Awarding Prizes for Non-competitive Events
Not all charity fitness events are designed to be competitive. Perhaps you are hosting a one-mile fun run or a walk in order to raise funds. The good news with these types of events is that the planning process can be a bit simpler. You won’t need to divide your participants into age groups or gather the equipment for a timed finish line. However, when planning a charity event that is non-timed and non-competitive you will still need to decide if and how you will award prizes.
It is likely that you will still be gaining the sponsorship of area businesses and collecting things like gift certificates, t-shirts or coupons from these places which would serve as ideal prizes for your participants. However, if there is no first, second and third in a variety of age categories then how do you choose who gets what?
For this type of event the best option is to draw names for prizes. Gather as many prizes as you can and then put the name of everyone who participates in the event into a bucket. The process is simple. Just randomly draw out names the old fashioned way for each prize. This way everyone who participates will have a chance to win.
These are a few things you might also want to consider when designing a raffle-type give away for event prizes and gifts.
Save the best for last.
If you have big prizes and small prizes start with awarding the ones of lesser value first. Work your way up, leaving your most valuable prize for last. This method allows there to be fewer names in the bucket and the odds get increasingly better for those who have not won anything yet.
Get your participants involved.
Instead of you or a member of your planning group being the one to draw names, have the participants do it. You draw the first name and then as someone wins a prize and comes up to receive it let them be the person to draw the next name.
Announce your plans when advertising the event.
Be sure to state the fact that your prizes will be given away in a drawing on your race brochures and advertisements. Let participants know that everyone has a chance to win. Also, if you don’t want to worry about mailing prizes or contacting winners at a later date, be sure to list that participants must be present to win. If the winner isn’t present just keep drawing names until someone who is there is named the winner.
Use name entries to generate additional donations.
Many non-competitive events have a set donation amount for all of those participating. For example, each participant may be required to pay $20 to walk, but larger donations are encouraged. Consider increasing the number of times a person is put in the drawing if they donate more money. So if they donate $20 their name goes in once for the prize drawings. If they donate $40 it goes in twice and $60 it goes in three times and so on. This is a great way to generate more donations for your cause while your participants increase their chance of winning a fun prize at the same time.
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