In September 2004, I launched 9-month 21 marathon campaign to honor our troops and raise $21,000 for two charities, USO Care Package and TAPS, that supported those who were deployed serving our country and the families of fallen service members. With each step, I reminded myself they are the ones enduring hardships and making sacrifices, not I.Being new to fundraising, I figured my best chances for success were if I did more than just solicit donations individually. I organized virtual and real running teams, held fundraising events, set up shopping links where a percentage of the sales benefited the charities, and obtained numerous sponsors to help cover costs and boost donations by providing incentives/goodies for team members and showing corporate support for the campaign. In May 2005, I completed running my 21 marathons and, with the help of my teammates, raised $23,509.50 for the charities by the end of 2005.
This blog replicates much of the information that was on the original 21 Run Salute website, which was discontinued in 2007 due to an involuntary change in website hosts.
