Charity fundraiser concept

[Mr. Nobody]

**PLEASE KEEP CONFIDENTIAL FOR NOW**​

@Tyler and @Malcolm

Alright, so here is what I have been developing. Bare in mind this is not finished or polished, and there are a lot of details to work through. With that said I still think this is possible and could be a great way for T3G to not only expand by getting rapid, massive exposure and good PR, but also help an awesome charity I personally have worked with for years now.

I welcome your guys questions and comments and I hope you guys will see what I've been conceptualizing now for the last 6 months but just couldn't tie it all together. When you guys brought me on board here that was the final spark. It clicked and I had the full concept in my mind. I honestly think this could be a platform to expand on for years to come in many different directions.

Tacoma3G and San Diego 911 Memorial Stair Climb 2019 Fundraising Concept:​

Background: The San Diego 911 Memorial Stair Climb (SD911MSC) is an event held every year in honor and remembrance of the firefighters, police, first responders and civilians who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. In their memory the event serves as a platform for teams of various sizes to raise funds to provide charitable assistance to Firefighters/First Responders and their families in crisis and to promote awareness of Firefighter health and safety issues and the impacts they have upon families and communities. The event is organized and put on by FirefighterAid, a non-profit 501(c)(3), and the money raised goes to four specific charities which are The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, The Firefighter Cancer Support Network, and The Psych Armor institute.


Over the past four years my wife and I, under the banner of Team Vasquez have raised in excess of $30,000 for the SD911MSC. We have consistently been among the top fundraisers year after year. We have worked with the Climb not only fundraising, but also as volunteers multiple times, and taking photos at the event. We have seen firsthand the great work they do to support not only firefighters, but first responders, veterans, the families, and the communities we serve.


Concept: Combine our travel adventures with fundraising for the SD911MSC by embarking on multiple extended road trips during the fundraising season. The roads, the sights, the wildlife, the camping, the ups and down of the trips would be documented on video blog (vlog), social media, and Tacoma3G.com. Personal on camera time needed could be limited to mainly the intros and outros. The rest of the episodes audio would primarily be music or voice over audio describing an location/event/or specific subsegment. This main emphasis of the videos on the travel and spreading the word about the good things FirefighterAid does around the country. This could create the sense that the viewer could be on the trip and hopefully spur their imagination to plan and start their own adventure while also capturing their attention to continue watching and ultimately to donate to these noble causes.


Incorporating the SD911MSC: The truck will be wrapped in a one of a kind SD911MSC themed wrap that will express the mission of the climb and it’s benefiting charities as well as showcase the individuals and companies who have supported the objective. Traveling with the truck wrapped will draw attention and generate the curiosity of people from all over the country and world, who might otherwise never connect with the mission of the Climb and FirefighterAid. The trip route, stops, trails, campsites, and activities would not only be filmed, but also be GPS logged with high resolution images as well. The GPX and associated data would be available for download to those who make a donation to the SD911MSC, as well as data from our previous trips around the western United States. The donations could be direct to Classy.org (the Climb’s current fundraising website), to another third party site like Patreon, or a new trip specific website that solely for the fundraiser could be established and would direct users directly to a donation portal.


Incorporating T3G: The trip would be done in association with Tacoma3G.com, and a prominent banner along the side of the truck would showcase their support for the fundraiser and provide visibility for the site. A specific sub-forum or thread on Tacoma3G.com could be created on the allowing viewers, donors, curious onlookers to access and connect directly with the Team providing the ability for interaction beyond being just a viewer/donor. This subforum on the site could even be the trip specific website discussed earlier acting as the go to point for those interested in the fundraiser and connecting them with ways to donate. Creating traffic flow to the site beyond just 3rd Gen Tacoma enthusiasts.


Incorporating sponsors: Vendors could donate financially directly to the SD911MSC as well as offer to support the trips through financial or parts/gear donations/sponsorships that could be used while on the trips. Whichever method vendors chose will grant them access to various logo placements and sizes on the 2019 SD911MSC themed wrap, segments in the vlog devoted toward showing off their product, posts on social media accounts of the trip as well as being mentioned in the opening and closing credit segments of any vlog. Vendor donations of money/gear/equipment will be donated directly to FireFighterAid making the donation completely tax deductible for them through the 501(c)(3).


