2 Guys - 2 Wheels - 2 Trails Campaign

“2 Guys, 2 Wheels, 2 Trails” is the most extensive project I have been involved with in my internship career with Ollie Webb Center, Inc. Starting on July 11, 2009, a father and son team (Mark and Jeff) rode a tandem bicycle from the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha to St. Louis, Missouri. Their goal was to raise $5,000 for Ollie Webb Center, Inc. in gratitude for the services received by Jeff, who has a developmental disability. My duties were to plan the kick-off event, gain support for fundraising efforts, and establish a presence on facebook.

The campaign was a success. In the weeks leading up to Mark and Jeff’s journey to St. Louis, some reporters wrote articles about the cause. We also obtained many facebook followers and donations to the website. On July 11, several news reporters covered the kick-off event, as well. The fundraiser resulted in $6,200, bypassing the original goal of $5,000.

The following are tactics used to help publicize the fundraising efforts. Flyers were placed in bicycling shops and community bulletin boards around the Omaha metro. The flyer had informational flags at the bottom with the URL of the donation website, which viewers could tear off. I also designed business cards for Mark and his family to hand out with information of the kick-off event and facebook fan page. Two news releases were sent to the Omaha World-Herald and local news stations as awareness of the fundraiser and invitations to the kick-off event.