their ceremonies and associated activities to create the desired effect. They use music effectively throughout. They think about the site plan, people need to feel welcome from the moment they arrive and they need to feel valued when they leave. The Show needs to be kept fresh and impactful to keep people coming back, it s not about how many jugglers and marching bands present but more around how the teams/survivors are part of the activity and entertainment. The most successful Relays look appealing and welcoming to visitors on the day which in turn may lead to those people entering teams in subsequent years. Cancer Awareness and information is part of the show, as is survivorship involvement and recognition this energises the Relay participants and sets a positive tone. Successful events recognise the importance of all the ceremonies, but especially the Candle of Hope ceremony the time when everyone reflects, remembers and celebrates. They rehearse, they check equipment, and they are conscious of health and safety and people s welfare. They work together as a committee to ensure they operate within the 10-15% expenditure/investment costs. They seek input and feedback from their teams, participants, survivors and each other throughout the planning and post event in order to develop their activity, keep it fresh and truly engage their community. Cancer Awareness and Information The Relay will make this D interactive and will look to engage the teams before, during and after the event. They do not
rely on a display of leaflets in a marquee. They are creative asking their teams to participate in themed laps, fancy dress or banner making to communicate chosen health awareness messages. They ensure that they plan activity at the event to support this and communicate CRUK s up to date and informative messages about cancer and our research. They use the PA system to share important messages such as drink plenty of water/apply sunscreen/take exercise etc... They ensure that there is No Smoking at the event, that alcohol is in moderation and that there are healthy eating options available. Most importantly the most successful Relays are creative in the area of development. If CRUK scientists are attending they ensure that they are hosted and are able to have impact e.g. speaking during a ceremony/visiting teams at their tents. All of the 6 areas of development are important to keep the event fresh year after year and we d encourage staff and volunteers alike to share ideas with each other. Visit nearby events, speak to colleagues and/or other Relay Lead Chairs across the country and be sure to obtain feedback from those that attend your own event. Attract new committee members to open new doors and with them come new ideas and a fresh perspective.