Welcome to Do-It-Yourself and Peer-to-Peer COPD Foundation Fundraising
Are You Looking for Ways to Support the Foundation?
Thank you for your interest in raising support and awareness for the COPD Foundation! We are the leading patient-centered organization committed to preventing COPD, bronchiectasis, and nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease, and to seeking cures while improving lives and advocating for all affected.
Embracing innovation, we engage, educate, and empower our community through a unique 360-degree approach. We mobilize partnerships between patients, caregivers, health care professionals, researchers, academic institutions, government agencies, patient advocacy groups, and industry leaders with a common mission.
We are grateful to have you by our side as COPD Foundation envisions a world where all people can take action toward lung health and better breathing. Together, we are stronger. Together, we can make a difference.
Fundraising for COPD Foundation
COPD Foundation is honored you have chosen to raise the banner for our mission. Creating a DIY (do-it-yourself) fundraiser is a fun and interactive way to support our research, education, advocacy, and community engagement efforts. You can use your own unique skills, interests, and creativity to raise donations for COPD Foundation while encouraging friends and family to learn more about us and the importance of lung health.
Why Fundraise for Us?
You may be wondering how to communicate to others why supporting this organization is so important. To start, think about your own path to us and why our work is personally meaningful to you. When sharing our work with others, it can be helpful to note these important statistics:
- COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is an umbrella term used to describe chronic lung diseases, encompassing emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. The disease is characterized by increasing breathlessness.
- Unfortunately, the disease can progress for years if it is undiagnosed. It's important to talk to a health care provider as soon as you experience symptoms, which can include increased shortness of breath, frequent coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and unusual tiredness.
- Nearly 16 million U.S. adults have COPD, and over 300 million around the world. Millions more are undiagnosed and unaware that they have the disease, especially at its early stages.
- COPD kills more than 150,000 people each year in the United States and more than 3.2 million people worldwide.
- Despite the high number of deaths, COPD is ranked 176th in research funding in the U.S.
- Currently, COPD is an incurable disease; however, a person diagnosed with COPD who receives the correct diagnosis and treatment can breathe better, live longer, and enjoy their quality of life.
- Bronchiectasis is a lung disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Currently, in about 40 percent of cases, the cause of bronchiectasis is unknown. Many people with COPD also have bronchiectasis.
- NTM lung disease is caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria which are naturally occurring bacteria in the environment (such as in water and soil). It is estimated that 50,000 to 90,000 people in the United States have NTM lung disease, and 12,000 to 18,000 people become infected each year.
The COPD Foundation is working to amplify patient voices and advocate for better prevention and treatment options, but we need your support to continue our vital work. Through your DIY fundraiser, you can be a voice in your network and community. By sharing your story, supporting a loved one, and expressing why COPD Foundation's cause is important to you, you drive the conversation forward and lead by example. Encourage friends and family to learn about the challenges of living with lung conditions, as well as the warning signs and symptoms. With your support, we can help to bring lung health forward as a wellness and research priority for us all.
How to Create a COPD Foundation Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Fundraiser
Step 1: Decide How You Will Fundraise: Ideas to Get You Started
- Plan an event like a bake sale, raffle, concert, art show, or party.
- Challenge yourself with physical activity like hiking, biking, walking, running, or any other type of fitness effort.
- Request donations to celebrate important life milestones, like birthdays, graduations, or weddings.
- Fundraise online using a Facebook or Instagram fundraiser.
- Donate proceeds of sales from your business.
- What else can you think of? Contact us at donations@copdfoundation.org - we'd like to hear about your idea.
Step 2: Set Up Your Facebook Fundraising Page
The easiest way to fundraise for COPD Foundation is with a personal fundraising page on Facebook. With this page, you can collect donations that go straight to the COPD Foundation, without any processing fees. Your donors will be pleased knowing that their gifts are tax-deductible, and you'll get to rest easy knowing that there will be no work on your end to collect and send donations. To get started, visit the COPD Foundation's Fundraising on Facebook.
Instagram also allows you to host fundraisers. For more information on how to get start fundraising on Instagram, visit Instagram's help section.
