Many of our walk sites are going virtual again this year! Our nationwide Take Steps walk will be taking place on Swapcard on Saturday, June 12th. This virtual experience will enable us to continue to support our IBD community and provide a virtual option for our patients and supporters to connect with their local community and (uniquely!) with communities across the country as one.
To confirm if your walk will take place virtually, please check our website by clicking here.
While we can never replace the sense of community of an in-person Take Steps event, our virtual event experience will have many aspects of an in-person walk! You can still create a team (either a Friends & Family Team or a Corporate Team) with your supporters and/or co-workers to raise money to find cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. You can even get your company to become a sponsor!
The virtual event will feature the opportunity to hear testimony from patients, volunteer leaders, and company supporters, in addition to live entertainment and updates on IBD resources. Once the festivities commence, you can walk around your neighborhood, your living room, or hop on a treadmill!
Our national Take Steps event will take place on Swapcard, and will begin at 12:00PM EDT/11:00AM CDT/10:00AM MDT/9:00AM PDT on Saturday, June 12th. Join us as we remain 100% committed to Take Steps. Additional details can be found on our national Take Steps Facebook page.
No need to re-register – you are already registered!
If you want to join and are not yet registered, visit our www.cctakesteps.org, enter your zip code to find your local walk community and click on that event. Select the orange “Get Started Today” button to register. You have the option to form a new team as a Team Captain, join an existing team, or walk as an individual. We encourage you to invite your friends, family members, co-workers, and everyone you know to join your team and fundraise. Teams include companies, organizations, families, schools, and clubs that range from as few as two walkers to hundreds! Not only does a team fundraising effort show patients that they have a supportive community who want to help, but every dollar bring us closer to finding cures.
While all are welcome and there is no registration fee, we encourage everyone to register and set a fundraising goal of at least $100 to become a Pacesetter. Raising $100 sets the pace for being an IBD supporter and is as easy as asking 10 of your friends and family members to donate $10 each! Each person who individually raises at least $100 through their participant page will become and Pacesetter and will receive a Take Steps t-shirt. There are a variety of special fundraising incentives fundraisers earn at the $250, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 levels that you can check out here. The higher you reach, the more likely we can find a cure faster.
A few days prior to the event, you will receive a unique login link to access the Swapcard platform. Make sure you’re registered so you receive a link! Check out our sponsors and event schedule by clicking on the corresponding button in the platform. Click on the “Watch Live Now!” button on June 12th at 11:50am EDT to start watching the countdown! You will be able to chat with us and hundreds of others from around the country in the chat boxes during the event. The “virtual help desk” will open 1-hour before the event, should you need assistance.
Absolutely! Take Steps whenever, and wherever, it is most convenient and safe for you! Be sure to share your videos and photos on social media using #WhyITakeSteps. Contact your local staff for help personalizing your experience to be meaningful for you and/or to get connected with another Take Steps event taking place in a city near you.
Absolutely! It is now more important than ever to continue to show our support for the IBD community. Whether through social media, email, phone, or text, the formula is always the same. Tell your network why you’re fundraising, whether you’re a patient battling Crohn’s disease or have a loved one recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Tell your friends that millions of Americans suffer from IBD, yet there is no cure. Then tell them we need a cure and invite them to be part of that miraculous achievement by making a donation to your fundraising.
Here are some tips on how to continue virtually fundraising:
We are currently working on a plan to distribute all incentives to qualified participants. We will send out a communication to all incentive-eligible participants once this plan has been solidified.
All registered participants individually raising $100 or more will still receive their incentives even if unable to participate in the national Take Steps virtual event. Additional information will be shared with our participants as it becomes available.
All that matters is that you’re Taking Steps! Walk for as long or short as you can. Our national Take Steps walk will still have a designated start time via the Swapcard platform, so be sure to join us at 12:00PM EDT and interact with the IBD community.
Visit and search for your local walk. Click on the event and press the orange “Get Started” button. Select “Form a Team” and our registration process will walk you through the rest! Once your team is formed, use the Fundraising Center (located at the top right-hand corner of the website under “Hi NAME” when you are logged in) to customize your page. Add a photo, update your team goal, and share why you walk. Then you’re ready to post the link on social media and send in emails asking your friends to join you by registering and fundraising as a member of your team.
You can find resources specifically for Team Captains under the Fundraising Tools section of our website.
Encourage participants to donate online so those donations can be credited toward your goal right away and online donations ensure an immediate tax receipt for your donor.
If you have offline donations, please mail the donation to your local Foundation chapter office. See your local walk event page for address.
Many companies offer matching gift programs to maximize their financial contributions to non-profit organizations. This means you may be able to increase your impact with a matching gift and move us closer to a world free of IBD. Click here for information about requesting a matching gift for your donation.
If you are a Team Captain, you will have both a personal fundraising and team fundraising page once you are registered for Take Steps. Both pages are customizable.
The function of the team page is to provide you with a url to recruit team members, allow team members to register, and to show progress towards your team goal. While donors can make contributions to your team page, we recommend they donate to specific team members instead.
Your personal fundraising page should be used to fundraise so that your donations are allocated to your personal fundraising. Only contributions to your personal fundraising will count towards your Pacesetter status and incentives.
Reach out to your local Take Steps staff or your local chapter. Find your local staff on the homepage of your event or check your email inbox for your welcome email if you are a registered participant. You can also email takesteps@crohnscolitisfoundation.org with your questions and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!