Dashing Whippets Running Team, Inc.

Every year, our team puts together a Voluntary Contribution Drive. This drive offers team members an opportunity to donate to the team outside of annual dues (which have remained a low $30/year).

2020 was a challenging year for everyone, and that affected the team as well. We had a significant decline in dues-paying members, which continued into early 2021, and we doubled the free trial for new members from 3 months to 6 months. We also waived the sponsorship fee for 2021 for all of our team sponsors.  All of this combined to lead to a draw on our reserves of over $9,000 in 2020. 

Positively, the team has continued to thrive due to building up team reserves in prior years, which was mainly aided by the previous generosity of team members during voluntary contribution drives.  We continued to pay the same stipends to our team coaches in both 2020 and 2021 to continue providing training plans for our members, even when we couldn't hold team runs.  We had a virtual race series in 2020 and raised thousands of dollars for other nonprofits.  In 2021, we continued to improve in NYRR points races, and we are currently at the top of the team standings.  We also have had many members achieve extraordinary race times, including 4 women who qualified for the professional field in the NYC Marathon.  Membership has increased to pre-pandemic levels, and many of our team sponsors have agreed to continue their sponsorship in 2022.

While the team has largely recovered, we want to provide this opportunity for our members to give to the team if you would like to.  We genuinely appreciate your support.

Thank you very much.