Fall Fiesta 2026 · Sunday, November 22, 2026

Fundraising resources

The Fall Fiesta is our community fundraiser for the year ahead. It is a sober celebration, and the money raised keeps the retreat within reach for the men who need it most.

Nearly one in five men at the retreat attends on a scholarship, and the retreat itself is priced below what it costs to run. Peer-to-peer fundraising is how we close that gap together: you set up a personal page, share it with the people in your life, and every gift counts toward the overall event goal of $30,000.

Questions along the way go to Dallas Peters at dallas@gmsr.org.

Start your fundraiser See the leaderboard

Set up and claim your page

Give Lively hosts our fundraising pages. Use these steps as a guide; button labels on Give Lively may differ.

Open the campaign and start a fundraiser
Use the Start your fundraiser button above. It opens the GMSR Fall Fiesta campaign on Give Lively with the fundraiser form ready to go.
Sign in or create a Give Lively account
If you fundraised with us before, sign in with the same email so your past pages stay together. Otherwise create an account with the email you check most.
Name your page and set a goal
Your name works well as the page title. Choose a goal that feels realistic for you. Gifts to your page count toward the overall event goal of $30,000.
Add a photo and a few sentences in your own words
Say what the retreat has meant to you and what the scholarship fund does. People give to people, so the shorter and more personal the better.
Publish and copy your link
Once the page is live, copy its link. That link is what you send out, and it is what connects every gift back to you on the leaderboard.

Tips

Make it personal

One honest sentence about your own experience will do more than any statistic.

Ask directly and follow up

Tell people what their gift supports. A short follow-up gives them another opportunity to consider it.

Say thank you right away

A quick note the day a gift arrives is the part people remember.

Sample messages

Copy one of these, add your page link and your own words, and send it. They are starting points, not scripts.

Text message

Hi. I am raising money for the GMSR Fall Fiesta. GMSR is a sober retreat for gay men, and gifts help fund scholarships and keep the retreat accessible. $250 covers a scholarship. If you would like to support it, here is my page: [your page link]. Thank you.

Email

Subject: Help keep GMSR accessible Hi, I am supporting Gay Men's Spiritual Retreat, a sober weekend for gay men at Camp Stevens in Julian. [Add a sentence about what GMSR means to you.] Nearly 20% of retreat registrations are funded through scholarships, and $250 covers a scholarship. Fall Fiesta raises money for the year ahead, with an overall event goal of $30,000. Gifts help fund scholarships and keep the retreat priced below what it costs to run. If you would like to help, you can give through my fundraising page: [your page link] Thank you for considering it.

Social post

I am fundraising for the GMSR Fall Fiesta. GMSR is a sober retreat for gay men. Nearly 20% of registrations are funded through scholarships, and $250 covers a scholarship. Gifts help keep the retreat accessible: [your page link]