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Frequently Asked Questions

Fundraising can be tough, but you’re not in this alone! Click or tap the frequently asked questions below to see the answers. If you don't find the information you need, call us at 212-727-4934 or send an email to hometeam@covenanthouse.org

Q: What is the Home Team?

A: The Home Team is a group of like-minded athletes who channel their passion for endurance athletics to help homeless youth find hope.

 

A: You can register for any event of your choice through this website. Visit our Home page to get started. If you are interested in an event other than the ones you see listed, you can still race and fundraise for Covenant House, by starting a personal fundraising campaign for the race in which you will participate.

 

A: The Home Team offers an array of events, adding new ones each year. You can participate in long distance running events such as the TCS New York City Marathon, shorter distance runs like the Spring Lake 5, or a Dragon Boat race! Doing something in an area where we do not currently have an event? Join the Home Team by Creating Your Own Race!

 

A: Yes! We encourage you to solicit cash and check donations too, because some people are not web savvy or credit card donors. Offline donations should be mailed following the instructions below, and will be manually entered by the Covenant House team upon receipt.

Please include YOUR NAME and the Race Name in the memo line of each check. Mail to Covenant House, Attn: Home Team, 461 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.

If you host an event where a majority of funds raised are in the form of cash, we highly recommend depositing the money and either making out a check or money order for that same amount or making a credit card donation to your page. In this case, we will not be able to track the individual names of your donors, and therefore, we can not issue tax receipts unless you provide supplemental details about the donors and their contributions. Please do not mail cash to Covenant House.

 

A: The short answer is yes. But, matching gifts are marvelous and marvelously complicated to track! For this reason, please help us help you reach your goal with matching gifts by following these steps:

  • Encourage your supporters to submit for matching funds from their companies. What an easy way to double their gift!
  • Ask (ok, beg) them to tell you when they submitted to the company and if they can, to provide a copy of the matching paperwork to you which you can then provide to us.
  • There may be multiple entries for Covenant House when submitting matching gift applications online. Please use Covenant House, 5 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001 so that we can process the matching gift promptly.
  • Share the information via email at hometeam@covenanthouse.org or mail so we can attribute it to your fundraising page.
  • Check in with us if you do not see the amount of the matching gift added to your page within a week of sending the paperwork to us.

Why is this so complicated? Matching gifts are processed by companies and then sent to Covenant House often with little documentation explaining what the employee’s original gift was for, let alone the employee’s name. As you can imagine the documentation rarely relates back to our endurance events, and 99.9% of the time, will not reference you, as the gift is associated with your friend, the employee! In other circumstances, the company sends a cumulative check representing various matches they are making on behalf of their employees, and the documentation will not include any individual employee names. Covenant House (gladly and gratefully) deposits the check but we often have no way of tracking that it is connected to your fundraising efforts.

 

A: Donations raised by fundraising campaigns directly support our core services designed to bridge the gap of support in the lives of homeless kids and prevent them from entering the cycle of chronic adult homelessness. Covenant House provides a wide array of in-house programs to provide our young people with a holistic approach to leaving the streets and achieving independence. Learn more about these programs.

 

A: Yes! While we offer guaranteed entry to many sold-out endurance races, we welcome athletes with their own entries to join us too. Receive all the other perks of being a member of the team with a much lower fundraising minimum!

 

Q: May I use the Covenant House logo on shirts, flyers and other materials promoting my participation on the team?

A: Any requests for materials made using the Covenant House or Home Team logos must  be submitted to Covenant House for approval to hometeam@covenanthouse.org.

 

A: Yes! We are always looking for volunteers to assist the Home Team with event day logistics, cheerleaders to encourage our athletes to the finish line, promoting the Team in your area, and recruiting participants. If you are interested in volunteering please email hometeam@covenanthouse.org.

 

A: Yes! You are always welcome to take a tour of one of our sites. If you are not located near a Covenant House, consider visiting us on a business or personal trip. Find the site nearest to you

 

A: We’ve seen a lot of amazing campaigns, and the most successful ones begin in the same way. Use our step-by-step guide to jumpstart your fundraising.