Having a brother that lives in Alaska, i am amazed that someone could just decide to run this race. i thought it was for people who train for years with their dogs.
Maybe your friend can do a Facebook campaign?
A "silent auction" to sponsor the cost of what it takes for each dog to be in this race? The winners can receive a picture of the dog along with it's lineage and history.

I wonder if she could contact some corporations and ask for sponsorship help? She could wear their sports clothing, or boots or use their brand of dog food?

If she could go public, tv, radio, newspaper, and could somehow get some personalities/celebrities involved, she would probably hit her goal. Everyone loves a heartwarming, feel good story.

I think the more people that know, the better chance she has. They will all want to follow her progress and cheer her on.

Best of luck to her.

You are correct Ellendi, most who run the Iditarod live in AK and sledding is a lifestyle for them. But Cindy (who lives in So Cal near me) is a gal made of determination and grit and managed to run all the qualifying races for the Iditarod (in which you are closely evaluated and graded) and she lived and trained with Lance Mackey. As a four time winning musher of the Iditarod, you can't get much better than that!

2014 will be her third racing season but this time she's living and training with Vern Halter up in Willow. I've personally met Vern and spent a day at his Dream a Dream kennels. Even did an 8-mile run with 12 of his dogs.

Jodi-

have her go corporate! write a letter to every bank, big business, and in some cases include a copy of a couple of chapters from her book...this is a little beyond the "normal" fund raisers...

50K wow!! Never knew it cost that much.

This is just a shot in the dark, but Colin Farrell has a child with Angelman's syndrome. Not sure if that is falls into NORD but it is not well known (My friend's daughter has it). Perhaps he would donate to bring awareness for his son's disease? He has given money in the past.

Also, your friend sounds like someone I would see on the Ellen show? She loves inspiration stories and animals.

Other then that, around here, groups get a local restaurant to give a percentage of profits for one night.

I kept thinking of this as I posted above. A lot of sports (Nascar, golf etc) seem to sell sponsorship on their shirts, hats or in her case sleds? I know it's not like the Superbowl, but maybe outdoor sports companies like REI or LLBean would be interested in buying a spot??

I've no suggestions, just wish her well!

I know of one group that rented a lot of construction vehicles, such as backhoes, bulldozers, dumptrucks, tractors, etc. and had parents pay to let their little ones climb on them and get their picture taken. The kids, esp the boys, loved it. I am sure local contractors would loan the vehicles free of charge for a Sunday afternoon. It was very successful.

Cindy stopped by the house briefly today to drop something off but I didn't have a chance to talk to her about fundraising. I'm working on a presentation for her speaking engagements. A bit later I will grab some of your ideas and share them with her. Might even invite her over to the KT to meet all my friends here. :-)

Her web site is back up and running now if you want to take a look and get to know her better.

Jodi-

Here is a link that might be useful: Cindy Abbott's Reaching Beyond the Clouds website

Would kickstarter be relevant?

(And the spell-checker here is giving me the gears).

ole joyful

Ole Joyful, not sure what KickStarter is but it sounds like a fundraiser site. One of many that are out there. I've already run one such site past her and she said she's already tried that approach and it's not worth the hassle.

I just sent an email to Cindy asking her to tell me what it cost to run the Iditarod, as I had guessed at the cost after hearing from others what the 2009 race cost to run. Cindy said it was closer to $70,000. Yikes!

I sure hope we can find some clever ways to earn a few dollars.

Jodi-

Why isn't she raising money for research and treatment, instead of for funding her own vacation trip? I think people would more gladly give money to the latter.

Is there any element of "charity" involved or is it just for one person's personal benefit? If not a charity, it's not tax deductible. She could be raising money for the hospital where she was treated, etc, I think that would be different.

Snidely, she is raising awareness wherever she goes for rare diseases.

Climbing Mt. Everest and running 1,150 miles across the harsh landscape of Alaska with nothing but your wits and your dogs, is no vacation.

She runs with jackets on her dogs that have the logo for the type of disease she has (Vasculitis) and when she reaches her goals, she displays the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD) banner to bring awareness to all rare diseases/disorders. Plus her activities have often coincided with Rare Disease Day.

Her effort to raise "awareness" would be much better directed to places where there's more eyeballs. I don't know where in SoCal you are, but she'll see more people in an hour at South Coast Plaza or Century City than in the wilderness of Alaska or a mountain trail in a poor country.

Why doesn't she raise money to combat the disease instead of for herself?

She is being inspirational Snidely. There are people with her disease and many others who need to know they are not alone and that life is worth living while you're on this earth.

She will be presenting in the South Coast Plaza general area in October and is currently getting the word out. Orange Coast Magazine just contacted her yesterday for an interview.

I just came here for suggestions on fundraising that isn't mainstream. Stuff that is not typical or generally thought of immediately when trying to raise funds for a cause. She has already done that approach. Just looking for other ideas.

This kind of stuff has always been in her blood. She was accepted into the space program many years ago but met the love of her life, fell in love and got married. At the time, that disqualified you for that program.