Participating in Run for Reagan

4 Weeks to Race Day

Ask your Greek Advisor who you need to contact in order to reserve a campus track, either indoor or outdoor. Contact this person and reserve the track for a day/time approximately four weeks in the future. Be sure to ask for a copy of the rules and regulations you will be expected to follow.

Pass a sign-up sheet around the chapter to sign-up runners. A typical track is 1/4 mile, which means that you need to recruit 20 runners in order to complete the 5 mile relay race.

Find community businesses willing to sponsor the Run For Reagan. Your plan is to make 20 t-shirts (one for each runner), so you need to raise enough through sponsorships to cover the cost of the t-shirts. If, for example, the shirts cost $12 each, you will need to sell 5 sponsorships at $50 each in order to cover the cost of the t-shirts. Unless you can raise enough in sponsorships to cover the cost of the t-shirts, don't pursue this step. But, if you can cover the cost, then you want to put the Run For Reagan logo on the front of the t-shirt and the names/logos of your sponsors on the back. It will take two weeks to have the t-shirts produced, so you only have 10-days to sell these sponsorships. Here are some places to look for sponsors:
- If you have a meal-plan, ask your food distributor.
- If you buy cleaning supplies from a local distributor, ask them to sponsor.
- Ask the members of your Board of Advisors if their businesses can sponsor.
- Ask the members of your chapter to contact their parents' businesses.

If you are making t-shirts, they need to be sent to the screen printer this week. Remember your goal is to make 20 t-shirts (one for each runner) with the Run For Reagan logo on the front and the local sponsors on the back, but the money raised from sponsorship must be greater than the cost of printing the t-shirts.

Create a Facebook event to raise awareness. Be sure to include information about the partnership between Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and the Alzheimer's Association and our goal to raise $240,000 for the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute.

By now, all 20 runners have been identified. Although it isn't necessary for them to run the race (jogging and walking are perfectly acceptable), they need to start training to make sure they are capable of completing 1/4 mile.

Runners start to collect donations, usig the Record of Individual Donations (pdf) to keep track of who has donated. Runners should issue Donation Receipts (pdf) when they collect cash; checks are made payable to the Alzheimer's Association. On race day, each runner will turn in his/her record of individual donations along with the money he/she has collected.

Double check the rules and regulations of the track to make sure that you will be in compliance.

Recruit a first aid team for the event. It's important to have a first responder nearby in case someone gets hurt. A good place to look for volunteers is your local fire department , campus medical center, or campus police. Ask the first aid volunteer to arrive one-hour prior to the start of the race. If you are unable to find a trained volunteer, then you need to alert local emergency services. Write a letter to the police chief with the date, time, and place of the Run For Reagan so that they can be prepared to assist you in case of emergency.

Copy and paste the initial press release into a Word document so you can edit, print, and mail copies to the media (school newspaper, school radio, school website/calendar, community newspapers, community television, etc.)

Call or email each runner and check on their progress with donations. Remember that your goal is for each runner to raise $20. Confirm the date/time/place with each runner and remind the runner to arrive at the Run For Reagan 30-minutes prior to the race, and bring his/her Record of Individual Donations (pdf) along with the money that has been raised. Each runner that is not a collegiate member of TKE needs to bring a simple permission slip (pdf).

Post flyers around campus to help with marketing. It would be great to have a large turnout on Race Day to support your runners and creating a buzz about the event will increase attendance.

Talk with professors about getting a few minutes in class to promote the race. Remember, you are trying to create a buzz on campus about your event so that you can increase attendance at the Run For Reagan. This is important because you are going to ask for donations on Race Day. The more people at race day, the more you will raise in donations.

If you are allowed to, chalk a highly visible area of campus to create awareness.

Acquire the following supplies: enough drinking water for 20 runners, horseshoe with purple ribbon, trash bags, 20 white envelopes. You also need a table and chairs for the check-in area and a chair for the first aid officer.

Arrive at least two hours early to setup. You need to bring the supplies (water, trash bags, envelopes, horseshoe with purple ribbon) as well as the t-shirts, if you have made them.

Setup a table where you will check-in runners. Each runner will turn in his Record of Individual Donations along with cash and checks and will receive a t-shirt (if you have made t-shirts). If the runner is not a collegiate Teke, collect his/her permission slip. Fold the cash and checks inside the piece(s) of paper, and seal in a plain white envelope. Ask the runner to write his/her name on the outside of the envelope. After the race, give these 20 envelopes to the Crysophylos.

Water must be available for each participant. Setup a cooler with cups or bottles of water.

Setup a trash can to collect cups, bottles, etc. You need to leave the track in better condition than you found it.

Start the relay race on time. It will take about 2 hours to complete the Run For Reagan.

During the race, solicit donations from spectators who have come to show their support.

Cleanup after yourselves. Take the trash to a dumpster and make sure the facility is in better shape than you found it.

Give the 20 envelopes to the Crysophylos, who opens each envelope and records donations onto the Master Tally Sheet (pdf). The Crysophylos will deposit all cash into the chapter's bank account and write a check payable to Alzheimer's Association. The master tally sheet and all the checks are sent to the Offices of the Grand Chapter.

Copy and paste the final press release into a Word document so you can edit, print, and mail copies to the media (school newspaper, school radio, school website/calendar, community newspapers, community television, etc.)

Send a thank-you letter from the chapter to all organizations that participated and any runners who are not Tekes.