Great Avalonia Trail Trek
Join us for the Great Avalonia Trail Trek, a week-long fundraiser to support Avalonia's efforts to conserve land, protect watersheds, and address the climate crisis! From Saturday, October 17 to Sunday, October 25, 2020, you will have the opportunity to hike or run all of Avalonia's trails or bike to your favorite Avalonia preserve - all to benefit the Avalonia Land Conservancy and the TriTown Forest Preserve!
To participate, just register for the activity you would like to do - your registration fee goes to Avalonia and is tax-deductible. Once you are registered, you will receive a personal fundraising page that you can send out to friends and family for donations (again, all donations are tax-deductible!) Then get out on the trails from Saturday, October 17 through Sunday, October 25 and get a great workout in!
We will have prizes for Top Vertical Challenge, Top Mileage Challenge, fastest time around the Blue Trail at the TriTown Forest Preserve,and Top Fundraiser.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
MAPLE SPONSORS
Karen & Bob Askins
DOGWOOD SPONSORS
Hull Forest Products Sweet Grass Creamery Mystic River Paintworks Full Heart Farm
EVENT RULES
- FOR HIKERS AND RUNNERS - Stay on the trails. Our preserves provide critical habitat for wildlife, so thank you for staying on our well-maintained trails.
- FOR CYCLISTS - Road biking only for this year's event. We do not have mountain biking access on Avalonia's preserves, but we encourage you to ride your bike to one of your favorite preserves.
- To qualify for Challenge prizes, you must raise $250. Because this is a fundraiser, the money you raise will help the Avalonia Land Conservancy meet our goal for the TriTown Forest Preserve. Donations are fully tax-deductible! If you need fundraising tips, please e-mail Terri at [email protected].
- Challenge prizes will be determined through Strava. You can link your RunReg registration to Strava and upload your daily data for the chance to win a Challenge prize. You will need a Strava profile to do this.
- Follow Covid-19 guidelines - In 2020, due to Covid-19, this event will be fully virtual - you will have the opportunity to hike or run on your own and any prizes or incentives will be mailed to you. If you do go out in groups, please adhere to current Covid-19 guidelines regarding social distancing.
- Dogs must be leashed. We love man's best friend, but please keep your dog on a leash on our properties.
Check out our Fundraising Incentives!
- Register: Receive an Avalonia face mask
- Raise $100: Receive the Avalonia face mask and the official Great Avalonia Trail Trek buff, plus Great Avalonia Trail Trek decals
- Raise $250: Receive the above items, plus your choice of an official Avalonia baseball cap OR an official Avalonia winter knit hat.
- Raise $500: Receive the above items, plus an official Avalonia decoration made from wood from an Avalonia preserve.
- Raise $750: Receive the above items, plus a $25 gift card to a local restaurant!
In 2018, the TriTown Forest Preserve, a gorgerous 527 acre property in North Stonington, Griswold, and Preston, was acquired by the Avalonia Land Conservancy through a generous loan from the Conservation Fund. To date, we have raised over $825,000 to pay the loan; we currently owe approximately $100,000, which is due on March 31, 2021. The money raised at the Great Avalonia Trail Trek will help pay the remainder of the loan so that Avalonia can continue its work to save more open space.
QUESTIONS? Contact Terri Eickel at [email protected]
Avalonia Land Conservancy
THANK YOU TO OUR OFFICIAL GREAT AVALONIA TRAIL TREK SPONSORS
Hull Forest Products Sweet Grass Creamery Mystic River Paintworks Full Heart Farm
ABOUT US
The Avalonia Land Conservancy is a non-profit land trust that saves CT's beautiful open spaces in order to provide critical habitat for wildlife, protect important watersheds, and combat climate change. The Avalonia Land Conservancy has conserved over 4,300 acres across southeastern Connecticut - with your help, we will be able to continue conserving the land you love!
