Fundraiser Profile

Name: Kirk Barrett
Occupation: Solutions Architect for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
Age: 39
Status: Individual fundraiser
Team Captain of Team CSC - The Biggest team in 2006!

Number of team members: 195
Individual total: $3,983                        Team total: $25,979

How did you go about raising money to reach your personal target?

The first thing I did was make a donation myself and put my 'money where my mouth is'. There is no point in asking others to donate and support people with MS if I'm not willing to do it myself. This way the first thing people saw on visiting my web page was my own donation including the other team members), showing I believe in what I am doing and prepared to 'put up'.or I should 'shut up'!

The second thing I did was take advantage of the online web page that was created when I entered online to send out sponsorship requests via email, asking people to not only support a great cause, but to help me achieve my personal goal.

The web page was also great as I could use it to track all the offline donations I received (this was most of my money) from people in person. This feature made it so much easier to do the whole 'sponsorship' thing.

How easy did you find fundraising?

I didn't reach my target till the week of the ride but it was really satisfying to get there. I didn't worry about asking people as I am close to the cause and believe in doing what I can to make a difference. All you have to do is ask, the worst they can say is 'no'.

Why do you support people with MS?

I personally know 3 people with MS. A friend's wife, my best man's father and we had a colleague resign last year after battling with MS for a while. It had finally gotten to a point where he couldn't keep up with the full time load at work. This really added a new dimension as he had been a keen cyclist and regularly rode to and from work for years.

How did you go about organising such a large corporate team?

We sent an announcement out to staff in our offices in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Canberra, Nowra and opened entry up to staff and their immediate family. We had people come from all these locations to ride in the event as well as one staff member from our Adelaide office.

We used email and found a volunteer at each office location who would be the local contact for staff there (like a captain at each site).

We had fantastic corporate support from the company. CSC sponsor one of the world's leading professional cycling teams, Team CSC and they are also a technology partner on a number of major professional cycling events around the world, including the Tour de France. Given our focus on cycling we already had some of the ground work done for us. It also helped that our CEO and a number executives rode in the team as well. All I had to do to gain corporate support was create a proposal outlining the benefits (staff morale) etc and what we were after (team uniform, marquee at the finish).

There was a lot of work organising all the details like the gear and the marquee at the finish with a nice lunch and cool drink. The most rewarding part was being able to fundraise such a large amount for people with MS and being witness to the sense of achievement on the faces of the team members at the finish.

How did you go about raising money to reach your team target?

We made it clear to staff that as CSC was providing their gear etc, the least they could do was to fundraise to support the cause. We also offered small prizes to the top 3 fundraisers in the team (I was excluded as the organiser). The team really got behind the cause and actively fundraised, helping to achieve such a fantastic result.

We also asked the company who produce the Team CSC gear, Riis Cycling, to donate additional gear which we auctioned for additional sponsorship dollars.

Our facilities people in Wollongong were in the process of relocating staff to a new building and arranged to run an auction of all the prints off the walls from the two main buildings.

It was really important to regularly communicate with team members and continually encourage them to raise sponsorship and keep informing them of the progress towards our goal of $20,000. This truly made it a team effort and reminded everyone that they were part of something bigger than just a team of cyclists riding 90km, we were all playing our part in helping all Australians affected by MS.

How easy and rewarding did your team find fundraising?

A lot of people put in a big effort to help us achieve our goal which was fantastic. I guess that's what being part of a team is about.

How did you go on the day?

I have been riding in the event for 11 years now and it's always a great day. The weather made things a bit more difficult last year but I've been assured by the organisers that they've put their order for nice weather really early this year! My particular favourites are the ride through the Royal National Park without any cars on the road, coming up out of the park to look south along the beautiful Illawarra coastline is breathtaking and riding over the Sea Cliff Bridge for the first time was spectacular.

Coming back in 2007?

Captain Kirk and Team CSC will certainly be back in strength again and we've got our eye on the biggest fundraising team prize this year.