Step 3: Share Your Facebook Fundraising Page
Once you have customized your page, it's time to start fundraising! Share messages, texts, and posts with links to your Facebook fundraiser. Promote your fundraiser on social media to get the word out and share why you are supporting COPD Foundation. Make sure your posts include a request to donate and to share your page. When sharing your page on your social media accounts, be sure to tag @COPDFoundation on Facebook and Twitter and @COPD.Foundation on Instagram, so we can applaud your efforts!
Step 4: Thank Your Donors!
Once someone has donated to your fundraiser, it is important to thank them for their support, by commenting, texting, or emailing a few quick words of gratitude...even sending a handwritten note if you'd like!
Step 5: Wrapping Up Your Fundraiser
If you collected checks or cash donations offline, please send them to COPD Foundation for processing. Checks should be made out to "COPD Foundation." Cash can be converted to a money order. If people who donated cash need a receipt for their contribution, please provide COPD Foundation with the name and address of the donor(s) and the amount donated by each person. All donations by mail should be sent to: COPD Foundation, 3300 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Miami, FL, 33134.
Step 6: Share the Story of Your Fundraiser
Your story is powerful, and your fundraiser could inspire countless other people to learn about the COPD Foundation. Share your story in a variety of ways:
- Share your story on social media and tag COPD Foundation with @COPDFoundation and use #COPDFoundation.
- Email us at donations@copdfoundation.org and tell us how it went; include photos if you have them!
Tips to Make Your Fundraiser a Success
Consider Making the First Donation
Show your supporters your commitment to the COPD Foundation's mission by making the first donation yourself. Even a modest donation shows how much you care. Donations of all amounts add up and generate great impact; every dollar truly does count!
Get the Word Out About Your Fundraiser and Make it Personal
Share your page with friends and family via multiple channels — social media, email, texting, and calls — to make sure they see your message. You’ll be building awareness.
Tell your community why you are supporting COPD Foundation. Whether you were inspired by your own direct experience or by your own values, sharing why you are supporting COPD Foundation will motivate others to join you.
COPD Foundation DIY Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why Is This Activity DIY and Not a COPD Foundation Event?
A. DIY event suggestions here are intended to offer you support and resources to host your own independent effort. You may create an event that fits your personality, community, and capacity. When you are promoting your event, you may title it “[Event], benefiting COPD Foundation” to let people know that your event supports us. Please refrain from using language that indicates you are “partnering” or “working” with COPD Foundation on your event.
Legal Disclaimer: Please note that DIY activities are the sole responsibility of the host, bear the liability and burden, and are in no way endorsed by the COPD Foundation.
Q. May I Use COPD Foundation's Logo and Information?
A. You may not use COPD Foundation's official logo to promote your own event. However, COPD Foundation's Lace-Up for Lungs Awareness Campaign does provide downloadable templates for giving your event that COPD Foundation look: Lace-Up For Lungs & COPD Awareness
Q. Will COPD Foundation Pay for Any Part of Our Event?
A. COPD Foundation does not reimburse individuals for any expenses related to DIY events. COPD Foundation is not financially responsible for any staging or other event expenses.
Q. When Do Funds from a DIY Event Need to Be Given to COPD Foundation?
A. Please donate the proceeds from your event to COPD Foundation as soon as possible, preferably within 30 days of the event, so we can thank the donors promptly. You can donate by mail at: COPD Foundation, 3300 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Miami, FL 33134. You may also donate with a credit card www.copdfoundation.org or by calling 1-866-731-COPD (7673).
Q. Are Donations Tax-Deductible?
A. Yes. Funds donated to the COPD Foundation are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. COPD Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 20-1048322).
Q. Will COPD Foundation Help Publicize My Event?
A. The COPD Foundation is unable to publicize DIY events.
Q. What Information Should I Include About the COPD Foundation?
A. Here is some information to let people who are unfamiliar with COPD Foundation know who we are:
Thank You!
Your fundraiser helps COPD Foundation continue our mission of pursuing innovative research, education, awareness, and advocacy initiatives so that we can build better lives for people affected by COPD, bronchiectasis, and NTM lung disease. COPD Foundation's work is dependent on the support of individuals like you who fundraise, donate, and raise awareness about our mission. From all of us at COPD Foundation, thank you for all you are doing to support our mission!
If you have any other questions about fundraising for COPD Foundation, email us at donations@copdfoundation.org.
To learn more about the COPD Foundation and our work, please visit us at COPD Foundation.