Is your organization thinking of having a charity run to raise funds? A charity run can be very successful in attracting donations and raising the profile of your nonprofit, but it can be a challenge to plan.
Maybe you’ve organized a charity run in the past but it wasn’t as successful as you’d hoped.
Or maybe you’re organizing a charity run for the very first time.
Either way, you want to make sure that you set your plans and don’t leave anything out.
1. Choosing a Location for the Charity Run
Start off by pinning down your location. Your route choice can have a big impact on the rest of your charity run plan. You may need more resources for using a certain route, for example. And it may affect the range of participants who take part in the run.
What distance will runners cover? It’s pretty common to choose 5K, 10K or half marathon distances for charity runs. These distances can attract serious runners while not being too daunting for others.
Look at whether you can choose a location that will be suitable for a range of ages and running abilities. This gives you a much bigger scope for getting people involved. The more participants you have, the more funds you’ll raise!
Many runners will prefer a gentle course with no big hills to tackle, for example. If you’re not targeting serious runners, you may decide on a course like this.
A looped course can work well too if you want the start and finish to be in the same place. This avoids having to transport runners back from the finish line.
Ideally, you also want the route to be accessible for crowd support. If possible, try to mobilize the local community to support the runners on the day. Vocal support can make a huge difference when participants are feeling the burn!
The positioning of water stations can also affect the route. Place these at regular intervals so that runners stay hydrated. You may also want to choose a route that allows water stations on both sides of the road.
Don’t forget about safety concerns. Is there usually much traffic on your chosen route? Are there plenty of sidewalks that runners can use to avoid the traffic? Can you easily place things like water stations, portable toilets and trash cans on the route?
2. Determining the Resources Needed
Now that you’ve got your route sorted, think about the resources you’ll need.
This can include:
The number of staff and volunteers needed for roles before, during and after the run
The level of security needed
Signage for the start and finish lines
Signage along the route to guide runners and for water stations
Tables and water bottles at water stations
Trash cans for empty water bottles
Concession stands for spectators
Post-race refreshments
Two-way radios to stay in contact with staff, volunteers and security around the course
First aid kits and trained first-aiders on hand
Donations boxes at locations around the course
A stage for an awards ceremony
An online events platform to handle registrations and entry fees
A fundraising platform to handle donations
3. Setting SMART Goals For Charity Run
Setting goals for your charity run helps with planning and organizing. Look to create SMART fundraising goals if you can.
Not already familiar with these? SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Relevant and Timely.
4. Promoting Your Charity Run & Finding Participants
Time to start spreading the word about your charity run!
What if your organization doesn’t have much to spend on marketing? There’s still a lot that you can do to promote your charity run.
Make sure that local radio and media are aware of your event. They may even want to interview a staff member or volunteer to talk about the run, which is great coverage!
Social media can be a very effective way to get the word out.
Get involved in online communities linked to your cause. And hop on running communities too. Facebook groups can be great for this.
Add your charity run to online events calendars. Try meetup.com or Eventbrite, for example. This lets more people know that your charity run is happening.
Setting up a Facebook event can be very successful too. Participants can easily invite their friends to get involved. And when a participant hits the button to say that they’re going, it’s highlighted to their Facebook friends too. This is an easy way for more people to know about your charity run, especially if you’re on a limited marketing budget.
5. Taking Registrations for Your Charity Run
Making it easy for people to register is a must when you’re organizing a charity run.
Think about how your organization will register runners for the event. Paper registration can be tedious and requires more time and effort from your staff. Using technology can free up more resources for admin and promotion.
Using an integrated online event management system lets you create a customized form. You can use this form on your organization’s website and collect details. It can also make it easy to send out automated emails to participants. You can confirm their entry without having to do it manually.
6. Accepting Donations
An effective fundraising platform also makes it easy to secure donations.
Make sure that your website is set up to accept donations. Using a system that lets you accept recurring donations is key for this.
Some of these also include online fundraising integration. This may allow participants to set up their own fundraising pages. These can link back to your organization’s account. Your organization automatically receives any donations made to a participant’s fundraising page.
7. Communicating With Your Participants
Keep in touch with participants in the run-up to your charity run. This helps to keep them excited and enthusiastic right up to the big day. Otherwise, interest can start to wane if the run takes place months after people register.
If your organization has been collecting registration details, it’s easy to stay in touch. Send them regular emails with tips for training and fundraising, for example.
Are you attracting participants who don’t live locally? Offer them tips for where to stay and what to see while they’re in town. You could even provide them with a training plan to follow.
8. What to Do Afterwards
Congratulations, you organized your charity run and everything went to plan! Now it’s time to get those congratulations and thank you messages out to everyone who got involved. This can be in a thank you email, card or letter.
As well as participants and donors, send a thank you email to the volunteers who helped make sure the day went smoothly.
Over to You
Breaking down your charity run plan into smaller tasks can make it much easier to get organized.
With good planning and strong promotion, your nonprofit can organize a charity run that attracts plenty of participants. And that means more funds for your organization!
An effective fundraising platform is essential for this, not least because it takes the stress out of attracting donations. It also helps you to reach a wider pool of potential donors who will support your event.
Source from:donor box
How to Organize a Charity Run