One of my favorite parts of working in sports philanthropy is all of the interesting people that I get to meet with and all of the fantastic organizations that I learn from.
From the moment that I met Michelle Stroud, the Director of Development for Dare2Tri, I was impressed by her vision for the organization and how she could quickly cut to the most important issues in our conversation.
When we were finally able to schedule more time to sit down together, Michelle’s passion for the organization became apparent and her vision for the fundraising and development efforts were impressive.
Too frequently when I sit down with someone they seem to be trying to sell me on the organization. Michelle shared the story of Dare2Tri and was very articulate in explaining its mission.
Dare2Tri’s focus is empowering individuals with physical and visual disabilities through the sport of triathlon. It hopes to positively impact their lives using the sport and helping them develop the skills that they need for competition.
But what I liked the most, was the information that Michelle shared with me about why that was important. She continued to stress to me that one of the most crucial elements of their program is that it allows all of the participants to be able to share these activities with friends and family members in addition to the competition.
The Impact Report that Michelle shared with me had a ton of impressive information. The report provided the breakdown of the participants, listed an enormous variety of disabilities that are served and provided solutions for many of the problems the disabled athletes feel from not having access to adaptive equipment, limited opportunities to be physically active or receive coaching to the barrier of the costs of participation.
But of all of the things in their package of material, one line stood out to me. THE FINISH LINE IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
Their track record is impressive:
- 91% felt significant improvement in their confidence
- 87% found that involvement with Dare2Tri eliminated barriers to activity
- 80% felt that their health and wellness significant improved.
With numbers like those, it is not suprising to see the rapid growth.
For more information about Dare2Tri, email to info@dare2tri.org or visit their website at www.dare2tri.org.
