Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who Can Participate in Walk ALS?

Anyone and everyone can join one of our six events in the Greater New York area. All Walk routes are wheelchair accessible and Walk Day activities include something for all ages!

2. Is There a Registration Fee to Participate and/or a Fundraising Minimum? 

There is NO FEE to participate in Walk ALS but fundraising is encouraged, and suggest each walker to set a fundraising goal to at least $100. To be eligible for the official event t-shirt, the $100 fundraising minimum must be met. 

3. How Do I Register for Walk ALS?

Registering for Walk ALS is quick, easy, and can be done in 4 easy steps or by contacting Meg Emery, Senior Manager of Fundraising and Special Events at memery@als-ny.org or 212-720-3049.

  1. First, visit alswalks.org and select the Walk location you would like to join. 
  2. Next, select Register and decide if you’re participating as a member of a Walk Team, Individual Walker, or Virtual Walker.
  3. Complete the Online Registration Form to become an official participant.
  4. Once registered, you’ll receive access to your online fundraising Participant Center, where you can update your personal page, connect your Walk fundraiser to Facebook, and send emails asking for support.

4. What is a Walk Team?

Anyone can create a team and then invite their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join. Each team member will have access to their own personal fundraising page so they can reach out to their own networks to help extend the team's reach and impact. All the funds raised will be credited towards the team. Walk Teams and their fundraising efforts drive the success of our Walks. More team participants means an increased opportunity for fundraising and increased awareness of ALS.

There are three primary types of Walk Teams:

  1. Friends and Family Walk Teams: A Friends and Family Walk Team is created by family members and friends whose lives have been personally touched by ALS. These teams usually walk in honor or in memory of a loved one with ALS.
  2. Corporate Walk Teams: A Corporate Walk Team is created by a company who wants to support ALS United Greater New York's mission. These teams are generally made up of coworkers and their family and friends. Corporate Teams may or may not have a personal connection to ALS, but they are all dedicated to improving the lives of those touched by the disease.
  3. Other Walk Teams: "Other" Walk Teams include school teams, fraternity/sorority teams - any type of team that would like to join the fight against ALS.

5. What is a Team Captain?

A Team Captain is the lead organizer and motivator for a Walk ALS Team. Each Walk Team must have a Team Captain. There can be up to 4 team captains per team. Team Captains are responsible for naming the team,  setting the team fundraising goal, recruiting people to join their Walk Team, and continually communicating with team members prior to Walk Day. Team Captains are ALS United Greater New York's primary contact to the Walk Team; they will receive ongoing information and updates from our office during the months leading up to Walk Day. 

6. What is a Team participant?

Team participants are individuals who participate in Walk ALS as part of a Walk Team. Team participants communicate regularly with their Team Captain and encourage friends and family to support the Walk and through their methods.

7. What is an Individual Walker?

Individual Walkers choose to participate as a single member of Walk ALS rather than joining a Walk Team. Individual walkers also have access to all the fundraising tools in the online fundraising Participant Center.

8. What is a Virtual Walker?

People who choose to participate as Virtual Walkers do not physically attend Walk Day. This is a great option for supporters who do not live close to our Walk location or cannot attend Walk Day. Virtual Walkers can participate on a team or as an individual. However, Virtual Walkers must still register for the Walk in order to have access to the tools in the online fundraising participant center.

9. Where/When Should Walk Donations Be Submitted?

We begin collecting donations February 1 and keep our books open until January 31. We encourage you to send all contributions to ALS United Greater New York's office prior to the Walk.

Additional options for submitting donations include:

  1. Encourage online donations: Online donations made directly to your personal Walk page are instantly attributed to your personal and Walk Team fundraising goal. No additional steps are necessary. We suggest using the tools in your online fundraising Participant Center to create a custom URL link you can share with friends and family to take them right to your donation page.
  2. Connect your Fundraiser with Facebook: Log in to your online fundraising Participant Center and follow the steps to connect your Walk fundraising page with your Facebook account. This will create a fundraiser on Facebook, allowing you to easily share your cause and ask your Facebook friends for support. All donations collected will be credited back to your personal page.
  3. Bring donations to the Registration Tent on Walk Day. Simply collect contributions from friends and family and bring the donations to the Registration Tent on Walk Day.

All donations received after Walk Day should be mailed to ALS United Greater New York's office at 42 Broadway Suite 1724 New York, NY 10004.

10. I Forgot My Username and Password.

Click here if you forgot your password. Remember that your username and password are case sensitive. You will receive an e-mail with your username and password. If you don’t receive an email or have trouble resetting your password, contact Meg Emery at memery@als-ny.org and she can reset it for you.

11. How Do I Change My Username and/or Password?

First, login to the site using your username and password. Once logged in you will see a link at the top of the page called "Profile". Once in your profile, you will be able to update your contact information, e-mail address, preferences, username, and password. All changes will be made to your account immediately. There is no need to sign in again.

12. Is My Personal Information Secure?

Blackbaud, the company that powers ALS United Greater New York's Walk ALS website, makes every effort to protect your personal contact and credit card information. They use industry-standard SSL encryption techniques to make sure your credit card information, passwords, and personal information travel securely over the Internet. Blackbaud also installed an encryption engine on our database server so your data is securely stored within our offices as well.

13. How are Credit Card Transactions Handled?

Credit card information is not stored in our database. During the donation process, we send an individual’s 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.

14. What is the Participant Center?

This is your online fundraising center is your go-to place for Walk ALS fundraising. This online portal is designed to streamline your fundraising and recruitment efforts. You can upload your personal contacts, send emails asking for gifts using our pre-written templates, update your personal page story, photo, and connect your fundraiser to Facebook all in one place.

15. How can I access my Participant Center?

When you’re on the home page for your event, you will see an option in the top right that says either “Log In” or “My Participant Center”. Click that option and you will be taken to your Participant Center or prompted to log in. Because the Participant Center contains private information it is a secure site and you must log in to access it. For help logging in, contact Meg Emery at memery@als-ny.org.

16. How do I use the Participant Center?

Once you log in, just follow the prompts to use the tools. If you run into any issues, please reach out to Meg Emery at memery@als-ny.org or 212-720-3049.

17. Why should I use the Participant Center?

The Participant Center has tons of tools that make it easy to fundraise for the Walk ALS. Use one of our custom templates if you are not sure what to say when asking for support. Want to share your URL on social media? You can easily copy and paste it from your Participant Center. Have a photo that you want to share? Upload it to your personal page.