FAQ

FRED'S BIG RUN APP

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HOW DO I CONNECT MY Fred's Big Run (FBR) ACCOUNT WITH THE Fred's Big Run (FBR) APP?

  1. Make sure you have registered for Fred's Big Run at www.fredsbigrun.org - Registration is free! 
  2. Download the free Fred's Big Run (FBR) App from Google Play or Apple App Store.
  3. Log-in to with your FBR email address and password
  4. You now ready to Lace Up, Step up and start logging those km's ;-)
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HOW DOES Fred's Big Run (FBR) APP WORK?

After you have registered and activated your fundraising account, you are ready to download the FBR App.

1. Download the Fred's Big Run App from Google Play or the Apple App Store

2. Log-in using same email and password you use to access your FBR fundraising page

4. Complete as many training run as you like during the training period to get a feel for the app until 30 July; on that day we will re-set all distances logged back to zero.

5. On Sunday 1st August, simply click "Start" to begin your Fred's Big Run challenge.

6. Run, walk or cycle at your pace and once you do for the day click 'Stop' to save your activity of the day.

7. The App will only stop recording your activity when you hit 'Stop'.

8. Submit your run and check out your place on the leader board

9. Share your activity to your feed with photos from your run

10. Next time you go out, click 'Start' again to start tracking your next activity.

WHAT PHONE AND APP SETTINGS DO I NEED TO ACTIVATE TO MAKE SURE THE APP WORKS PROPERLY? 

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1. Ensure you have a smartphone with the latest version of the FBR App.

2. Make sure your battery is fully charged.

3. Ensure your phone is NOT in low power mode.

4. Ensure your GPS / Location is turned on.

5. Ensure your location settings for the App are on and set to ‘always allow’ to ensure your location can accurately track during your activity.

If you are experiencing any issues with the App, please contact us at fredsbigrun@hollows.org or call us on 1800 627 892

DO I NEED TO USE THE FBR APP TO TAKE PART IN THE CHALLENGE?

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For the most interactive and fun experience, we recommend using the FBR App for each walk or run you do in August to tally up all your distances of your challenge in August.

And share your progress with your friends and family.

However, you can add any distance you walk or run manually to your fundraising page or use some other fitness app to keep track of your distance.

HOW DO I LOG MY DISTANCE USING THE FBR APP? 

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Open the App and press ‘START’ in the ‘FBR’ tab.

The phone can be locked and put in your pocket during the run, but you must ensure your location settings for the App are ON and set to ‘always allow’.

Press 'STOP' button when you are finished with your walk or run – that’s it!

Remember, all your training km's will be set back to '0' km on 1st August, when we start with Fred's Big Run!

HOW DO I POST A  MAP OF MY WALK TO THE APP FEED AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA (Facebook)? 

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When you complete an activity, you will be prompted to share it to the feed.

Add a caption and upload a photo from your walk.

Then share to the feed so the rest of the participants can like and comment. 

Once you’ve shared your walk in the App feed, you can find it in the 'Feed' tab under the ‘You’ section.

To share the post on social media, click the share button at the bottom of your post and follow the directions.

DO I NEED TO TAKE MY PHONE WITH ME ON MY RUN/WALK?

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For the App to track your run distance, you will need to take your phone with you.

Open the App and press "START" when you are ready to begin your activity.

The phone can be locked and put in your pocket during the run, but you must ensure your location settings for the app are ON and set to "always allow".

When you have reached your selected distance for the day, simply press 'STOP' to end the tracking.

Make sure you 'STOP' the app otherwise it will keep tracking your drive home ;-)

WHAT IF MY PHONE FREEZES OR RUNS OUT OF BATTERY?  Do I have to restart the phone after I have clicked ‘START’? Will the tracking resume or will I have to restart my walk?

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When your phone is off, the App stops tracking your distance, but the timer continues to record.

When your phone is fully charged and turned on again, you can continue your walk and the App will resume tracking your distance from where it stopped previously.

MY LOCATION IS NOT TRACKING IN THE APP! 

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You must ensure your location settings for the App are ON and set to ‘always allow’.

Click the ‘Location Settings’ button in the MORE tab of the app and check.

MY FBR APP CRASHED / MY APP IS FROZEN!

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Try closing your App and restart.

This should take you back to the map view, or back into your current activity.

If you are still having issues, uninstall the App, and reinstall the latest version of the App directly from the app store.

