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
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 [email protected] 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
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
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 [email protected] 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.
