The Best Fund Raising Tips For Charity Runners

Are you running a race this Summer for charity? Raising money is admirable but is one extra task to do! Here’s how to be a more successful charity runner. 

Once you’ve entered a marathon or other running race, the real work begins. Training, nutrition, rest, massage, soft tissue work, recovery and – if you’re running for charity – fundraising. Of course, raising money for a good cause is a wonderful thing to do as a runner. But it can also be tough. The trick is to make the most of all the opportunities available to us – online and offline. We asked the running4women team for their top tips.

– Create an online account with a resource such as justgiving. This will not only make it easier for you to collect the money but makes it easier for people to support you. It’s also much easier to send a short link to an online site than it is to use paper forms.

– Add your online donation sites link (URL) to your email signature, your Facebook page, your blog, the signature of your forum posts. Tweet it. Send out a round-robin email, text message or Facebook message. Don’t be shy!

– It helps to directly link donation amounts to actions. Ask the charity to help you draw up a list of how £10, £25, £50 and £100 would typically be used. People are more likely to donate cash if they can visualise it as a piece of medical equipment or item of clothing.

– Ask the charity to help you. If they have a newsletter, ask if you can be featured. If they are on Facebook or Twitter, ask them to link to you and/or to promote your blog or donation site’s URL link.

– Get in touch with local media (newspapers, radio, TV and online publications) and ask them to run a short story about you. Include information about the charity and about yourself

– Why are you running for this charity, what’s the story? Make sure you include the details of how people can support and sponsor you.

– Consider creating a blog, Facebook page or other online group which you can update quickly and easily to keep supporters up to date with your progress. The more they see of your training, progress and story, the more likely they are to want to donate (and to remember to do it!)

– Don’t dismiss the traditional paper sponsorship form. This is a great tool to use when you meet people face-to-face so keep it with you at all times

– You could consider organising a raffle or other giveaway to incentivise and thank your supporters. This is a good tool to use if you have to raise significant sums of money.

– If your charity has an in-house fundraising team, use it. Ask them for ideas and support. Ask them to help increase the reach of any social media activity you do (retweeting, sharing on Facebook, sending your online links to their followers)

– Use your charity’s written content, including case studies and human interest stories, to add muscle to your fundraising efforts. The more you can connect with people on an emotional level, the more they are likely to want to support you (and that includes handing over sponsorship money)

– Don’t forget your lovely supporters after your race! Thank them of course, but also update them on how much you raised, how the money is likely to be used, and just what a difference they helped you make.  Running races for charity is just one of the many ways in which our wonderful hobby can be used for social good. What are some of the best ways you’ve made a success of being a charity runner?

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