WHY IS THE FBR APP's GPS TRACKING LESS ACCUARATE THAN OTHER GPS TECHNOLOGIES? 

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Companies such as Fitbit, Garmin or Strava have very sophisticated GPS tracking systems that they have developed over long periods of time.

These companies often use different satellites as well.

As such, these systems will sometimes show a different result for your tracked kilometres than the FBR App.

We work continually on improving the FBR App, but there will be a limit to the accuracy of the GPS recording produced through it.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO RECORD MY RUNS FOR? 

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Training Mode will be available until 30 July. Utilise this time to get a feel for the app and track as many runs as you wish.

On Sunday, 1 August Fred's Big Run officially starts, you can complete your distance goal over the next 31 days until Tuesday, 31 August.

Please note, the App will be in Transition Mode from 11:59pm on Friday, 30th June to 00:01am AEST on Sunday 1st August.

During that time, you can view the feed and chat with your team mates, but won't be able to track activity.

HOW DO THE TEAMS WORK? 

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Participants who are part of a team can check how their teammates are doing by checking on the distance and fundraising leader boards.

They can also interact with their team members via the team feed and help the team top the distance and fundraising leader boards by tracking your km as well as fundraising to help needlessly blind people.

HOW DO THE LEADER BOARDS WORK? 

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There are three (3) areas where you can see leader boards and stats for the event.

Go to the LEADERBOARD tab, where you will see two leader boards:

1. Individual - this will reflect the total number of km's an individual has tracked between 1st & 31st August

2. Team - this reflects the accumulated total distance of all team members tracked in August

AND

3. Fundraising Leader board - click on the link or go to 'MORE' tab, there it shows the Individual as well as the Team's Fundraising tally updated daily.

CAN MY PHONE RUN OUT OF BATTERY WHEN I USE THE APP FOR A LONG WALK? 

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Android phone manufactures prefer battery life over proper app functionality. This can be easily fixed by using an app called 'Don’t kill my apps'

Smartphones are getting more and more powerful, but the battery capacity is sometimes lagging. Manufactures are always trying to squeeze some battery saving features into each new Android release. But some go so far that they break useful apps just to artificially claim more battery life. Check out the Don't Kill my Apps website if this is happening to you. Read more

CHALLENGE

WHAT IS FRED’S BIG RUN?

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We are challenging you to walk, jog or run 50, 100, 150 or more kilometres throughout the month of August to raise funds to help restore sight to needlessly blind. Right now, over 43 million people in the world are blind, but 9 out of 10 don’t need to be! A simple procedure costing as little as $25 can help restore sight to these people. Fred’s Big Run is a fitness and fundraising challenge for everyone, supporting the sight-restoring work of The Fred Hollows Foundation.

WHEN AND WHERE IS THE FRED’S BIG RUN?

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Fred’s Big Run is a virtual online fitness challenge running for one month from 1st August to 31st August each year. You decide where and when to start and finish your challenge and how far you will go to help restore sight.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?

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Wherever you live, whatever your fitness level, you chose the place and pace to complete Fred’s Big Run. Choose the distance you want to cover, step up and start your challenge and keep track of your progress on your fundraising dashboard.

IS CYCLING ALLOWED FOR FRED’S BIG RUN?

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Fred’s Big Run is more than just a run, we encourage everyone to step up to restore sight, you decide if your challenge is on foot, on a bike, in a wheelchair or in the water, simply adjust the distance in a way that will challenge you. A challenging goal will make sure others will support you.

REGISTERING

HOW DO I REGISTER?

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You are almost there – simply click here and get ready to step up to restore sight.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO REGISTER?

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It’s free to register and participate in Fred’s Big Run! Just sign up and start your challenge and help restore sight to needlessly blind people.

HOW TO CREATE OR JOIN A TEAM?

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Anyone can create a team for Freds Big Run when registering as a participant. After you filled-in your personal details you have a choice to create your own team or join a team. When you create a team you will become automatically the designated Team Captain. As a captain you can invite others to join you. You have the option to show your team as 'open to public', meaning anyone can join your team or 'private', meaning only invited people can join your team. 

To join a public team simply click on the "Join Us" button on the teams fundraising page. If a team is set to 'private' usually the team captain will send out an invitation to join that team or you will need to ask the team captain to send you an invite.

HOW MANY MEMBERS CAN BE IN A TEAM?

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You can do this challenge on your own or invite as many friends, family or work colleagues you like.  Together you will work towards your overall team goal and target. Each of you will manage your own personal fundraising account, where you can track your distance and fundraising but everyone’s tally will be added up and combined on your team page.

