As a Corporate Light The Night Team, you can make a difference in the lives of millions of people who have been touched by blood cancers. The funds raised by your company will be invested in critical cancer research, patient services, and community outreach programs to help enhance, prolong, and save the lives of blood cancer patients.

National Capital Area 2019 Light the Night Walk Dates:

Montgomery County: Rockville Town Square - Saturday, October 12

Northern Virginia: Reston Town Center - Friday, October 18

Washington, D.C.: National Mall - Saturday, October 26

What is Light The Night?

Light The Night is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) annual evening fundraising event to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by blood cancer. More than 200 communities across North America fundraise throughout the the year then come together for these inspirational and memorable Walks. Friends, families, and co-workers form fundraising teams, and millions of consumers help by donating at retail outlets. These efforts fund lifesaving research and programs for people battling cancer.

To support LLS’s mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. The Walks are a fun, family-friendly event and a great way to bring colleagues, family and friends together!

Who Walks?

Anyone can get involved! In 2018, more than 13,000 people participated in the National Capital Area Light The Night Walks. Corporate sponsors, corporate teams, and friends and family teams joined together to raise $3.1 million to support blood cancer research and benefit patient aid. 

How Can We Participate?

Form a Corporate Team: Rally your employees around an important cause! Forming a Light The Night team not only boosts employee morale, but also promotes brand awareness in the community. 

Sponsor Light The Night: Sponsorships range from $10,000 to $100,000 and will be customized to fit your company’s marketing needs. 

Make an In-Kind Donation: Whether it is a small gift card or enough food to feed our walkers, we rely on in-kind donations to enhance our Walks and encourage fundraising! Every dollar we can save on these items is one more dollar we put toward our mission.

Become a Retail Partner: Get your customers involved in the cause! There are a variety of options, and we’ll work with you to customize a partnership to fit your needs.

Volunteer: The success of our Walks depend on the help of our volunteers.

Opportunities include: Executive Committee Leadership Team, Day-of Volunteers, In-office Administrative Support, etc.

How Do I Get Started? 

Call the Light The Night staff at 703-399-2941  

Our Light The Night staff will work closely with you at every step to recruit team members, set a fundraising goal, develop a fundraising plan and build momentum so you can celebrate your company’s success at Light The Night.

Step One: Identify one or more Team Captain(s)

• A team captain’s goal is to recruit walkers and encourage fundraising for LLS’s mission.

• Companies often recruit multiple team captains for sub-teams organized by department, floor, project, service line, etc.

• Get the word out through an internal memo from the CEO to all department heads, asking them to identify team captain candidates or to serve as captains themselves.

• Hold one or more “all team captain meetings” to discuss team goals/actions/progress.

Step Two: Recruit Walkers

• Set a team recruitment goal (the average company recruits 20%-30% of its employees.)

  • Recruit friends and family members as well!

• Send an all staff memo or email from the CEO to announce the company’s participation in Light The Night.

• Publicize and promote involvement through company website and other external communications

• Hold an internal kickoff with Light The Night staff to get employees excited about the campaign

Step Three: Set Your Team’s Goal and Start Raising Money

• Ask every walker to raise the local corporate average of $500 through outreach to their personal network

• Send a letter to business partners requesting their support either by creating a team or making a donation.

• Ask team captains to organize at least one fundraising event such as a breakfast, happy hour, or casual day.

• Consider a corporate sponsorship, complete with marketing benefits!

• Ask if your company has a matching gift program.

• Create incentives to recognize top individual fundraisers or top fundraising sub-team/department.

• Secure at least one high level executive to lead by example and join the Corporate Executive Challenge

• Share results regularly to all employees to build awareness and excitement.

Step Four: Celebrate Your Team’s Success at the Walk!

• Light The Night is a fun and family friendly event, great for building relationships. The evening begins at 5PM with a huge block party, then the Walk kicks off at 7PM and is about 2 miles long.

• Corporate teams raising $15,000 or more will receive a 10x10 tent with team sign.

• Corporate teams raising $10,000 or more will receive a table with team sign.

Step 5: Wrap up the year!

• The Corporate Executive Challenge, Accounting Firm Challenge, and Team Fundraising continue until Dec. 31.

• Consider making the annual holiday party a philanthropic event!

• Check with your company to make sure all matching gifts have been received and/or submitted.

• Meet with your Light The Night representative to recap the year.

To learn more about forming a corporate team, call us at: 703-399-2941 or complete the form below.