November is Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month, presenting a great opportunity to raise money needed to fund the mission of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA), and to raise awareness of PH. PHA has made it easy to get involved! Last week’s PHANews featured fundraising events taking place across the U.S. throughout November. Many may not live in an area where a fundraising event will take place, while others may not be able to attend an event. PHA has an option for everyone to get involved during Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month, whether you can attend an event or not. Create an online fundraising webpage!

Online fundraising is the easiest and fastest way to raise money. In minutes, you can set up your personal fundraising webpage and customize it with a photo and your story. Upload your contacts and use the templates to send emails asking friends and family to donate. You also can track your donations and send thank you messages to donors.

Go to www.phaevents.org/November, scroll down and click on the “REGISTER NOW” button.

If you have already registered for a PHA fundraising event this year, you can use the same login information you used to raise money for that event. If you are new to the site, click on the “JOIN AS A NEW PARTICIPANT” button.

The site will lead you through various questions/prompts to build your profile and fundraising page. Once your registration is complete, your page is ready to be used to raise funds!

FAQs to help your fundraising efforts

Do I have to personalize my webpage?

You do not have to personalize your page, but it can make a difference for better fundraising. The site will allow you to add a small picture and change the content on the page. Use this space to share your PH story. Answer questions such as:

  • How has this disease impacted my life?
  • How has PHA helped me/my family?
  • Why should my friends and family join in supporting Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month?

I created my page. Now what?

Share, share, share! Copy and paste the URL (your webpage address) into your social media posts (NOTE: You can shorten and personalize your URL in your participant portal, which makes it easier to share). If you are not on social media, you also can send out emails through the participant portal to your friends and family, or you can paste the URL in an email or text to them.

I have friends and family who do not make online financial transactions or do not have access to the Internet. What should I do?

Online fundraising is just one option! It does help to create the page and share as much as you can for people to have access to giving. However, if you collect cash or checks from friends that still counts toward your fundraising total. PHA strongly suggests not mailing cash; you may send a personal check, cashier’s check or money order made out to Pulmonary Hypertension Association for the cash collected. Mail all checks to:

Pulmonary Hypertension Association
Attn: Awareness Fundraising
801 Roeder Rd. Suite 1000
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Be sure to include your name so that PHA can add the amount included to your page.

What else can I do to raise funds besides asking friends and family to donate?

Many fundraisers use their networks to help their fundraising efforts; examples include:

  • If you are a sales vendor, consider donating a portion of your sales from November to your fundraising effort.
  • If you have a place of employment, consider asking to have a “jeans day” where colleagues pay a donation to wear jeans to work on a certain day (be sure to check with your supervisor and/or your human resources department about regulations and options).
  • Have a yard sale (or online yard sale) and donate the money you make. Be sure to include that all profits go to PHA in your advertisements/posts. You might get extra donations!

I am having difficulty creating my page and/or I am struggling with my fundraising. What should I do?

Send an email to KristinB@phassociation.org or call 240-485-0753.

Every dollar counts. Together we can make a difference!