HOW TO RESET MY PASSWORD?

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Login to your Fred’s Big Run account and head to ‘Dashboard’. Select ‘My Account’ in menu bar and under ‘Update My Account’ select ‘Reset Password’.

MY PERSONAL FITNESS APP

HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF MY KILOMETRES WITHOUT THE FREDS BIG RUN APP?

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You can log your kilometres in two more ways:

1. Link your fundraising page to a personal fitness tracker or app

Your fundraising page can be linked to FitBit, MapMyFitness or Strava to automatically sync and add your kilometres each time you record an activity.

You can use your smartphone to download FitBit, MapMyFitness or Strava app to get started. After creating an account with your preferred app, login to your Fred’s Big Run account and head to the ‘My Fitness Activity’ tab to connect to your fitness app.

Please note, sometimes there can be a delay with your fitness activity showing up on your fundraising page from fitness apps. Please allow up to 72 hours (especailly for Strava users) for this to appear.

2. Log your kilometres manually

To log kilometres manually, simply login to your online fundraising page and head to the ‘My Fitness Activity’ and follow the prompts to record your activity manually.

CAN I START COUNTING MY KILOMETERS BEFORE AUGUST?

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It is good to get ready for Fred’s Big Run and you can start tracking your training kilometres prior to August, however we will reset your kilometres to zero on 1st August. This is so that every starts equally and together.

HOW DO I LINK MY FITNESS APP WITH MY FUNDRAISING PAGE?

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1. USE A FITNESS APP (Fitbit, Strava or MapMyFitness)

Use your personal fitness device and track your workouts with Fitbit, Strava or MapMyFitness and your kilometres will automatically be added to your fundraising page.

Step 1: Download the Fitbit, Strava or MapMyFitness app and set up your account

Step 2: Login to your Fred’s Big Run dashboard and select ‘Log My Fitness Activity’

Step 3: Under heading ‘Connect your preferred Fitness app’, click your chosen app

Step 4: Follow the prompts to connect the fitness app to your account

Now each time you start a run or walk, take your phone and turn on your app and select 'Start your workout'. Once you end your workout, save it and your workout (distance) will be published on your page the following day (please allow up to 72 hours for Strava downloads).

Please note:

When using ‘Fitbit’, you must ‘start’ an activity and save it. Your daily steps will not automatically add to your page. If you are having issues, try syncing through BOTH your Fitbit and the Fitbit app on your smartphone.

When using ‘MapMyFitness’, you must ‘start’ your workout, ‘stop’ your workout and then ‘SAVE’ your workout.

2. ADD YOUR KILOMETRES MANUALLY

You can also enter your distance walked manually for Fred’s Big Run.

Use your dashboard to add them to your fundraising page. This is a great option if you’re using a stepping tracker on your phone, a pedometer or log your workouts with Apple Watch Workout or if you don't use a fitness app at all.

Step 1: Login to your dashboard and select ‘Log My Fitness Activity’

Step 2: Under ‘Add activity’, enter the date and distance

Step 3: The number of KMs will now appear on your fundraising page!

FUNDRAISING

IS FUNDRAISING COMPULSORY?

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No, Fred’s Big Run is a personal challenge and you set your own goal and target. Remember, your efforts will help the over 38 million people in this world who are needlessly blind and a short 10 minute procedure costing as little as $25 can help restore their sight. That small amount not only changes that person’s life but has a far-reaching impact for their family and wider community too.

SET AN AMBITIOUS GOAL

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Make sure you set an ambitious but achievable fundraising goal. You’ll be amazed at the impact you can make once you get started. Your friends and family are more likely to sponsor you if they see you have a goal and they can help you reach it. The higher the goal, the more support you will receive!

Don’t forget to also set a goal for the kilometres you want to cover. Challenge yourself and remember, the higher the goal, the more impressive you will be to your friends and family and they will want to support you.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DO NOT REACH MY GOAL?

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Raising money may be a daunting task but that’s why we are here. We will help you with your challenge and make raising money to help needlessly blind people fun and easy. Check out our fundraising blog for ideas to get you started.

There are a few prizes to be won along the way for your fundraising efforts, we hope this also encourages you to go the distance

HOW DO I GET MY FUNDRAISING PAGE?

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When you register for Fred’s Big Run, your fundraising page is automatically created. With that page you can keep track of your distance covered and your funds raised.

