Thursday, April 19, 2012

Joining the Walk: A Tutorial

A couple items of business before the tutorial.  


Item the first:  I'm amazed to be halfway to our $1,000 goal after two days.  This is day three, and I've caught wind that the sponsorship we wanted (to purchase shirts for the walkers) is taken care of.  I don't get it.  I mean, I do, but it's just . . . amazing.  


Item the second:  I'm going to try to post a weekly summary going into the deadline thanking individual folks for their donations and linking to them (if they have interwebz links and suchlike).  It is amazing to see the sheer number of people who contribute, and then have your wife say, "who's that?" and me say, "internet people".  Boggles my mind.  Mind --->boggled.

On to the tutorial:


It's somewhat confusing to join in, but I really would love to see virtual walkers if you can't participate in the actual walk.  Kinda cool, because it allows you to be there "in spirit", which is soooo fitting for the folks who follow my blog, and whose blogs I follow:  You're always there in spirit.  This fundraiser has been eye-opening in that regard.


Step 1:  Find the linky things.  I have two linky things outside the blog post itself (which has more).  Both linky things link to the same thing.  The page link just shows the location on my blog, versus taking you to another website.  See below for location of linky things:

Step 2:  When you click on either of the linky things they take you to this page:
What you do with this page is up to you.  There are a few options for folks who want to donate.  Some people have asked who to make "checks" out to.  The answer is "ABOARD".  If you decide to write a check, click the "Pledge Today and Pay Later" button with the associated information, then mail us a check. We'll take the check to "ABOARD" with us when we participate on walk day.  If you select this option and you don't have our address, you'll have to email me and let me know. . . 

This is the "Pledge Today and Pay Later screen




















Step 3:  If you join the team, you register here:

This is where you get to pick whether you walk on Walk Day or Virtually walk.  if you join the team you have to register though, so here's where you go.  Click the "Individual Registration" clicky thing to go to the next screen.


Step 4:  I've taken the liberty of filling out a sample registration.  Took me 27 seconds.
All the asterisked sections are required. . . EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS EMAIL IS REQUIRED IT IS NOT!!!!  If you don't have an email. . . or, more likely, you worry that you're going to get spammed by Highmark, ABOARD, or me, just click the "Don't have an email" clicky thing.  It will automagically fill in a bogus email that is assigned to folks who have no email address!  Voila!


The donation, as you can see, is "OPTIONAL".  Can't afford it, don't wanna spend it, don't like me, don't like the charity. . . don't click it.  You can still be on the team and walk with us!


If you donate to the team, your donation will show up under the list of "Supporters" on the team page.  If you donate to me (this has already happened) it will STILL show up on the team thermometer, but your individual donation will show up under my name on my page, not the team page. 


If you're walking, you get a shirt from Highmark (for a donations of $25 or more).  The shirt comes from the event, not from me.  


Folks who walk with our team will get their own team shirt (the tshirt place gives a discount for 24 or more walkers.  Right now our team is at 9 I think.  The amount of sponsorship I asked for will cover the cost of the shirts one way or the other.  The shirt will more than likely be some form of the blog graphic (the little picture I drew of Lily's cartoon face) with "Just a Lil Walk" maybe a puzzle graphic, the website, and any sponsors who wish to be listed.


Join the team.  I want you on that wall.  I NEED you on that wall. The easiest way to stand and be counted is to register and join the team.  Then everything is automagic for us.  If you want to just send a check, we'll get it, and add you to the pledges ourselves, so either way, it's all good in the Lily hood.


Thanks everyone who has already donated.  We're BLOWN AWAY.  We don't know what the hell we're doing, and promise we'll do it better the next time around (minimum of one year from now) but your generosity is amazing and will be acknowledged more specifically in a later post.


Any questions, please ask.  I'll get you answers.  We want to blow ABOARD away with our contribution and make them look silly for only setting their goal at $10,000.  Thanks everyone!! 

18 comments:

  1. Thanks, Jim, from the treasurer of Autism Connection of PA (formerly known as "ABOARD")! I hope you make us look silly, too! Hope to meet you at the walk. --Steve Crane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wouldn't it be awesome if you looked REALLY silly?

      Delete
    2. How about REALLY, REALLY silly?

      Delete
    3. Let's not get carried away, Steve.

      Delete
  2. Yay, Team Lily! This is so great, Jim! I'm so excited everyone's donating and participating!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Donated- Your tutorial confused me a bit, so I just went to the page and donated. It sounds exciting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HAHAHA. . . so my tutorial, designed to make the confusion of the page easier to handle. . . actually made it harder, so you just went to the page?

      That right there, more than anything else, is why I'm not paid to write.

      Thanks, GB's Mom!

      Delete
  4. All ABOARD! With any luck I will follow these directions in a way that gets my money to the cause!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just signed on as a virtual walker but I have no idea if it saved :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It did NOT. But if you registered, just go to your page and add yourself to the team!

      Delete
    2. Yea! I got it :)

      Delete
  6. This is an awesome cause. I have a young man who is 20 facing challenges. The other night I attended the ABOARD Autism Connection Showcase, which featured adults on the spectrum showing off their jobs, volunteer work, or artistic businesses. They did this to show the rest of the world, including younger families, what potential lies ahead. Overheard at the event from a man with autism who looked to be in his mid-50's - "I just feel so prestigious tonight." A young man at the buffet table (this was at Center for the Arts in Pittsburgh, a pretty cool place) was talking about whether or not he should stick with counseling or go into history teaching. People were giving him advice. Another woman was selling greeting cards made from her pastel drawings. It was just really inspiring. So I think I'll walk in person because I like hanging around with these people, but wanted to let you know more about some of what this organization does from an eye-witness!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's great, Pittmom! Thanks for sharing! We'll see you at the walk!

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete