Online Fundraising Guide

Table of Contents

1) What is your participant center?

2) Why fundraise online?

3) How to use your participant center

a. Edit your personal page (fundraising website)

b. Send e-mail to ask for donations and/or ask people to join your

team

c. Enter donations received offline

d. Track your progress

e. Edit your fundraising goal

4) Why send e-mails through your participant center?

What is Your “Participant Center” or “My Account”?

Web based fundraising software that is provided to all event participants

• Username and password are automatically generated and e-mailed to

you upon registration (If you forget your username or password and

need them reset, e-mail WalkMSGNE@nmss.org and our staff can

assist you.)

• To access, visit www.msnewengland.org then click on Walk. Click on

the “Participant Center” link on the right side of the page.

• You can also access your participant center by clicking on the “My

Account” link on the left side of the event page for the Walk MS

site you’re participating in

Why Fundraise Online?

The National MS Society is leading the way in online fundraising.

• Moving money online is faster and safer than handling checks and

cash

• With online fundraising a receipt is automatically generated and

sent to your donor at the time of their donation

• Participants who fundraise online have the donations they receive

processed sooner and often raise bigger sums thank those who

fundraise only with offline methods

• Online fundraising in combination with social media tools (like

Facebook.com) can help you reach potential donors you would not

have thought of asking through sending a letter

• Friends and family can donate wherever they are

• Studies have shown that those who give online give larger gifts

How to Use Your Participant Center

Log into your participant center as described on page 1

When logged in, your screen will look similar to the screenshot below

From your participant center you can

1) Edit your personal page (fundraising website)

2) Send e-mail to ask for donations and/or ask people to join your

team

3) Enter donations received offline

4) Track your progress

5) Edit your fundraising goal

6) Utilize team captain only options

Edit Your Personal Page

Your “personal page” is your individual fundraising website, where

donors can donate to your Walk MS fundraising.

Make it personal by:

Writing why you chose to participate in Walk MS

Adding pictures from previous years, of the loved one you walk for,

of your training, etc.

Adding a personal blog to update others on your fundraising/training

process

To edit your personal page, click on the “personal page” tab on the top

right of your participant center

You can customize the URL for your website by clicking “edit” on the

right of the page next to “personal page URL and settings”

Once you click edit, you can enter a shorter ending to the default

URL, after “http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/”

Be sure to click “save” after customizing the URL

To edit the content of your personal page, click on the “Content” link

on the right side of the page.

Replace the title and body of the page with your own words.

Remember to click save.

If you’d like to see what your personal page will look like to others,

click the “preview” link on the bottom of the page.

This will open up a preview screen of your personal page in a new

window.

To add photos or video to your personal page, click on the

“photos/video” link on the right side of your participant center

Click the circle next to photos or video to be prompted with upload

instructions

Use the “Components” link on the right side of your participant center

to enable/disable your fundraising status thermometer and fundraising

honor roll. (Enabled by default) You can also enable your personal

blog.

Send e-mail

to ask for donations and/or ask people to join your team

Click on the “email” tab on the top left of your participant center

Enter the e-mail addresses you would like to send to in the “To” field

Enter a subject line

Enter the body of the e-mail in the white space under the formatting

buttons

Select a layout by clicking the image you would like at the bottom of

the screen, followed by the “done selecting” link

To save your e-mail as a template you can use for future e-mails, click

the “Save as template” link

You can view templates of suggested e-mails by clicking the “Use a

template” link. Template e-mails include, “Join My Team” “Support

Me” “Thank You for Sponsoring Me” and “Team Message”

Enter donations received offline

To enter an offline donation that you’ve received from a donor, click

on the “Progress” tab

Next, click the “Enter a new gift” button on the right side of the page.

It will open the following screen, where you can enter donation

information.

Click “Add” or “Save and Add Another” when finished

To help process your donations in a timely manner, mail the checks

you receive to National MS Society, Greater New England Chapter

PO Box 845945 Boston, MA 02284-5945

Make sure to write your name on the memo line of the check and

“Walk MS” with the name of the city you’re participating in. For

example, “Jane Doe - Walk MS Boston”

Track Your Progress

You can track your fundraising progress by viewing the “progress”

tab

The “progress” tab will display graphs of your fundraising, and allow

you to view donations/download a list of donations that have been

made to you.

Edit your Fundraising Goal

You can edit your fundraising goal by clicking the “change” link next

to “My goal” on both the progress tab and the home tab

Team Captain Only

Team Captains can post a message to their team members that will

appear on the home page of the team members participant center by

clicking “Edit” under the “Message from Your Team Captain” box on

the right side of the page.

Team Captains can e-mail their team by clicking the “Email Team”

link on the right side of the home page or by using the “Email” tab

Team Captains can edit the team webpage by clicking on the “Team

Page” tab on the top right of the page

Why Send E-mails Through Your Participant Center?

• A link to your personal page will automatically be included

• You can use the Walk MS layouts to give your e-mails a more

polished look

• Templates offer suggested text to help you draft your e-mails

• You can keep track of the number of e-mails you have sent to

each contact and see who has made a donation and/or visited

your personal page as a result of your e-mail

Questions

E-mail WalkMSGNE@NMSS.org with any questions and our

walk staff will be happy to assist you.

You can also call 781-890-6097.

Thank you for joining the movement to create a world free of MS!

We look forward to seeing you on the day of the walk.