What is October Saves?
October Saves is a volunteer organization that began in 2014 for the purpose of raising money for a future without cancer. The concept is simple. During Breast Cancer Awareness month (October), goalies of all ages and skill levels across Canada fundraise for each save they make during October, with the opportunity to earn great prizes!
Funds raised will support the Canadian Cancer Society. Our work depends on you. Make a difference by turning your SAVES into fundraisers to help raise awareness and funds for our cause.
Why should I participate?
At the Canadian Cancer Society, we know that cancer changes people and nearly half of Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. But a cancer diagnosis doesn’t have to define a person. Our goal is to improve the cancer experience by helping people live longer and enhancing their quality of life. We believe that life is bigger than cancer.
Many of us have been directly affected by cancer and share a strong bond with others who experience the pain of this disease.
October Saves brings together communities, united by the same goal of creating a world where no Canadian fears cancer and those moving past cancer.
Why is there no smoking at Canadian Cancer Society events?
Smoking is strictly prohibited at all Canadian Cancer Society events. There is a correlation between the use of tobacco and cancer. Tobacco use causes about 45,000 deaths in Canada each year. The Canadian Cancer Society wants to set a positive example in the area of tobacco control by prohibiting the use of tobacco at events. Smokers are welcome to participate but they are asked to respect the smoke-free environment. For more information about tobacco and cancer, please visit Smoker’s Helpline.
How do I register for the October Saves Goalie Challenge?
To register:
- Choose your participation type
- Create an account
- Follow the rest of the registration prompts
What is your Privacy Policy?
Do I get a tax receipt for my donation?
Yes, charitable tax receipts will be issued for any donations made.
For offline donations, charitable receipts for donations of $20 or more will be issues. If you would like a receipt for a donation of less than $20, please contact our Donor Care team via email or by calling 1-888-939-3333.
Why wasn’t my credit card accepted?
There are several reasons a credit card might not be accepted. You might want to check that you have typed in the number correctly, that the expiry date is correct and that the name you’ve typed in appears exactly as it does on the card. If you would like further information, please contact your local Canadian Cancer Society community office.
Can I make a general donation to the Canadian Cancer Society?
Yes, you can make a general donation to the Canadian Cancer Society here.
Is online giving safe?
Give with confidence. The Canadian Cancer Society donation system is secure. When you donate online to the Canadian Cancer Society feel confident that your information is completely secure. We use the highest levels of Internet security and encryption to protect your credit card and personal information. Look for the “https” in your browser URL and the padlock symbol in your browser window.
Why do I have to fundraise?
With the money you raise, we can fund research that leads to life-saving discoveries and support people who are facing cancer today. Without your fundraising efforts, none of that would be possible.
How will you use the money that I raise?
Funds raised through October Saves are changing lives for the better by supporting ground-breaking research into more than 100 types of cancer, programs and services that help people with cancer and their families, and advocacy to governments on important cancer-related issues. Learn more about the impact funds raised through October Saves are making.
How many donors do I need?
As many as you want – there is no minimum number of donors for this event.
I’m new to fundraising, can you give me some tips?
Of course! Here are our top 3 tips:
- Make the first donation to your fundraising page. This will help other people choose how much to give to you, so make a donation that you’re proud of!
- Send fundraising emails from your Fundraising Centre to everyone you know. This is the secret of our top fundraisers! Ask everyone because every donation adds up.
- A few days after you send your first emails, send a reminder email to anyone you haven’t heard from yet. Experience tells us that most people need 2 to 3 reminders before they make a donation, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear from someone right away.
Can other people see the results of our fundraising?
Yes. Your fundraising pages – along with your results – are public, unless you opted to make them private when you registered. People will be able to see your fundraising totals, but they can’t see individual donation amounts. When someone makes a donation to your page, they can choose to do so anonymously. Having a public fundraising page allows people to search for you and make a donation easily.
If you’d like to make your personal fundraising page private, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre
- Click “Manage your Display Name” (on the right)
- Select “Keep Me Anonymous” and “Make my Personal Page Private (Not Searchable)”
- Click “Submit”
Do I need to enter the offline donations I’ve collected into my Fundraising Centre? How do I do it?
Adding your offline donations to your Fundraising Centre is a great way to keep track of your total fundraising amount. Follow the steps below to enter your offline donations and see your fundraising thermometer go up.
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre
- From the “Progress” tab, select “Enter a Donation”
- Follow the prompts
Receive My Fundraising Prizes
Fundraising prizes are rewarded based on fundraising money received by 10 p.m. on November 10. Top fundraisers will be announced on November 11. All fundraising milestone prizes will be mailed the first week of December.
Fundraise on Facebook
Please share your goalies link on your Facebook page. You can share on social media from your participant page. Please DO NOT do a Facebook Fundraiser through Facebook. These funds will not be received before the November 10 deadline and Facebook does not provide reports on where funds come from. They just send a cheque with no further details so it is impossible for us to know who to credit the funds towards.
What is a Fundraising Centre?
It’s where all the fundraising magic happens! Once you register for your event, you’ll automatically be given access to your Fundraising Centre. From there, you can:
- Update your registration information
- Customize your personal fundraising page and team page
- Import email contacts and send fundraising, recruitment and thank you emails
- Set your personal and team fundraising goals and track and manage your progress
- Easily share your personal page on social media
- Add offline donations to your online total
- Quickly access fundraising and participant resources
What if I forget my Username/Password?
- Go to the log in page
- Click “Email me my log in information”
- Enter the email address that you registered with
Your username or password will be emailed to you. Sometimes these emails end up in Spam or Junk folders, so be sure to check there.
How do I change the photo on my personal fundraising page?
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre
- From the “Personal Page” tab, click “Photos/Video”
- Select “Choose File”
- Add a photo from your computer, then select “Open”
- Write a caption if you want
- Click “Save/Upload”
How do I add my story to my personal fundraising page?
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre
- From the “Edit Personal Page” tab, edit your page title and story as you’d like
- Click “Save”
How do I import my email contacts into my Fundraising Centre?
Adding your contacts is easy to do, and it will help you track who you’ve sent emails to, so it’s well worth it! To import your contacts:
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre and go to the “Email” tab
- Click “Contacts”
- Click “Import Contacts”
- Select your email provider and click “Next”
- Follow the instructions
You can also add contacts one at a time from the “Email” tab
How do I send a fundraising email from my Fundraising Centre?
It’s quick and easy!
If you want to use a sample email, you’re welcome to use it as is or personalize it as much as you’d like.
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre and go to the “Email” tab
- Enter email addresses in the “To” field
- Click “Suggested Messages” and choose “Solicitation”. You can personalize the message once it’s selected
If you want to write your own email, you can save your custom message as a template so you can use it again later.
- Log in to your Fundraising Centre and go to the “Email” tab
- Enter email addresses in the “To” field
- Enter your subject line in the “Subject” field
- Write your email
I sent emails to my friends and family from my Fundraising Centre, but they haven’t received them. What can I do?
This isn’t your fault, it happens sometimes. Ask people to check your Spam folder. If they use Gmail, ask them to check their “Promotions” tab.
If you’re concerned they won’t receive your email, you can:
- Send yourself a fundraising email from your Fundraising Centre
- Copy and paste it into a new email
- Forward it to your friends and family from your personal email account.
Just remember that if you do this, your Fundraising Centre won’t be able to track who you’ve sent emails to.