CHARITY CLIMBS
KILIMANJARO FUNDRAISING CLIMBS
$13,093,491 RAISED, SINCE 2001
Climbing Kilimanjaro for charity is an incredible way for you to take on your personal challenge of Kilimanjaro’s summit, embark on a life changing adventure, and change the life of others at the same time. It is the challenge that keeps on giving, inward and outward.
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
~Anne Frank
By climbing for charity, as well as yourself, you chart path of helping those whose welfare and lives depend on it. You get a double dose of euphoria when you reach the summit, and reach the goal set by your group for themselves and for the charity. Since 2001, when our our first fundraising climb for the Make-a-Wish Foundation raised over $100,000, hundreds of climbers have raised millions of dollars for 77 large and small foundations.
Some of the well known charities we have climbed:
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- Make-a-Wish Foundation
- CARE
- UPKILI for Breast Cancer
- Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
- Climb for Conservation
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- Canadian Blood Services
- Kidney Foundation
- Canadian Lung Association
- Montreal Children’s Hospital
- Charles Bruneau Foundation
- Montfort Hospital
We can help make your fundraising quest happen on Kilimanjaro.
CLICK HERE to contact us, or call us at +1.775.833.9700 or 1.800.231.1919 to reach our US Office at Lake Tahoe.
WHY A TUSKER CHARITY CLIMB?
Climbing Kilimanjaro for Charity is a home run. It’s a way for you and your friends to meet a lifelong challenge and support less fortunate people who are facing theirs, but in a much more consequential way. Climbing for a cause brings your group especially close together as you have two common goals: one for yourself, and one for the cause. Planning a charity event takes a lot of preparation, but mostly it requires a commitment of time and expert planning. And it’s a fact - the larger your group, the more money you’ll be able to raise for the cause. So, try and organize a large group, as each member goes into their own community to raise money for the charity you have chosen to support. A few years ago, we took 37 people on a fundraising climb, and they raised $850,000!
Before you start, here are some key questions, which we can help you answer, with a simple call to our office. By calling us, you tap into 44 year of experience on Kilimanjaro, and 20 years of running fundraising climbs. CLICK HERE to contact us, or call us at +1.775.833.9700 or 1.800.231.1919 to reach our US Office at Lake Tahoe.
- What foundation do you want to climb for?
- Who will the participants be?
- Where is it going to be held?
- Who is going to help you plan the event?
- What are the safety concerns?
- Where do you start?
SELECTING A CHARITY
You will have the greatest impact if you select a cause that you feel connected to in some way. It could be a foundation that researches a disease that has affected a friend or family member, or a cause that helps sick children. Ask yourself which charity causes are important to you, because the only way to make your climb a successful event is if your heart is in it.
When selecting a foundation or charity, it’s important to choose a reputable organization that allocates a high percentage of funds you have raised for the actual cause, rather than towards supporting the organization’s infrastructure. Here is a list of online non-profit monitoring sites that can help you research performance ratings and effectiveness of many foundations.
- www.GuideStar.org - This is an information service reporting on 2.5 million organizations.
- www.CharityNavigator.org - Evaluates U.S. charities and does not accept advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates.
- www.CharityWatch.org - Provides information about charities accountability.
- www.Give.org - Reports on charities' transparency.
SELECTING A CLIMB DATE
Choosing a date for your climb is a critical move. It will affect how many participants you can recruit, and how much time the group will have for fundraising prior to the climb. This is why we recommend planning your charity climb a year out. You will need to educate your fundraising climbing team and find sponsors and donors.
IMPORTANT: The funds raised by participants must go directly to the charity and cannot be used to cover the cost of their climb. Don’t be shy to call us. If you’re not sure about which dates and which route you wish to climb, just contact us here, or call our US Office at Lake Tahoe +1.775.833.9700 or 1.800.231.1919
FINDING SPONSORS
Once you have chosen a foundation to climb for, contact Tusker Trail and set a climbing date. Now it's time to find sponsors to donate money and climbing gear to your cause. Simply put, the more sponsors you have the more funds you will generate. There are two main types of sponsors - business and personal. Businesses get good PR from affiliating with a cause, so they are easy to approach. Personal sponsors usually consist friends, family, network contacts and associates.
START WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY & SOCIAL MEDIA
Start to spread the word and get people to join up. There are many techniques for fundraising. Some are as simple as throwing a party, and “charging” your friends a donation to attend. Or get a business to donate a product or service and sell raffle tickets and have a drawing, are two very successful fundraising techniques.
IMPORTANT. The money you raise must go directly to the charity and cannot be used to cover the cost of your climb.
USE CROWDFUNDING WEBSITES
There are a few really good online crowdfunding companies that allow you to build a page for your fundraising climb on their site, and allow people to donate to your cause directly through the website. These companies usually charge a small fee for the service. They make it efficient, and easy to get others to donate to the cause. The company ensures that the money gets distributed properly. Here are a few suggestions for sites. We suggest you compare their fees. Obviously, the more they charge, the less you have for your charity
Here are a few of the more well-known crowdfunding sites.
Question? Contact us now, CLICK HERE or call us at +1.775.833.9700 or 1.800.231.1919 and let’s set up your Kilimanjaro Fundraiser.
SOME OF OUR CHARITY CLIMBS
CLIMB FOR VALOR
Eddie Frank, Tusker’s founding guideworked with the US Special Forces, training them at high altitude. In the process, he developed close ties with the elite community.
This prompted Eddie to create Tusker's own charity climb, the "Kilimanjaro Climb for Valor." Eddie brought wounded vets to the summit of Kilimanjaro to raise money in support of the families of fallen soldiers, through the Duskin and Stephens Foundation.
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
The mission of Make-A-Wish® - "Our goal is to ensure that all Make-A-Wish® experiences create lifelong memories for the wish child. We believe that each wish experience should be as unique and special as the child who wished for it."
The MAKE-A-WISH-FOUNDATION ran their first charity climb with Tusker Trail back in 2001. The group raised $100,000 on the climb. The foundation has run a total of 8 charity climbs with Tusker, raising over a million dollars for the cause.
CODE
CODE’s mission is to enable student learning by increasing their access to qualified educators and locally relevant, high quality learning materials.
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CODE has climbed Kilimanjaro with Tusker 4 times to date, with 34 climbers raising over $2 million dollars. 94% of donations raised are directed to promote children’s literacy. Their fifth climb is scheduled for 2021.
CARE
Since 1945, CARE has worked around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice. In the poorest communities across 90 countries, CARE centers on women and girls, because they know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities.
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They have summitted Kilimanjaro 10 times with Tusker, raising almost a million dollars.
CLIMB FOR CONSERVATION
The mission of the CLIMB FOR CONSERVATION is to climb mountains around the world, raising money and awareness for wildlife and endangered species.
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Since their first climb in 2012, the org has donated $92,530 to protect critically endangered, vulnerable, and threatened species such as the African Black Rhino, African Elephant, Jaguar, the Andean Bear, and the Bumble Bee.
UPKILI FOR BREAST CANCER
Tusker owner/guide, Amy Frank created the UPKILI CLIMB FOR BREAST CANCER, to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. It is now a part of the CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY, a national, community-based organization whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer.
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Amy Frank’s own UPKILI climbs have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause, and she has led many cancer survivors to the summit.
CHARLES BRUNEAU FOUNDATION
CHARLES BRUNEAU FOUNDATION - has a mission to cure the 20% of children whose cancer is resistant to treatment, and offer children in remission a true cure, free of side-effects and complications. The foundation finances leading-edge research in pediatric hematology and oncology.
This life changing foundation has climbed Kilimanjaro 3 times with Tusker Trail and has raised $2,188,000 on the climbs.
CANADIAN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION
CIBC WOOD GUNDY is a Canadian Investment Firm. Over the years they have dedicated time and effort fundraising for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, now a part of the Canadian Cancer Society.
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Their first Tusker Trail climb was in 2005, The Wood Gundy group has climbed Kilimanjaro 3 times with Tusker and has raised a total of $1,060,000 for breast cancer research.
ANY ROUTE CAN BE A CHARITY ROUTE
The big charity route question we always get asked is "which route is best?" The simple answer is that any one of our routes can be a charity climb. Which one to chose is entirely up to you, and since all charity climbs are "Private Climbs" you pick the date and you pick the route. The only limits you have is the availability of your climbers based on the length of the climb. Click through to review and compare our routes. If you have a question, contact us! We are always excited to help a good cause.
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