HOW DO I START FUNDRAISING?

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Fundraising is simple, easy and fun. Here a few quick tips to kick start your fundraising:

  1. Be the first to donate, make a small contribution to your own challenge. Show your friends and family that you are taking this challenge seriously and help to encourage them to do the same.
  2. Share your personal page on social media and let your network know of the great thing you are doing. Share internally at work too!
  3. Use one of our prepared email templates, you can find these when you login to your fundraising page
  4. Check out our fundraising blog for more ideas that don’t always involve asking for money!

WHERE DOES THE FUNDRAISING MONEY GO?

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The Fred Hollows Foundation has a very clear goal: we’re putting an end to avoidable blindness. Fred got things done. He always pushed for change and, because of that, put in motion a legacy to end avoidable blindness. In his time as a humanitarian and eye surgeon, Fred helped restore eyesight to thousands of people in Australia and overseas. Thanks to your help and support The Foundation is able to keep Fred’s dream of a world without needlessly blind people alive. The Foundation works currently in over 25 countries including Indigenous Australia. Find out more about our work and your impact here and read how much of your fundraising is spent to restore sight in our annual reports here.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEST WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO SPONSOR ME?

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Upload a profile image so that people can find you on the website and see who they are supporting. Tell your story, update the blog regularly and share your enthusiasm and passion for restoring sight.

Lead the way and sponsor yourself. Once you're underway, your friends and family will be encouraged to follow and make their donations to help reach your goal. Once you have achieved your goal, you do have the option to increase it! As long as there's a goal to aim for, people will give.

Join our Fred’s Big Run Facebook Community This group helps you to find all the answers you may have. You share tips and ideas with other fundraiser’s and you can also discuss training and running tips. Join here.

Put up a poster We have a range of resources for you to advertise your fundraiser. Put up a poster at your school, workplace, local coffee shop, gym or club and let everyone know about your participation in Fred’s Big Run. Click here for posters.

Add a Fred’s Big Run email signature to your emails Download our Fred’s Big Run Email Signature Banner from our resources page, and add this to the base of your emails, before emailing to your network.

Ask and you will receive Ask everyone you know to support your efforts to restore sight. Log in to your fundraising account, go to 'My Fundraising', then 'Get Support'. 

We’ve done most of the work for you – select one of our email templates and send to your own email address where you can personalise, before forwarding to your contacts.

Remember - if you don’t ask, people won't know. If you tell people about your efforts to run/walk 50km or more in August, they will likely want to support your challenge and donate. You may be surprised who will support your challenge to help restore sight to needlessly blind people.

And don’t forget to thank your supporters for their donation!

SOCIAL MEDIA IS KEY!

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FACEBOOK is the perfect platform to fundraising. People who use social media raise on average twice as much as other fundraisers!

Share your fundraising page on all your social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to maximise your donations. Make sure you read our FAQs on Facebook Fundraising to avoid donation issues!

Send a personal message to your friends explaining your reasons to help needlessly blind people and ask for their support.

Click here for social media images 

Sample Social post:I’ve started a new challenge! Fred’s Big Run is a virtual challenge to walk or run 50km or more during the month of August. I’m running X km and fundraising for The Fred Hollows Foundation to restore sight to needlessly blind people. Help me carry on Fred’s vision by supporting my run. Every bit helps! As little as $25 can help restore sight.”

HOW TO LINK YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE WITH INSTAGRAM?

Instagram doesn’t allow links in comments or posts.

The only way to add your fundraising page link is by adding it to your personal profile as a URL. Go to 'Edit Profile' and copy/paste your fundraising URL into the website field. 

Then to promote on Instagram, we suggest you download a social tile from our resources page on Freds Big Run website and add the words “Please click the website link in my bio to support my challenge” to the tail end of the copy in your post.

FUNDRAISING USING FACEBOOK

I SHARED MY PAGE ON FACEBOOK ASKING FOR DONATIONS AND CLICKED ON THE FACEBOOK DONATE BUTTON.

WILL THE FUNDS I RAISE THROUGH FACEBOOK GO TO THE FRED HOLLOWS FOUNDATION?

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Yes, they will. However, at this stage we are unable to identify nor link any donations back to your Fred’s Big Run fundraising page automatically. We suggest that you don’t use the Facebook Donate button for that reason. Should you already have set-up such a fundraising post, we recommend that you:

  1. Delete the post, as this is the only way to remove the Facebook Donate button,
  2. Create a new Facebook post and only share the link to your fundraising page without adding the ‘Donate’ button.