Planning and funding: Planning for the trip would be done completely in house by the Team. The Team already has several trips ranging from two weeks to a month in length throughout the western United States planned and ready to go. The trip itself would also be primarily funded by the Team. If any sponsors wished to donate directly towards trip costs(fuel/food) they would be welcomed to. However, all money from outside donors not affiliated directly with the trip, would go 100% directly to charity.


Event stops: Prior to departure the Team could coordinate with various news outlets, restaurants, vendors and vehicle related meet up locations along the route to host fundraisers in that particular area as well as large events like Overland Expo West (May 17-19, 2019) and Ease says t (October 2019), and FJ Summit (July 17-21, 2019). Team Vasquez would also attend and promote the fundraiser at off-road related events in their local Southern California area culminating in participating in the 2019 Stair Climb event in September.



Yesterday I pitched this proposal to the main organizer/fundraiser at FirefighterAid. She loved it. She wants to do everything she can to make it happen. She has to bring it up for discussion at the next board meeting due to protocol, but she's on board and that's what we need to make this happen. IN the meantime I have been instructed to put together some specifics on the travel itinerary's (which we already have), as well as what it would take to get a vendor booth at places like Overland Expo West. So I'm working on that all now.

Alright. So now you've heard it. Now you know. It's a huge endeavor and I hope I'm not stepping out of line, but I hope (and think) you guys will dig it.

Thoughts?

**PLEASE KEEP CONFIDENTIAL FOR NOW**​

 

[Tyler]

-You are not stepping out of line! Don’t feel that way. I love that you are already going beyond just basic forum moderator duties and really trying to embrace the T3G name in different ways.

-I love what this charity is for. 9/11 hit really close to home (literally). I lived on Long Island, NY at the time and know many friends and a family member that were directly effected that day. I could even see the dusty skies from so many miles away.

-This sounds so awesome for you and your own excitement for it has me excited too. I can feel how passionate you are about this from just the way you wrote it. It sounds like a lot of work will be required on your end to execute everything but you clearly have the drive to do it.

-The fact that you want to incorporate T3G is an honor. I would absolutely love for something I’ve worked so hard to build from scratch to be recognized and represented in this way. And we could absolutely use the forum to as a hub for people to follow and discuss this journey. There are many ways to intergrate this here and I’m willing to help however I can.

-This information won’t leave this thread so don’t worry.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

Hell yes. Dude I'm stoked you're on board. ?? and supportive of me going big. I'm all about growing this place.

I'll keep you guys updated. I'm working as fast as I can. Lot of stuff needs to happen real asap.

 

[Tyler]

Hell yes. Dude I'm stoked you're on board. ?? and supportive of me going big. I'm all about growing this place.

I'll keep you guys updated. I'm working as fast as I can. Lot of stuff needs to happen real asap.

Hell yeah! I hope it works smoothly for you because this is cool.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

Sorry, replied way to fast. Like you said, I'm excited. You are definitely not wrong about that. I think this could be huge, for everyone involved.

I had completely forgotten you were from Long Island while I was thinking about this last few days. Honestly I can't even begin to imagine the level that this hits you on. I can however promise that I'm serious and look at what I'm doing with the utmost respect. That day changed my life too and now I do what I do for a living. I'm sure it was the same for you guys.

And hell yeah I want to incorporate T3G!! Let's blow this place up!!

 

[Malcolm]

Jeez bro, I got worked up reading this and I couldn’t back and support it more! I am 100% for this idea T3G aside. However, the platform you’ll be presenting will be such a good thing for us as well which will be an awesome honor to be a part of. I would love to be included in this however I could and will give lots of attention to it on my personal pages when everything is in motion. I would love to help you film and create content for this, as wel join in on these events and promote them to the communities.
9/11 was a big deal to me as it happened on my birthday and had family living in the city when this happened. It was one of my main motivators for joining the service. Every year I’m reminded of what happened to my country and I can still remember my dad picking me up telling me we’ve been attacked.

Let me know whatever I can do to help and you got it! This is really awesome

 

[Mr. Nobody]

@Malcolm I'm stoked you are on board. It's going to be a big thing and honestly I don't think it would be possible without support from you guys and the site. The legitimacy the site adds to the whole thing is a key component to us being successful.

I'm still in talks with the Climb obviously but they are telling me to just keep working on it. I should be back meeting with them in a couple of days hopefully.


