Web Site Promotes World's Largest Fundraiser
Anya Martin
April 11, 2008

Left: Relay for Life: Althea Alonto, income manager with the American Cancer Society, shows off promotional items. (Photo: Joann Vitelli )

In past years, Phylecia Wilson mailed letters and self-addressed stamped envelopes to ask people to sponsor her participation as a member of the Habersham County team in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

But since the launch of RelayForLife.org last year, supporters can not only give by logging onto her profile but also access a wide variety of information with just the click of a mouse, said Wilson, also chair of the South Atlantic Division of the Relay for Life Task Force.

"It's so easy just to find out what the relay is about, what the American Cancer Society is and where does your money go," she added.

For the creation of an e-community that streamlines fundraising and communication for 3.5 million volunteers and their sponsors, RelayForLife.org is a finalist in the 2008 Technology Innovation Awards, sponsored by TechBridge.

Relay for Life is the world's largest fundraiser, held in 4,900 communities worldwide and raising more than $435 million for cancer treatment, prevention, research and advocacy by the Atlanta-based nonprofit organization in 2007.

Since RelayForLife.org was launched a year ago, 32,000 users have registered, the site received 276,000 visits in March 2008 alone, and more than $57 million has been raised online.

Similar to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, Relay for Life participants can establish their own profiles and blogs, share photos from events and participate in Relay For Life-related forums and groups, and link to the American Cancer Society's online fundraising tool, as well as track the money they raise.

Site visitors also can find local relay events, receive volunteer training, access a library of tools to teach them how to develop or improve Relay for Life events in their community, and find links to cancer treatment and prevention information and other cancer-related nonprofits.

When Wilson founded and chaired Gwinnett Relay for Life, now the fundraiser's largest chapter worldwide, in the 1990s, all of that how-to information was contained in a "'big thick book," Wilson said.

"It's especially helpful for people new to the event because now [resources and ideas] are right there for you," she added.

As a grass-roots effort run completely by volunteers, Relay for Life benefits from a Web site with social networking tools because participants can trade best practices that worked in their own Relay for Life groups with other groups, said Karen Becker, national communication director for Relay for Life.

Having easy access to information and training and the ability for volunteers to add their own materials helps them plan better events and achieve greater fundraising totals, she added.

"It has revolutionized the way we share information," Becker said.

The social networking Web site also could help increase participation by college students who increasingly favor the Internet as a communications tool, Wilson said.

Community members can use tools found on RelayForLife.org in their MySpace and Facebook pages, personal blogs and other social networking communities.

The American Cancer Society also has been able to use RelayForLife.org for advocacy alerts and updates to volunteers interested in fighting cancer through legislation.

In addition to its multiple capabilities, another strength of RelayForLife.org is its low cost to American Cancer Society.

The Web site's architecture was built with the Drupal platform, a free shareware program that makes it easy to create an online community and mostly maintains itself, said Richard Desarmes, director of Web architecture and strategy for the American Cancer Society.

The nonprofit launched a pilot Web site in August 2006 with blogs and forums and unfurled the full Web site in March 2007.

American Cancer Society staffers have been invited to share their success story at Drupal and other social networking conventions, such as SXSW Interactive and Pop!Tech 2007.

If the American Cancer Society receives the award, the nonprofit hopes to benefit from project management consultation from TechBridge to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as receive advice on how to best deliver multimedia content, said Jeff Montegut, webmaster for RelayForLife.org.