DONATIONS RAISED THROUGH FACEBOOK ARE NOT SHOWING UP ON MY FUNDRAISING PAGE?

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Facebook donations are handled by a third party, and unfortunately, we can’t sync these donations with your personal fundraising page due to limitations with Facebook Donate functionality. We advise you do not use the Facebook Donate button to raise funds and recommend that you simply share the link to your fundraising page on your social media pages without using the Facebook Donate button.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY FACEBOOK DONATE BUTTON?

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  1. Delete the initial post, as this is the only way to remove the Facebook Donate button,
  2. Create a new Facebook post and share only the link to your fundraising page without adding the ‘Donate’ button.

WHY CAN’T YOU SYNC MY DONATIONS?

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Facebook donations are handled and held by a third party, and Facebook doesn’t have the functionality to sync donations to a fundraisers page at the moment. We’re working with Facebook to try to find a solution for the future, but currently we advise you not to use the Facebook Donate button to raise funds. 

PEOPLE HAVE DONATED TO ME THROUGH FACEBOOK, WILL THE FRED HOLLOWS FOUNDATION STILL RECEIVE THE FUNDS?

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Yes, if you have selected ‘The Fred Hollows Foundation’ as your charity of choice, we’ll receive the funds. However, there will be a delay until we receive this funds from Facebook and before we can allocate the funds to your fundraising page. Contact us if you know of supporters who have given you through Facebook, so we can look out for these donations for you.

IS MY DONATION VIA FACEBOOK SECURE?

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The Facebook Donate button is a Facebook-owned feature, you need to contact them directly with any queries about privacy and security. Here is the link to their policy:  https://m.facebook.com/payments_terms/privacy

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ARE DONATIONS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?

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All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible for Australian tax payers. If the donor receives something material in return for their money, such as a raffle ticket, a ticket for a movie, a dinner or auction item, these contributions are not tax deductible.

I AM HOSTING AN EVENT – CAN THE FOUNDATION HELP?

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Of course, BBQ, movie night or trivia, a book club, dinner, high tea, girls’ night in, the options are endless.

  1. Click here for BBQ tips and tricks
  2. Why are trivia nightsso popular? Because they work! Get your friends, family and work colleagues together and have fun with fundraising. Click here for more
  3. Host a Lunch, Brunch or Dinner– a great meal with friends and families? Charge an amount to cover food, drink and a donation towards your fundraising. Click here for more
  4. Movie Night – a movie night may be all you need to reach your fundraising goal. Enjoy a great night out with friends and family and restore sight at the same time. Click here for more
  5. Raffle - A raffle can be incorporated into all fundraising events! It’s a great way to increase your fundraising.  Click here for more

HOW TO ISSUE RECEIPTS TO MY SPONSORS?

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Your supporters will automatically receive a tax receipt emailed to them, when they make a donation on-line using your fundraising page. For cash and cheque donations follow the instruction below.

The Fred Hollows Foundation does not usually issue receipt books to its fundraisers, unless a large event with potentially lots of cash donations warrants receipt books being used. If you need assistance with receipts, please email or phone 1800 627 892

WHAT DO I DO WITH CASH OR CHEQUES?

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Add cash donations to your fundraising page by following these steps:

Step 1Login to your fundraising page

Step 2: Go to 'My Fundraising' and select 'My Donations' and then select 'Add Offline Donations' 

Step 3: Add the amount and the details of the donor (First and Last Name and email address) should your donor wants a receipt. Or use your own personal details.

For a tax receipt please tick the box under the amount field. Please note any money received for goods sold (e.g. movie or raffle tickets, BBQ etc) are not tax-deductible so please DO NOT tick the box under the amount field.

Step 4: Use your credit card to make the donation

Step 5: The amount of the donation will be added to your fundraising total and a tax receipt is issue to your sponsor if applicable.

Deposit directly into The Foundation bank account

You can bank cash or make an EFT transfer to The Fred Hollows Foundatio through any Westpac Bank branch. For our bank details please contact us on 1800 627 982.    

Cheque donations

Please make sure any cheques are made out to The Fred Hollows Foundation. Send the cheque(s) together with a small note containing the event name (Fred’s Big Run), participant name, donor name and donor email address to The Fred Hollows Foundation, Locked Bag 5021, Alexandria NSW 2015. Make sure you mention it is in support of Fred’s Big Run.