From T3G's side I'll need a few things. One is easy, the forum or sub-forum. I think we can hammer that out overnight if need be. The only complex parts is what the Climb wants and how legally this can all work. I'll find out more about the legalities of the necessary path of the donations, and how they want to have a presence online with respect to their organization. That should give me a better idea of how we can incorporate T3G into the mix. Then I think we can develop something here pretty rapidly.

The other big thing is sponsors/vendors. If you guys have connections with anyone that you guys think might be interested please let me know. @Malcolm you already mentioned Rigid and that would be awesome. I know you are working with C4 Fab as well among others. Tyler I think you may be working with CBI and Relentless, not sure though. My thing is if they've already been supportive of the site, I'd like to connect with them first to gauge interest before I go to some other companies. I have a list of vendors I'm going to start hitting up soon. I will be taking into consideration the vendors we already have here on the site who are active in the forums.

Thoughts on who you think would be interested and if so do you have a particular contact person I should connect with?

 

[Tyler]

Malcolm is better for the contacts than I am. I try to remain as unbiased as I can with the vendors which means I don’t really have personal relationships with them.

This is a bit off-topic, but long story short, I am actually getting a free front bumper from Relentless to match the rear one I bought. It was a tough decision but after a long discussion with my wife I decided to accept their offer. So this is my first “sponsor” that I kinda accepted against my own judgement. We’ll see how it goes. (Please keep this info confidential.)

 

[Mr. Nobody]

I can admire the that. Also I don't think it's bad if you get hooked up. You're working your ass off for this site. That should count for a lot. That said I get your decision.

Stoked to see the bumper. I'm curious what you have decided on. And yeah, totally confidential. ?

 

[Malcolm]

@Malcolm I'm stoked you are on board. It's going to be a big thing and honestly I don't think it would be possible without support from you guys and the site. The legitimacy the site adds to the whole thing is a key component to us being successful.

I'm still in talks with the Climb obviously but they are telling me to just keep working on it. I should be back meeting with them in a couple of days hopefully.


From T3G's side I'll need a few things. One is easy, the forum or sub-forum. I think we can hammer that out overnight if need be. The only complex parts is what the Climb wants and how legally this can all work. I'll find out more about the legalities of the necessary path of the donations, and how they want to have a presence online with respect to their organization. That should give me a better idea of how we can incorporate T3G into the mix. Then I think we can develop something here pretty rapidly.

The other big thing is sponsors/vendors. If you guys have connections with anyone that you guys think might be interested please let me know. @Malcolm you already mentioned Rigid and that would be awesome. I know you are working with C4 Fab as well among others. Tyler I think you may be working with CBI and Relentless, not sure though. My thing is if they've already been supportive of the site, I'd like to connect with them first to gauge interest before I go to some other companies. I have a list of vendors I'm going to start hitting up soon. I will be taking into consideration the vendors we already have here on the site who are active in the forums.

Thoughts on who you think would be interested and if so do you have a particular contact person I should connect with?

@Mr. Nobody I will reach out to my network and see who is interested, ill be using the writeup you provided and editing it into a shorter reader friendly version for possible sponsors. I know quite a few companies most importantly the heads of those companies so i will see what i can do for you the best i can.

@Tyler Im honestly glad you made that decision dude. Its refreshing youre so humble, but it can definitely help not only you but the site by building relationships with sponsors. Take C4 for instance, everytime they repost my truck, the T3G.com logo gets reposted in the image with it!

 

[Tyler]

Thanks guys.

For the record, I will have the exact front and rear bumpers @nextgentaco on Instagram does.

 

[Malcolm]

Thanks guys.

For the record, I will have the exact front and rear bumpers @nextgentaco on Instagram does.

Its gonna look sexy, congrats tyler.

@Mr. Nobody Ill get started on this project ASAP.

Im also possibly getting a tent sponsorship and bringing them on as a vendor. Im hesitant about the sponsorship as they specifically reached out to me, and may not want me directly advertising RIGID along their tents since theyre working with KCHILITES, but im working on details about all of that. Ill pitch this to them as well once im brought on board with their company.
Its ROAM Adventure Co. and they want to come to the site, so once everything gets figured out id be requesting @Tyler add them to the vendors list if hes okay with this.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

Sounds great. Let me know what happens with RIGID/KC conflict. I'm curious as to how that'll work out. That could be a really good relationship you're building with ROAM. They are a new company so they'll be hungry to grow.

