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Meet Matt Muffelman and the 2009 USA Lightweight Men’s Rowing Team – from August 23-30, they’ll be representing the USA at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Poland.
We were fortunate to catch up with Matt between a couple of the team’s intense training sessions this week, and we chatted with him to find out how his team has raised over $16,000 in just two weeks. He also shared more about his team’s goals, including their fundraising goal of $30,000.
Why they’re fundraising:
Since rowers don’t receive any paychecks or sponsorship deals, the team needs to raise $30,000 in order to get to the starting line of the FISA World Rowing Championships in Poland.
Once they surpass their fundraising goal, any additional money raised will roll over into the Lightweight Victory Fund. The mission of this fund is to build an endowment that will continue to support USA Lightweight Men’s rowing into the future.
Last year, the team had to raise $10K for United States Rowing Association so that they could compete, and ultimately capture the gold medal at the World Championships in Austria. They created a FirstGiving page and within 2 days, surpassed their goal, raising $12k.
Following the success of last year’s fundraising effort, the team set up their page for this year’s Championships. Despite the hefty fundraising goal, the team is off to a great start. “We surpassed the $10K barrier within 5 days” said Matt.
The 2009 USA Lightweight Men’s Rowing Team
Kerry Quinn, Jimmy Sopko, Andrew Diebold, Matt, Anthony Fahden, Kenny McMahon, Ryan Fox, Matt Kochem, and Skip Dise complete the team and have been training in Princeton, New Jersey since May. With Matt being the only veteran, the team’s focus is to gain more experience racing together and see what they can do as a team.
The first heat for the championships will be on August 23. These 9 men will propel the equivalent of 1 Ton of equipment and teammates 2,000 meters in just under 6 minutes. That’s an average speed of 11.5 knots. If all goes as expected, the team will be in the finals a week later and one step closer to the 2012 Olympics in London.
“I’m really excited about our team – we have a really good chance of medaling,” said Matt.
Firstgiving has helped the 2009 USA Lightweight Men’s Rowing Team raise money
The team found FirstGiving easy to use and an effective way to communicate their fundraising goals. “I’ve done everything from tag sales to car washes, and FirstGiving is by far the easiest way to raise money,” said Matt.
Another key factor in the team’s fundraising success has been reaching out to the largest audience possible. “If I do a bake sale to raise money, I only target the people who walk by,” said Matt. “When we use FirstGiving, it’s easier to reach more people.”
The team has been spreading the word by including a link to their fundraising page in emails to friends and family, facebook status updates, and sending press releases to different newspapers.
Matt also looks forward to the FirstGiving email alert that lets him know when someone has made a donation to his team’s page:
“I have my email sent to my phone – it’s [FirstGiving email alert] like Christmas morning every 20 minutes.”