We will allocate the money to your fundraising page and issue the donor with a tax receipt.

HOW CAN I GET MY WORK INVOLVED?

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Involving your work colleagues with an event is a great way to raise money and a great excuse for team bonding! Here are a few ideas to get you started. Don’t hold back on being creative and making it fun! Also make sure to ask your HR or CSR team if they offer matched-giving donations.

CORPORATE MATCHED GIVING

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Many employers support their employees’ charitable efforts through their matched-giving program. Even if an employer does not have a matched-giving program, they may still be willing to support your challenge and donate to you. All you have to do, is ask! Check here for more info

FUNDRAISE AT SCHOOL

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Host a bake sale, casual clothes day, sausage sizzle or sports activity to raise money for The Foundation at your school. Check out our fundraising blog for more.

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DO YOU SELL EVENT T-SHIRTS?

No, however we reward the first 1,500 fundraisers who raise more then $300 with a limited edition of our Fred's Big Run 2023 T-shirt! Set a high fundraising goal so your supporters see you are keen to help restore sight and you will be wearing a Fred’s Big Run T-shirt very soon. Alternatively make a donation to yourself right now and you are a step closer to wear the limited edition of our Freds Big Run T-shirt. And don't forget, there are many more exciting rewards for our dedicated fundraisers going the extra mile ;-) 

CAN I VOLUNTEER FOR THE EVENT?

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Since Fred’s Big Run is a virtual event, we do not need volunteers for this event. However, you can volunteer for The Foundation in our office or at one of our other events.  The Foundation recognises that volunteers are a crucial part of smooth running and success of events and in the office. Contact us to find out more.

HOW TO LINK YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE WITH INSTAGRAM?

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Instagram doesn’t allow links in comments or posts.

The only way to add your fundraising page link is by adding it to your personal profile as a URL. Go to 'Edit Profile' and copy/paste your fundraising URL into the website field. 

Then to promote on Instagram, we suggest you download a social tile from our resources page on Freds Big Run website and add the words “Please click the the website link in my bio to support my challenge” to the tail end of the copy in your post.

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HOW DO I CREATE or JOIN A TEAM?

When you sign up for Fred's Big Run you'll be asked whether you'd like to create a team or join a team. If you create a team, you'll need to name the team and invite your team members to join you (you need their names and email address). They'll receive an email to join your team and to complete their registration. 

Companies also have to option to register an Organisation/Workplace page, again a team captain, after having created the team, will have the option to create an Organisation page. Individual have the option to join a team already linked to an organisaton or simply join the Organisation or a team within the Organisation. Any team can also join the Organisation.

Go team!

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CAN I VISIT THE FOUNDATION'S PROGRAM WORK?

We appreciate your request to visit our programme work, but unfortunately, we can’t allow visitors in our clinics. This is to avoid disruption to our eye care services and to provide privacy and respect to the patients accessing eye care. Please contact us on 1800 627 892 for more information or questions.

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HOW CAN  THE FOUNDATION RESTORE SIGHT FOR $25?  

While the cost of cataract surgery varies depending on the specific operating environments in the countries where we work, in some countries it is possible to restore sight for as little as $25.

Our $25 cost includes the three key things needed to restore sight – the surgeon’s time, the consumable equipment and the intraocular lens (IOL) which replaces the cataract.

The most important element in modern cataract surgery is the IOL – Fred Hollows used to refer to them as "the most expensive pieces of plastic in the world". Reducing the cost of the IOL was the fundamental factor in making cataract surgery affordable.

Today, IOL prices vary significantly – including in low and middle-income countries.

In October 2021 The Foundation evaluated our program costs for small incision cataract surgery in countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia to ensure the $25 cost remained accurate.

Our assessment showed IOLs start from $4 in Pakistan, about $6 in Cambodia, and about $14 in Bangladesh.

The other key costs are the surgeon’s time (which is less than $1.50 per patient in those three countries) and consumable equipment (as little as $5.46).

So with the cost of the IOL, the surgeon and the consumables it is possible that The Foundation can restore sight for as little as $25 in some countries.

We acknowledge that not all surgeries in all countries are as little as $25. The cost of surgery depends on factors including the country of treatment, the age and circumstances of the patient, how and where the treatment is delivered, the type of procedure, the IOL used, the hospital type (government or private), the facilities of the hospital, inpatient or day procedure delivery mechanisms, and the economic status of people in the country or region.