 

[Malcolm]

Sounds great. Let me know what happens with RIGID/KC conflict. I'm curious as to how that'll work out. That could be a really good relationship you're building with ROAM. They are a new company so they'll be hungry to grow.

Exactly! Also, Ill be attending Overland Expo West with RIGID at their booth and theyve given me permission to use their booth to promote T3G. So I will also spread the word about this event through that resource as well. Ill be there for the entire Overland Expo west event timeframe.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

Exactly! Also, Ill be attending Overland Expo West with RIGID at their booth and theyve given me permission to use their booth to promote T3G. So I will also spread the word about this event through that resource as well. Ill be there for the entire Overland Expo west event timeframe.

Epic. I'm going to do what I can to make sure we're there too. It's nowhere set in stone, but I'm going to be working real hard in this in the next 9 months.

 

[Malcolm]

Epic. I'm going to do what I can to make sure we're there too. It's nowhere set in stone, but I'm going to be working real hard in this in the next 9 months.

I would love it if you and @Tyler could make it to overland expo west with me. Currently RIGID will have a booth with two spots so it will be Richie and myself.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

I would love it if you and @Tyler could make it to overland expo west with me. Currently RIGID will have a booth with two spots so it will be Richie and myself.

I mentioned the possibility of attending a big event like Expo West, I even used it as the example and they loved it. They want me to do what I can to make it happen. So we'll see. Could be a hell of a caravan. ?

 

[Mr. Nobody]

@Mr. Nobody I will reach out to my network and see who is interested, ill be using the writeup you provided and editing it into a shorter reader friendly version for possible sponsors. I know quite a few companies most importantly the heads of those companies so i will see what i can do for you the best i can.

Let me know if you want me to write up something more reader friendly for potential sponsors. Or if you've already tried to shorten it I'd love to see what you came up with. I've started writing a sponsor letter and it's still insanely long winded. hahaha

 

[Malcolm]

Let me know if you want me to write up something more reader friendly for potential sponsors. Or if you've already tried to shorten it I'd love to see what you came up with. I've started writing a sponsor letter and it's still insanely long winded. hahaha

That’d be great!

 

[Mr. Nobody]

That’d be great!

I'm still awaiting approaching sponsors until I can hammer out some details with them. Hopefully won't be too much longer, but we'll see.

If you discuss this with any that's fine, feel free to let them know we're working on it and gauge interest and if they'd like more information I'll have details soon enough.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

@Tyler and @Malcolm,

Alright, so meeting is tomorrow with the climb to hopefully have this thing running real soon.

I have to ask and hopefully you guys are still willing, I need sponsors/connections and hopefully you guys are willing to make some calls/emails, whatever.

I could go and ring vendors all day and I have a drafted list of companies all ready to go, but if you have a contact at X company
that's already been supportive of T3G, that you've been talking to, and you think they would support the project, I could really use a connection from you guys. If that means you give them a ring and tell them about the project, or you give them a heads up I'll be calling, or you think I should just call/email Bill @ X, whatever. I'd be super appreciative and if they have any questions I'd love to talk. What I don't want to do is ask a vendor you guys are already working with, who may already be stretched, and put too much pressure on them which could jeopardize your support from them, and their support of the site. That wouldn't be cool.

I'm drafting an email to send to potential sponsors but I want the Climb to sign off on it before I send it out and start making calls. If there's any particular companies you know have shown support for T3G it would help me if I knew the company name or even better a direct contact at the company. To the Climb, when I told them T3G was involved and showed them the site, they were stoked. The Climb, the T3G, my previous trips/truck. All lend credibility to the other ones eyes. So I need some help from T3G in getting credibility in the eyes of the climb and sponsors.

It's a lot to ask I know. I know the contacts you guys have are delicate and I respect that, and will be professional with all contacts. It would be real good if I could walk in there tomorrow with the knowledge that you guys are asking and even a few brands that may be potentially interested. Malcom I know you'd already mentioned Rigid may be as one.

Once again, I do appreciate the support you guys have shown already. Really, you guys have been super cool and I'm even more stoked to be a part of T3G than I thought I would. I'm very excited about this project and I'm stoked to make it a part of T3G. Help me make it happen!!

? For the meeting tomorrow. ?

 

[Tyler]

Unfortunately, and maybe this will surprise you, I don’t actually have any contacts or relationships with any vendors.

