Guidelines & Tips for Organizations Hosting a Tread-A-Thon

1. Guidelines & Tips for Organizations Hosting a Tread-A-Thon TwitterFacebook

2. Raise awareness by first becoming aware. What We Don’t Know The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 372,000 people drown every year. These figures are significantly underestimated due to poor data collection (or lack there of), exclusion of drownings due to floods and boating accidents, and the sheer nature of drowning itself. What We Do Know Large scale surveys completed in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam estimate 250,000 - 450,000 children drown each year in Asia Pacific alone. Drowning is largely preventable and cost effective.

3. Comparison of Child Drownings Australia: average .14 drownings per day USA: average 1.2 drownings per day Cambodia: average 6 drownings per day Bangladesh: average 50 drownings per day “Adding Capital to Young Australians” Children that learn to swim at an early age are head of their class. Swimmers have been shown to be 10 months ahead cognitively of their non-swimming cohorts while also being 15 months ahead socially and emotionally. “Many of these skills are highly valuable in other learning environments and will be of considerable benefit for young children as they transition into pre-schools and school.” – Professor Robyn Jorgenson High Income Countries Drown Less But Still Don’t Learn to Swim UK: 45% of children entering secondary school can’t swim. USA: 40% of White children, 60% of Latino children, and 70% of African American children can’t swim.

4. What is a Tread-A-Thon? The International Water Safety Foundation (IWSF), a 501c3 non-profit organization, is a registered USA charity. We are focused on raising awareness about the global drowning epidemic, building a culture of learning to swim, and preventing drownings. Hosting a Tread-a-Thon™ is an awesome, simple way to raise money for drowning prevention programs and your organization! Organizations raise money by treading water. Treaders have a two-hour period in which to float, tread, and to be thankful that they know how. Treaders ask for donations from family, friends, neighbors, and businesses while making them aware of the most neglected global public health crisis. Donors make a flat donation in support of preventing drownings.The International Water Safety Foundation is proud to support you in the fight against drowning and in building a culture of learning to swim. IWSF has created is an online peer-to-peer fundraising platform so that raising funds, tracking donations, and reporting is easy to do through our online system. All participants register and create their own awareness page at www.drowningawareness.org

5. Fundraising For A Cause Swimmers Helping Non-Swimmers! The International Water Safety Foundation and participating organizations agree to split all funds collected as a result of a Tread-A-Thon™ right down the middle: 50/50. The International Water Safety Foundation has an obligation to use 80% of our raised monies to fund a featured drowning intervention project.

6. Tread-A-Thon: 6 Simple Steps Pick a date for your Tread-A-Thon RAISE AWARENESS! 2. Educate your Team 3. Educate your Athletes 4. Plan for Pledges & Promotion TAKE ACTION! 5. Spread the Word 6. TREAD!

7. Tread-A-Thon: Pick a Date You’ve decided to host a Tread-A-Thon! Fantastic! #1 Pick a date for your Tread-A-Thon We recommend a Planning Phase of at least 60 days and a RaiseAwareness Phase of 30 days. Example: May 15th is the day you choose to tread! February 15th – April 15th = Planning Phase. April 15th – May 15th = RaiseAwareness Phase.

8. Tread-A-Thon: Educate Team #2: Educate your Team (coaches, board members, parents) Running a successful Tread-A-Thon requires that everyone be involved. Set up a meeting with your coaching staff, board members, and parents. Inform them about the ongoing global drowning epidemic. Explain what a Tread-A-Thon is. Everyone that participates will create their own page on www.drowningawareness.org in order to raise funds from their personal network. Plan to make your Tread-A-Thon an annual, reoccurring event.

9. Tread-A-Thon: Educate Athletes #3: Educate your Athletes Understanding that swimming is a privilege is an empowering concept. Realizing that hundreds of thousands of children are drowning every year because they don’t know how to swim is sobering. Unleash the power of children helping children! Inform them about the ongoing global drowning epidemic. Explain what a Tread-A-Thon is. Prepare for 30 days of raising awareness and fund raising by creating innovative ways to let the world know that drowning is a global health crisis and that it is preventable!