FUNDRAISING TIPS
Fundraising Tip #1 – Set a goal. Setting a clear goal is really effective in encouraging people to donate. People like to be a part of something successful, so when they see that you are working towards a goal they will donate because they want you to succeed. I always recommend a goal of at least $250 – check out my “Trek to $250” below and set a goal today.
Fundraising Tip #2 - Donate to yourself! When you register, you will have the opportunity to donate to yourself and I HIGHLY recommend that you do so. Even if it is a small donation, it will send a message that you are serious about this cause. Also, people love company – remember the song “One is the Loneliest Number?” That’s because people don’t like to be alone, so give them some company by making a donation yourself.
Fundraising Tip #3 – Personalize your page. First, add a picture – your friends will love to see your smiling face! Then, add a few lines about why you are participating in the Great Avalonia Trail Trek. People like to know that their donations will support a great cause.
Fundraising Tip #4 – Ask your friends and family to donate. This seems obvious, but you would be amazed at how many people don’t actually ask for donations. They just post their fundraising page with ZERO explanation on Facebook and hope for the best. You will get MUCH better results if you ask! I generally recommend sending three e-mails – one when you sign up, one about a week or so before the event, and one the day before. This is because you can basically divide people into three different categories.
The Instant Donors – These people spend their days organizing their underwear drawers and cutting their kids’ vegetable snacks into recognizable animals, so we don’t really understand what make them tick, but we are impressed. However, they will IMMEDIATELY reach for their credit card when they get your e-mail, and for this, we consider them the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
The Gentle Reminders – These folks read your e-mail, thought about how great you are, promised themselves that they would donate, and then promptly forgot. But they really did mean to support you, so if you send a gentle reminder along with the link to your personal page, they will happily donate.
The OMGer’s. You know who you are. These friends wait until the last minute to do everything. They file their taxes at 11:50 pm on April 15 and aren’t afraid to roll into the gas station on nothing but fumes. For them, a deadline is really just a strong suggestion, so these friends will wait until the absolute last minute to donate. However, these are good people with big hearts, so if you send an e-mail to them the day before the Great Avalonia Trail Trek, they will smack their forehead and say, “OMG! That trek thing is tomorrow! I need to donate!”
Fundraising Tip #5 – Ask for $10. If you are nervous about asking for donations, ask for a specific, small amount. Ten dollars is a great place to start, because pretty much every adult can donate $10. They think, “Sure, I can donate ten bucks.” Once they are on your personal page and they see your smiling face (because you followed tip #3 and added a photo), they think, “Weeeelllll, so-and-so is really great – I can give more than $10.” Before you know it, you have raised hundreds of dollars!
Fundraising Tip #6 – Use social media. Definitely take advantage of social media. While I do post some “Please support me” type of asks on social media, I mostly use social media to thank my donors. For one thing, everyone likes to be thanked and being thanked publicly is awesome. Second, it’s a good way to remind people that you are doing a fundraiser without constantly asking them for money. I’ll write something like “Wow, thanks to generous donations from Tara, Mindy, and Adam, I have now raised $750 – I’m 75% of the way to my $1,000 goal! Thank you - you are amazing!” I tag my friends and I include the link to my personal fundraising page in the post. This way, the link to my page shows up in my newsfeed, their newsfeeds, and the newsfeeds of all our friends. It’s a really effective way to nudge people to donate without being annoying, which is good - we want them to support you, not unfollow you forever.
Fundraising Tip #7 – Remind your donors to get matching donations - it is a terrific way to boost your fundraising total. Many Connecticut companies, like Pfizer and Travelers, will match their employee’s donation. When people donate to the Great Avalonia Trail Trek, they have the opportunity to look up their company and apply for the match, however, make sure you follow up with them, too.
And there you have it, folks! If you have any questions, please e-mail me at [email protected]. Happy Fundraising!
Trek to $250
Donate $20 to yourself $20
Ask three family members for $20 $60
Ask seven friends for $10 $70
Ask five co-workers for $10 $50
Ask four neighbors for $5 $20
Ask your spouse for $25 $30
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YOU DID IT! $250