The closest I get is responding to them when they ask how to be a vendor on the forum. Then I create their vendor account and really never talk to them again.

For the giveaways, I just email all forum vendors in a generic email to ask if anyone wants to sponsor a giveaway. This time, Rago Fab were the only ones that responded.

I don’t think I have a lot of pull to help you because I don’t actually know these people nor do I truly represent any of them with my own truck. I guess it is ironic because I run T3G but sponsorships and whatnot were never really the path I was looking for until Relentless randomly wanted to give me a front bumper. And I’m even second guessing that one.

I’m sorry.


P.S. Since both of you know this about me now, I’m currently going through a deep depression phase which is probably very noticeable with my forum and Instagram activity. I was doing really well for the month of December and now I’m back to a feeling of hopelessness that I simply can’t control. It is what it is I guess.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

@Tyler

First off, anything you need, let me know. Depression is a bitch, but it can definitely be overcome. Stay strong and if you want to grab a coffee some time I'm down.

Second, no worries on the sponsorship thing. This info actually helps me out a lot. You stating you don't have any real contacts helpful because at least then I know whomever I contact won't be like, "well why didn't Tyler just contact me." So no worries on the contacts front.

The meeting went really well yesterday. I had it planned for about an hour and it later about 2 hours and 15. I'm meeting up with a friend today who's a travel buddy and the is talking on kind of the project manager position for this whole thing. I know my strengths and by weaknesses, organization is not one of my strengths so she's helping out. I'll be meeting with her today and all we are going to hammer out more details.

Finally, stay up, stay positive, stay focused, and keep fighting the good fight. ?

 

[Malcolm]

@Tyler

First off, anything you need, let me know. Depression is a bitch, but it can definitely be overcome. Stay strong and if you want to grab a coffee some time I'm down.

Second, no worries on the sponsorship thing. This info actually helps me out a lot. You stating you don't have any real contacts helpful because at least then I know whomever I contact won't be like, "well why didn't Tyler just contact me." So no worries on the contacts front.

The meeting went really well yesterday. I had it planned for about an hour and it later about 2 hours and 15. I'm meeting up with a friend today who's a travel buddy and the is talking on kind of the project manager position for this whole thing. I know my strengths and by weaknesses, organization is not one of my strengths so she's helping out. I'll be meeting with her today and all we are going to hammer out more details.

Finally, stay up, stay positive, stay focused, and keep fighting the good fight. ?

We had spoke briefly the other day and im so stoked for you, i did reach out to some people and i have not heard back yet, so i will be following up with those companies this week. Im also working on my end to tie up a few things including a sponsorship from Pelican cases and KC from US ActionTrax. I am going to pitch the idea to Pelican cases once i sign my contract with them, if i could get them onboard that would be awesome for you! I am also pitching to them right now to become a vendor on the site. They respond pretty well so hopefully i should get an answer from them soon.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

We had spoke briefly the other day and im so stoked for you, i did reach out to some people and i have not heard back yet, so i will be following up with those companies this week. Im also working on my end to tie up a few things including a sponsorship from Pelican cases and KC from US ActionTrax. I am going to pitch the idea to Pelican cases once i sign my contract with them, if i could get them onboard that would be awesome for you! I am also pitching to them right now to become a vendor on the site. They respond pretty well so hopefully i should get an answer from them soon.

All that sounds awesome.

So just to keep you guys up to date, I've enlisted the help of a wife/travel buddy of ours, as well as the rest of my travel crew. She's a project manager by trade and bringing her on board has been a good call. The others will come in later as the project grows, but for now it's mostly myself and Mallory.

We have moved forward a lot, and although some of the details of how to implement the project have changed, it is still going to be really cool and I know you guys will dig it.

We had the being the other day and it was another success. We left there and meet again the next day and together laid out a strategy and timeline to get things accomplished. We've pretty much got a completed one pager description for distribution to sponsors and anyone else, as well as we are completing an entire business proposal that details the finer points of the project. The Climb has a Board of Directors meeting February 20th. We want to have everything ready for presentation them so that we can lock this all in. February 20th seems like a ways away but it's coming up fast and we'll hopefully have more for you guys even before then.

Again I appreciate your guys support and this is going to be huge. I'd like to meet with you guys hopefully before February 20th with Mallory so we can all go over the details, make sure you guys have all the info you need, and get your feedback.

I'm the meantime I am still full steam ahead here.