Keynote address at the American Cancer Society's leadership summit in Dallas, Texas, October 2010.
Its time to save more lives by growing fundraising efforts, reaching the engagement potential of our communities, and improving the quality of our events.
I have had an AWESOME time at the summit…. You High Plainers…. But if I can, I’d like shift the title around… we’re just cruising on a love boat, we’re cruising towards a cure.
The ACS helps save lives by helping people get well. Stay well. Find cures. Fight back. Celebrating more birthdays….But what you are doing is something different…. You are saving lives by achieving growth. Reaching potential. And improving quality.
And what I want to do is talk about how growth, potential and quality are ACTUALLY saving lives….
So when we talk about growth, we are talking about fundraising dollars. And not just money for the sake of money, but money for the sake of funding live saving research. The research that has gone on to win 44 noble prize winners – give yourselves a hand for that.
When we talk about potential, we talk about people…. We know that people NEED Relay, so how can we bring people to Relay?
And when we talk about quality, we talk about the event. Not just the balloons, but the entire event experience… People smiling (like the girl with the flag from Rueel’s presentation?)
And, to be true, I still hate cancer. Or, as my shirt says… I still firmly believe that cancer sucks. But that is not why I love Relay. My love for Relay stems from something else.
And I LOVE People. I love these conferences. I love people. And I love what we are all capable of.
I love people that get up on stage and perform
I love people that use Relay as a time to reunite with friends past
And I love people that come to Relay to heal. To remember.Story of Kerry? The result – a feeling of belonging.
And, to be true, I still hate cancer. Or, as my shirt says… I still firmly believe that cancer sucks. But that is not why I love Relay. My love for Relay stems from something else.
But love is stronger than cancer. And so I can proudly say that today, my parents at both 15 year cancer survivors. And I LOVE that.
THANK YOU for having me. As you can guess, I really, really love Relay. I love it enough to put on a funny belt, tuck a t-shirt into dress pants, and dance around on stage with goofy music. I have been Relaying for 10 years and I LOVE Relay. Now, there are lots of reasons why I love Relay, but I want to tell you how I got to this love.
And what I found, and what I think everybody can agree with me, is that Relay gives us a sense of belonging.It fills our emotional need by giving us a support systemIt gives us opportunities to make friendsAnd as we write our history book about how cancer was eliminated, Relay gives us the ability to be a part of the biggest movement in the WORLD.And I LOVE belonging to that – don’t you agree?
So let me give you something to feel good about…When the number appears on this screen, I want you your hand if you think you know what it means…You all might not be in the lab cooking up a cure, but you are eliminating cancer as a threat by your fundraising. Survivors in this room are living PROOF of the progress we are making. You very own Mary – Mary’s story if time permits…The progress we are making because of YOUR fundraising. And that is why growth is so important.
It feels GOOD to be recognized.And I think we can all agree. That once we belong to something, being recognized is the next step to keep you engaged. Whether you are a team captain, participant, or committee member, it feels GOOD to be recognized.BUT YOU KNOW THIS… so I am NOT here to tell you what you know. I’m here to HELP YOU do what you know needs to be done. And that is why I am thrilled to talk about the fundraising club program.
So that was why I relay… why do you relay? What is the most exciting thing about Relay?
Did anybody say fundraising?People don’t Relay to fundraise.People Relay to do one of the things we talked about earlier….So here is the great paradox, Relay is great because we raise $$$, but people don’t relay to raise $$$
So…. If people don’t come to Relay to fundraise, then its our job to motivate fundraising…. And that’s the first part of growth. How do we grow our fundraising effort to help save lives?And I think a better way of asking this… is how do we create an environment where people know that they belong to something? And how do we recognize them for it?
ITS NOT JUST A SIGN!!!!IT’S A PROGRAM!!!
Work with teams to set goalsUse positive reinforcement to highlight and showcase club programsEmpower teams!
First I want to talk about RelaySo in a second, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to write down an answer. As soon as you have three answers, stand up. And as soon as the person is standing up next to you, turn to them and share your ideas….
But as much as Relay means… only 1 in 100 American Relay. Now, because there are 350 million American, that that means we have 3.5million relayers, and that is INCREDIBLE! But you and I certainly agree that the more, the merrier. And if Relay provides us this much value, is there more we can get from having more people? And if it means this much, to us, don’t we want to provide others the same opportunity?But lets try something… you stand up… and you stand up… Now run around for 10 seconds and see how many you can tag. Once you are tagged stand up… GO! Now, we have 20 people standing. And I go around and I ask for $10 from each, I have $200… that’s OK. Or if I’m really smart, I will go around and ask you all to go recruit 10 more people, and THEN get $10 from each – that equals $2000!!!Now lets find two more volunteers. Now get your table to stand up with you. If you can GROW your immediate network and THEN fundraise, what happens? 10 seconds, tag as many as you can…. If you get tagged, please stand up/ I’ll give you 10 seconds to plan, and then 10 seconds to run around….. GO!!!!!!! Now, how many do we have standing?
First I want to talk about RelaySo in a second, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to write down an answer. As soon as you have three answers, stand up. And as soon as the person is standing up next to you, turn to them and share your ideas….
Lets try something.Draw your partner exercise… now share it….
So whats the point?Did you hear the reaction? Everybody started laughing…And that’s the environment we have for ourselves, where we are worried about the judgement. So the first think we have to do is make a creative-fun zone.
How can we create an enviroment like this? Where people want to dres up
I want to try something… close your eyes. You pull into a parking lot… what do you see…Take a moment, right down your ideasWalk into the crowd… what did envision?
Did anybody write what they heard? Tasted? Smelled?
Imagine again, thinking about the 5 senses… What do you seeWhat music is playing,Where are people, what are they saying?
Why? This is why… people people need RelaySurvivors need Relay as we heard yesterday.Caregivers need Relay.We NEED this.
So how do we know if we’re doing a good job?
We can try notes…. We can listen some feedback…. But will it work?
Why Growth Potential Quality – I am here to help explain why we are talking about Growth. PotentAs Mike mentioned, this summit is going to focus on Growth, Potential and Quality and you may be asking yourself Why? Well, I’m here to answer that question. For the rest of this weekend, just think of me as the “Why Guy”.
Why Growth Potential Quality – I am here to help explain why we are talking about Growth. PotentAs Mike mentioned, this summit is going to focus on Growth, Potential and Quality and you may be asking yourself Why? Well, I’m here to answer that question. For the rest of this weekend, just think of me as the “Why Guy”.