CANSA Relay For Life

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Spread the Cancer Message

Here are some good ideas for educating your community about CANSA and cancer:

  • Use emails to educate Relay For Life committees and Team Captains about CANSA and the service we offer.
  • When marketing Relay For Life in your community do not simply give percentages, give facts and figures about what CANSA is doing in your community.  Remember to mention our country wide network of interim homes, the toll-free information service, services for children and their families, research and advocacy too.
  • Get your Relay For Life Staff Partner to educate the committee on “The top 5 things that every volunteer should know” at meetings. These messages should change and should speak about CANSA health campaigns, CANSA achievements and the wonderful work CANSA is doing in your community and nationally.
  • Get your Relay For Life Staff Partner to provide the committee with a “brag sheet” of CANSA accomplishments in your region and nationally.
  • Have a “Mission Moment” at all team captains’ meetings where stories about CANSA in your community and about cancer can be shared.
  • Use a 1-pager, a single page with mission delivery, at every team captains’ meeting.
  • At team captains’ meetings have information available that voices the “Mission Moment” of the day. For example, if you are focusing on Men’s Health, then have the relevant materials available at the meeting.
  • Encourage your team captains to “tell the troops” (the team members) about the wonderful work CANSA is doing and other health information shared at meetings.
  • Use CANSA pamphlets as background and create fence banners, track signs and posters about cancer issues.
  • Use scavenger hunts at Relay to educate your community about the CANSA mission and about being cancer smart.
  • Show your community how the money they raise will benefit health programmes and save lives.
  • Encourage all Relay Committee Members and Team Captains to direct newly diagnosed people to the website address, the toll-free number and ask the local CANSA office to provide the person with a Cancer Coping Kit. Offer to refer the person to the health programmes’ department for support too.

  • Remember to include information about CANSA and cancer in all newsletters.
  • Use community radio stations and newspapers to spread information about the CANSA service and cancer education.
  • Use survivor stories as part of your publicity. It is a powerful way of telling the CANSA story.
  • Give your mission delivery wings by inviting people to join the CANSA Facebook pages and to follow CANSA on Twitter.
  •  Obtain business cards for Committee Members and condense “brag points” on the back of the card. For example, “Money raised at Relay For Life will help with …………..”.
  • At Relay, Committee Members should remember to include “mission talk” when they “walk the track, work the track”.
  • Include information about CANSA , its service and where the money raised goes to in all proposals to prospective sponsors and service-providers. Remember the website and toll-free number.
Our sister organisation, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has published a wonderful document full of good ideas  based on a focus group ran in October 2008. Some of these ideas have been adapted for South Africa and you are invited to try these in your own community. Article adapted from American Society Relay For Life, Fundraising Focus Group DGIs.

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