Going Mobile!

Did you know that the number of smartphones is predicted to outnumber the world’s population in 2012? Chances are you or your donors (or both) have a smartphone!

Our NAMIWalks website offers several exciting new options for fundraising on your smartphone and online that can help you make a difference this season! 

NAMIWalks Mobile App

How long are you on your smartphone every week? Flurry.com says that the average smartphone user has 65 apps installed and is on their phone for a whopping 15 hours each week!  It's time to add 1 more app to your smartphone: Our FREE NAMIWalks App!

According to Crowd Compass, users of mobile apps raise on average 2.5 times more and collected 3 times as many donations as participants who didn't use the app. Imagine the difference that could make in your community!

Our FREE NAMIWalks Mobile App:

• Check your fundraising progress. It's updated instantly.
• Send emails to friends and family using your phone's address book or connect with them about your fundraising through Facebook or Twitter.
• Take a picture and instantly update your webpage.
• Look for donations and immediately thank your donors.
• Instantly process secure credit card or PayPal donations
• View and post messages

Get the App today!

NAMIWalks Facebook App!

Be one of the first people to use our Facebook App - the only fundraising app in the world that runs entirely within Facebook!  This app will work on your smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Great new features:

• See who else is fundraising and which of your friends have donated to mutual friends
• Publish your actions to your Facebook timeline
• Like, Comment, and Share to help raise awareness
• Donors can donate securely inside Facebook and leave messages
• Syncs to your fundraising page!

To get the Facebook App, login to the Participant Portal with your username and password. Click on the Fundraising Tab and select Reach Out to Donors.  At the bottom, click on the Get Started Facebook link and follow the prompts. You'll get your own NAMIWalks Facebook fundraising page!

Check out Maryland Walker, Chrissy Thornton's page!

To use both of these exciting features and more, you need to be a registered walker in a NAMIWalk near you. Get started today by visiting www.namiwalks.org!

Are you Going Mobile in your fundraising efforts? Tell us how by commenting below!

Mental Illness Awareness Week 2012

This week is Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) and it is the perfect time for YOU to start a conversation with the people in your life about mental illness!

Let NAMIWalks and MIAW be the icebreaker for your conversation. Mention to a friend that you are participating in a walk- and when they ask you “for what?” that gives you the opportunity to talk about mental illness and why you are walking. Send an email to your contacts letting them know it is National Mental Illness Awareness Week and explain why it means something to you (don’t forget to put your personal fundraising link in the body of the email!). Chances are that the people you are reaching out to have had experience with mental illness at some point in their lifetime, whether personally or through knowing somebody who has experienced a mental illness.

"Talk" by posting the image above on your facebook!

How do we know that people you are going to start your conversation with will be able to relate to mental illness? Let’s look at some statistics:

• 1 in 4 adults—approximately 57.7 million Americans—experience a mental health disorder in a given year.
• 1 in 17 adults live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. [1]
• About 1 in 10 children live with a serious mental or emotional disorder.[2]

With numbers like these, most people in your life have likely been touched by mental illness in some way or another.

Make it a goal to talk to one person this week on the topic of mental illness and, even if your walk day has passed, ask them to donate to your walker page. Walk pages are open to donations for 60 days after your walk, so you can still make or exceed your goal and you will definitely achieve the goal of raising awareness for mental illness.

MIAW

In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the first full week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week in recognition of NAMI’s efforts to raise mental illness awareness.

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1“NIMH: The numbers count—Mental disorders in America.” National Institute of Health. Available at www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/numbers.cfm.

2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, Md., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services,1999, pp. 408409, 411.

What Have You Done Lately?

 We hope your answer is participating in NAMIWalks! We can tell you that over 21,000 walkers on 2500 teams are making a huge difference in their communities this Fall.  Through NAMIWalks’ public, active display of support for people affected by mental illness, we are changing our American communities and ensuring that help and hope are available for those in need.  Registration is easy through our local NAMIWalks pages.  Find a Walk near you by visiting www.namiwalks.org.

As walkers, we are going out into the community and sharing our story, building awareness, raising much needed funds, and most importantly having fun doing it! In last week’s post, we talked about fundraising in fun and easy ways.  

This week, we are going to issue a challenge: Raise 1 additional dollar more than what you planned this week.  Can you imagine if 21,000 walkers raised just $1 additional dollar?

Try out this strategy by adding 1 to something you do this week

Pick 1 idea or try your own.

Add 1 more person to your contact list. Think of who you haven't contacted yet about your Walk.  Check out this chart and pick one person you haven't contacted about your Walk.

Follow up 1 more time this week On average, it takes about 6 contacts for someone to take an action. Follow up this week by sharing a story about your fundraising or team.  Don't forget to  share your fundraising page link in the communication.

Add $1 to your suggested dollar amount. Using an odd number (instead of increments of 5), makes your ask interesting! Try $12 for your 2012 walk, $6 for the amount of people on your team, or $3.10 for the amount of miles in a 5K.

Find 1 hour this week to work on your NAMIWalk. Communicate with your team, take a Walk, share your story, or your link. Spend the full hour or break it out into 8 minutes a day!

Recruit 1 more member of your team. It's never too late to register for NAMIWalks. In 3 days, we had over 1,000 new walkers register this week!

Offer to do 1 thing different! One of our walkers told their donors they would walk the walk backwards if their goal was met. She exceeded her goal and walked the walk backwards on Walk Day! 

All it takes is 1 to make a difference. All it takes is you!