Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions, we have answers. Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. If you have a question that is not addressed below, please contact us or call us anytime, day or night at 1-800-ACS-2345.   Is Making Strides Against Breast Cancer a noncompetitive walk? Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the American Cancer Society’s premier event to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. This inspiring, noncompetitive walking event unites entire communities to honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors, educate all people about the importance of early detection and prevention, and raise money to fund lifesaving research and support programs. There are 120 walks in states across the country, most of which take place on weekends in October. The walks range in distance from five kilometers (3.1 miles) to five miles, depending on location. Participants can take as long as they want to finish. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is not a race; it is a celebration of survivorship, an occasion to express hope and a shared goal to end a disease that threatens the lives of so many people we love. The walks will be held rain or shine. Participants in wheelchairs should contact their local American Cancer Society office before the event to help us accommodate your needs. Can anyone participate? Anyone can participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. From corporate CEOs to school children, the success of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer depends on individuals who commit to raising money, the people who donate to them, and our generous sponsors. Together, we are making a difference in the fight against breast cancer. Thanks to increased awareness and improved treatments, both of which require money to accomplish, death rates are declining. Friends, families, neighbors, classmates, sports teams, etc., can form their own teams and walk as a group. Organizations or businesses can also sponsor a team of walkers. Or, you are free to be a team of one. Volunteers are needed to help at the event with registration, traffic, information, and many other important functions. Making Strides offers something for everyone. How do I sign up online? We offer a quick and easy way for you to raise money online. Simply log on to www.cancer.org/stridesonline, click on the sign-up button, and follow the few easy steps. It is simple and you can always call your local American Cancer Society office if you need help. We recommend that all participants sign up to use the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer online fundraising tool, which makes it easy to email many people at once to ask for support. It also makes it easy for donors to make quick and secure online donations. You can use your personal participant center Web page to track online and offline (cash and checks) donations, and to send thank-you emails. On the day of the event, bring your offline donations with you to be collected during registration. Is there a registration fee or a minimum amount to raise? Making Strides Against Breast Cancer does not have a registration fee and there is no minimum amount to raise. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer does work to raise much-needed funds to support the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer, but we also work to create awareness about the disease and encourage those who can’t make a donation or who aren’t able to request it of others, to come out and show their support by walking in their local event.    Will I get a free T-shirt for participating? Making Strides Against Breast Cancer does not give out free t-shirts for participating in the walk. We’re guessing you have enough already and we know that your dollars you’ve worked so hard to raise can be better spent on our important research, education, advocacy and patient service  programs. We hope you agree. Can I set a personal fundraising goal? While we definitely encourage you to set a personal fundraising goal and try and meet or exceed it, participants are not required to raise a minimum amount, and donations are made for your participation rather than per mile. Obtain donations of $10, $25, $50, $100, or more from friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors. Money may be turned in at registration or donated online. If you have not finished collecting by the day of the event, or are unable to attend, send your contribution form and remaining pledges to your local American Cancer Society office. Click here to find an event near you or to start raising money online.  The sooner you get started, the more progress we’ll make together to help eliminate breast cancer. Is my information secure? The American Cancer Society has made every effort to protect your personal information. We use industry-standard SSL encryption techniques to ensure that your credit card information, passwords, and personal information travel securely over the Internet. There is also an encryption engine on our database server that securely stores your data. How is my credit card information handled? Credit card information is not stored in our database. During the donation process, we send your credit card information to an online processing terminal using a secure connection. The information passed back is an approval or denial for the credit card donation. Which registration option should I choose to participate in an event? It's up to you. If you are interested in starting a team, select the "Start a Team" option. There is no minimum number of people required to start a team and getting a group together is easy. However, if you would prefer to walk by yourself, select the "Individual Sign Up" link instead. If you would like to join an existing team, select the "Join a Team" option and search for the team’s name. How do I use my username and password? Every time you visit our Web site, be sure to log in with your username and password at the top left of the homepage. If you have visited the site before, your computer may have a cookie and will recognize you, logging you in