A Step By Step Guide To Host A Charity Run For Your Nonprofit

A charity run is a perfect way for businesses to reinforce their local presence and enhance the brand outreach in the community. However, to get this event off the ground successfully, you need to remember a few tips.

Charity run will offer a day of  group fun for the participants, while supporting the social cause. Nonprofits sponsoring these events  can enhance their goodwill by getting connected  with  people.  Organizing a charity run may involve a lot of tasks; right from following the checklist and delegating the tasks.

  Here is  quick guide on the best ways to organize a charity run successfully.

Start early

Ideally you should plan the charity run 4-5 months in advance. Choose date that does not clash with the local festivals or the holiday season, to ensure maximum participation. Once you have decided on the date and venue; you can send the first event announcement email to everyone on your mailing list.

Decide on the  route

• Plan the path and distance of your charity run. Five kilometer race is popular and easy to run. However you can also consider a 10-kilometer route or even a half or full marathon, if you have an active community around. Include safe terrains and interesting spots like parks or trails into the route to make it interesting.
• Ensure the safety of the Participants: You may have to request road closures  to keep the participants away from traffic, if  there aren’t adequate sidewalks
• Gathering space. Ear mark a space where the supporters and family of the participants can gather and wait during the event. Make sure to provide refreshments and photo op facilities.

Plan a theme

A fun theme will make the profit run unique .  You can incorporate seasonal themes or a social cause to make it interesting. For instance  “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” encourages men to wear red high heels in a charity walk to raise money to fight domestic violence.

Make a fundraising plan

Though the most common method to raise funds is through sponsorship; you can also think of other options like fun contests or special sales to fund your cause.  Offer special incentives for each level of sponsorship to thank the donors, and make them feel special. For instance, for a $500 donation, a company will get its logo imprinted banner hung at the check-in area, which in turn will enhance their brand exposure. It is a win –win 

 Once you’ve worked out on sponsorship packages, create a cloud-based platform; so that volunteers can track on the sponsors that are likely to contribute and the  amount they may raise.

Interact with the volunteers

Take a stock of your resources by reaching out to the active volunteers and your  in-house team to delegate responsibilities. It will give a clear overview on any further requirements that you many need for hosting a charity run.  If you have only limited resources, plan a charity run on a smaller scale or you can even host a virtual charity run.

You may also have to take the necessary permits and permissions from the officials. If you need to hire off-duty police officer, submit a plan for the same well in advance, to avoid possible delay in getting permission.

Thank you  custom giveaways

Once the fun run gets over, you can hand out custom giveaways like T shirts, water bottles or tote bags printed with your awareness message and logo. It will make a great keepsake of the event, which they will cherish for a long time.

You can even send a thank you email template, to convey your thanks to everyone on the email list who made the day a success.  It is  also a great time to host participant surveys, to get inputs to make your event still better next year. It will also make the participants  feel even more valued;, which in turn will inspire them to support your mission even more.

Make sure to share the details of the money collected and how the funds have been used to help the community. It will enhance the reliability of your nonprofit; and will encourage the donors to extend their support.

Lastly, don’t wait for the  excitement of the big day to die away to start planning for the fun run for the next year. Offer interesting gifts like dinner coupons or free gifts for people who register early. It will spread the word about the important work your nonprofit is doing for the community; and get more supporters into the fold.

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