You may have seen a woman walking, biking, and riding her way toward the Mall of America on Give to the Max Day last week - but did you know why?

More 47,534 donors and 3,978 nonprofits participated in Give to the Max Day this year, but only one had the crazy, yet inspiring, idea of walking 30 miles through Minnesota November weather to raise awareness for childhood obesity - the Säjai Foundation.

In just their first year of strategic involvement in Give to the Max Day, the Säjai Foundation’s “Amazing Walk” brought together 84 donors who gave nearly $11,095 - and that was matched!  Close to $22,190 was raised during and after that amazing 30-mile walk!

How did they do it?

Because of the success of Give to the Max Day, it has become a challenge for nonprofits to stand out and be noticed, especially if their budgets and donor bases are more limited. Together, SocialNicole Online Marketing and the Säjai Foundation came up with one crazy spark of inspiration that prompted an outpouring of generosity on November 16. Proving that, while planning and strategizing are key to any successful campaign, a bit of creativity and a willingness to step outside the box can make an amazing difference.

As SocialNicole and the Säjai Foundation prepared to tackle Give to the Max Day we began with the idea of doing something radical to draw attention to Säjai’s mission – ending childhood obesity. Someone threw out the crazy idea: “How about Melissa walks from her house to the Mall of America, on Give to the Max Day?” That crazy idea became not just a crazy idea. It became the theme of Säjai’s Give to the Max Day event.

On Wednesday, November 16 Säjai president Melissa Hanson successfully walked, biked, and rode in an escort van the 30 miles from her home in Maple Grove to the Mall of America. She even helped save a stray dog during her trip! What got her there? The spirit of Give to the Max Day! You can catch a glimpse of Melissa in the GiveMN Thank You video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gld9D8-5MQU

It’s all part of the plan

How did we convince her to test her physical strength and actually walk 30 miles on Wednesday, November 16? We drafted a plan. Even crazy ideas need a plan. SocialNicole outlined for the Säjai team the steps to generate much needed buzz on Give to the Max Day, motivate Säjai donors as well as the nonprofit’s network of peers, programming partners, and even participants, and make Melissa’s walk worth it.

Key Points in the Säjai plan

• By crafting a strong overarching message, and leveraging the social media tools that have made Give to the Max Day successful, Säjai was able to hook their audience into donating to reach their matching grant of $10,000.
•  Giving levels were designed to incentivize donors. For example, every $1,000 raised that day allows a volunteer to walk in Melissa’s place for a mile. For every $5,000 raised Melissa was able to ride her bike five miles. This encouraged donors to pitch in and help Melissa out.
• A customized email outreach was put into place for targeted donors to secure gifts throughout the day on November 16.
• Board members volunteered to phone a list of targeted donors to confirm their commitments for Give to the Max Day.
• Social messaging examples were crafted for Säjai’s Facebook and Twitter followers, allowing them to easily re-post and multiply their giving reach.
• Media outreach included customized community alerts and ongoing communications with local media outlets.
• A follow up plan was implemented immediately after Give to the Max Day to ensure that the new donors felt welcomed into the Säjai Community.

For more on the story of Säjai Foundation and SocialNicole’s idea for the “Amazing Walk” and the key points in their plan, check out “The Säjai Foundation & SocialNicole- 30 miles and a mission.”

We at SocialNicole feel privileged to have helped Melissa and Säjai Foundation meet and surpass their goal – raising money and awareness for the important issue of childhood obesity.