automatically. Logging in provides you access to your participant center Web page, your personal page, your team's information, and online tools to encourage your friends and family to support you. What if I've forgotten my username and password? Remember that your username and password are case sensitive. Click here to find your password. You will receive an email with your username and password. How do I change my username and/or password? First, log in to the site using your current username and password. After logging in, you will see a link at the top of the page called "My Profile." Once you are in your profile, you will be able to change your contact information, email address, username, and password. All changes will be made to your account immediately. There is no need to log in again. If I signed up last year will I be able to access last year’s information? Welcome back  we’re happy you’re walking with us again this year. As long as you sign up for the same event you walked in last year, you’ll be able to access your personal address book and fundraising page from the year before, which will make it easier than ever to get started in 2007! How do I unsubscribe from email? Toward the bottom of each email message, there is a link that says "Click Here to Unsubscribe from this Email Message." Click the link and follow the instructions given to unsubscribe. Please remember that the emails we send you are related to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and often contain helpful updates and event information that unsubscribing might prevent you from receiving. What if I accidentally unsubscribed and want to re-subscribe? No problem. Simply log in to your personal participant center using your username and password, and update your email preferences to ensure you are opted-in to receive important Making Strides Against Breast Cancer emails. What is a personal page? A personal page is an online promotional tool for your use when asking your friends and family to join your team or sponsor you by making a donation. Once you sign up for an event online, a personal Web page will automatically be created for you. You have the option of personalizing this page by going to My Participant Center. You will be able to customize images and text. It is an easy and effective way to spread the word to everyone you know! Upload a photo of yourself or a loved whose breast cancer has motivated you to action. By default, I have a personal page. Do I have to change it? No, but we recommend you do. Once you sign up for an event online, a personal page is automatically created for you. A compelling personal page attracts and engages supporters. So it’s best if you tell your story and explain why Making Strides is important to you. Emails you send out through your participant center will link people to your page, so have it speak to them with you personal words and photos. Your personal page can be your own creative expression of your commitment to the cause. And it will help boost your fundraising. How do I ask people to support my effort? Our easy-to-use online fundraising tool allows you to safely and securely upload email addresses of friends and family into your Making Strides Against Breast Cancer address book. By using our sample emails, or creating your own, you can ask everyone you know to join you as a participant or support you with a donation. How do I change my personal fundraising goal? Log in to the site using your username and password. Then click on My Participant Center. The bottom right-hand side of your participant center is where you can modify your personal fundraising goal. Simply enter your new goal and submit the changes. How do I change my team name, team division, or team goal? Only the team leader has the ability to change the team name or team division. The team leader will need to log in to the site, click on My Walk Center, click the My Team Progress button on the top right, and update the team name, division, and goal on the Team Progress page. How can I see who has donated to me? Log in to the site using your username and password, then click on My Participant Center. Click the My Progress tab; this will allow you to view your donor list and the amounts donated. How can I see who is on my team? Log in to the site using your username and password, then click on My Participant Center. Click the Team Progress tab; this will allow you to view your team roster and the amounts raised by each team member. What is the difference between making my personal page private or public? By default, a personal page is public, meaning your name will appear on the participant search list, and anyone visiting the site will be able to support you. Setting your personal page to "private" via the tools in My Participant Center means your name will not appear in the participant search list and only people you personally invite will be able to support you. When I click on a link I'm seeing a page that I visited previously instead of the page I'm trying to visit? Most Browser have what we call "caching issues" which is basically your computer remembering something you don't want it to. These will often common when using the back button a lot on a site, and can also happen to if you're using a shared computer. To clear your cache, follow the instructions below based on which browser you're using: FireFox: Go to Tools Click Options Go to the "Privacy" section In the Private Data section Click the "Settings" button and make sure Cache is checked Click OK In the Private Data section, click the "Clear Now" button Internet Explorer: Go to Tools Click Internet Options In the "Temporary Internet Files" section Click "Delete Files" Please note that clearing your cache may take several minutes, during which time your computer may appear to freeze or the browser may appear to stop responding / lock up. Please be patient and allow this process to finish. If you continue to experience problems after clearing cache, completely quitting the browser (close all open windows, regardless of what site is open in that window), then reopen the browser. This will clear session data, which can also cause caching issues.