10. Tread-A-Thon: Plan for Pledges #4: Plan for Pledges and Promotion Three of the top lead generators are: Blogs: create a press release story that can easily be shared on your website and ours, through swimming news outlets, and throughout all of social media Email Marketing: every team and person has an email contact list chuck full of people that don’t realize how many children drown every year; direct them to your Donation Page to support you Social Media: collectively share everything; be creative in raising awareness online while asking for donations These are all things you and your team can control. Champion them.

11. Tread-A-Thon: Spread the Word #5: Spreading the Word 30 Days Out from your Tread-A-Thon! Now that you have spent time identifying and creating your awareness campaign, you are now ready to take action! You have 30 days to raise awareness and donations before you tread. Athletes and coaches should be creative in raising awareness. Engage and educate on social media EVERY DAY. Going LIVE on Facebook is a great way to engage and educate potential donors – especially during the Tread-A-Thon!

12. Tread-A-Thon: Spread the Word #5: Spreading the Word Other areas of promotion, sponsorship, and donations: Alumni: contact your alumni and ask them to share your fundraising story and link to your donation page on social media Advertising: if you choose to spend money on advertising, we recommend targeted Facebook posts; boost posts that send donors to your Donation Page Associations: let your local swimming associations, triathlon clubs, and Masters teams in on the action; ask them to share your story socially Door-to-Door: whatever happened to good old fashioned door to door marketing? When a person answers the door introduce yourself and then ask that person that you are raising awareness of the global drowning epidemic and wondered if they knew how many people, especially children, drown every year. Swimming Media: submit your team’s story to your favorite swimming news outlets TV & Newspaper: contact your favorite local TV and newspaper and inform them about your team taking action against drowning; invite them to your Tread-A-Thon Small Businesses: locals support local – reach out to small businesses in your area

13. Tread-A-Thon Day! #6: TREAD! The day has finally come to tread water, to raise awareness, and to bring in final donations! One final push! All hands on deck! Have all participants sign in and complete your participation waiver. Warm up a little to get your athletes blood moving! Ready, set, tread! Start your watch. No touching the bottom! When an athlete is ready to stop or has grab ahold of a lane line or wall, ensure they exit the pool safely, and record their “Total Tread Time”. Encourage athletes that are finished treading to use their phones to continue to raise awareness and to cheer on their teammates!

14. Tread-A-Thon Rules Get your athletes in the water and ready to tread. Blow the whistle and start the timer. Any participant that touches the bottom, grabs on to a lane line, or touches the wall is officially out. Record their time so that they can improve and do better next time! Anyone not interested in “competing” for time are welcome to participate using lifejackets.

15. Tread-A-Thon FAQ’s Who can host a Tread-A-Thon™?Any organization! Hosting a Tread-A-Thon™ is an awesome way to fundraise for drowning prevention programs as well as your organization. Are donations tax deductible?The International Water Safety Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Donations made to the International Water Safety Foundation are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. If your organization is also a 501c3 registered non-profit and you are not providing goods or services in exchange for donations, than the full amount of a donation is tax deductible. If your organization is not a registered 501c3 non-profit organization, than only 50% of the donation is tax deductible. Please contact your current tax attorney and accountant.

16. Tread-A-Thon FAQ’s Who can I talk to about hosting a Tread-A-Thon™?Feel free to contact Nate to set up a phone call or email at intlwsd@gmail.com Can we hold a Tread-A-Thon™ without registering online?No. Tread-A-Thon is a registered trademark licensed by the International Water Safety Foundation. Holding a Tread-A-Thon without a contract would be a violation of this trademark. Can our team contribute more than 50% to the International Water Safety Foundation?Yes. Simply contact IWSF. Our team would like to host two Tread-A-Thon’s a year. Is that okay?Yes, teams may hold up to two Tread-A-Thon’s a year.