Charity Bracket Buster

(Taken from my wife's, runningjayhawk, blog)

It’s March! Let the Madness commence!!!

This March, as part of our goal to reach $2620 for Team In Training, Mike and I are hosting a Charity Bracket Buster during the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament! It’ll be fabulous! Exciting! Full of surprises! And we want YOU (yes…YOU) to participate!!

Here’s how it works…

You want to play? All you have to do is make a contribution to our Team In Training fundraising efforts which directly benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Your donation is tax deductible and will help fuel research to help find a cure for blood cancers.

Between now and March 18th…
A donation of $10, earns you 1 bracket
With a donation of $25, you get 3 brackets
Feeling really generous? A donation of $40 will score you 5 brackets.

Once you submit your donation, you’ll receive an invitation from me and Mike to fill out an online bracket for the NCAA tournament. And then on the first day of game play—the fun begins! The online bracket host we select will be tracking all of the points and leaders during the tournament, so everyone will be able to hop on and check their standings.

So…you’re probably wondering what you get by participating in our fabulous lil’ fundraiser-o-fun?

With your generous donation you get…

1. Entry into our Charity Bracket Buster for a chance at some seriously sweet swag!! Each bracket earns you an individual chance at each prize!

• We're giving prizes out to our top 3 winners! We've been working hard to rally some awesome donations from a variety of your favorite running and tri suppliers like BodyGlide, Enlyten, Injinji, One More Mile, Running Divas, Transition Times and TriTowels (to name a few and with more on the way). And then we've got gift cards for iTunes and Starbucks and Marriott and more. AND, a fellow running blogger is even contributing a "bottle of happiness" for the winner who is over the age of 21 to toast themselves after their next PR! We'll be posting a full list of the prizes by Selection Sunday...so consider this your teaser!
• Additionally, everyone who donates will be entered into a drawing for a free year-long subscription to their choice of Runners World or Triathlete magazine. What's that? You already have this subscription? No problem! We know there's a mag out there you're dying to get your hands on...we'll figure it out.
• We'll have a few, smaller, fun "Monkey Prizes" to announce after game play begins. But we can't tell you know because well...it's a surprise!

2. A chance to take your competitive side off the race course and into virtual pool where fun "smack talking" on your rival temas is not just welcomed, but encouraged...assuming you can take the heat right back!

3. An e-mail from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society detailing that your donation is tax deductible!! Woohoo!! Hooray for tax deducations!! Hooray for making a donation to find a cure for cancer!! Everybody wins!!

Here are the key dates you should know...

March 1: We are OPEN for Charity Bracket Buster donations folks. Donations to play and complete brackets will be accepted from now until March 19.
March 16: Selection Sunday. This is the day that the official bracket line up is announced. Between the announcement and the first round of game play, you must register your brackets online.
March 18: The Opening Round Play-In Game
March 20-21: First Round
March 22-23: Second Round
March 27-28: Sweet Sixteen!
March 29-30: Elite Eight!
April 5: The Final Four!
April 7: Championship Game and our top winners are determined!

Mike and I are both really excited for this and we hope you are, too! It’s as simple as giving up your Starbucks coffee just twice this month! Or bringing your lunch to work one day! Or working the corner that extra hour for a few more bucks (I KID, I KID)!

We look forward to having you join in on the fun of our Charity Bracket Buster!!

We're sure you've got some questions swirling in that pretty little head of yours...but really, there's no reason to worry. We've done all the work to make this easy, fun and exciting for you...AND beneficial to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In th event you do have questions, just see our FAQs!