With the current state of the economy it is no surprise that the ability to donate to charity organizations is changing for many people. Regular participants and donators are being forced to either limit participation in events or the amount they give to the causes they believe in.

Last month a Boston Globe article reported about some negative changes in charity fundraising through athletic events. Highlighted was the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a two-day bike trip across the state for charity which takes place this year on August 1st.

 According to organizers registration is down 10%. The planning committee has turned to promoting shorter routes that allow for lower fundraising totals to draw in those who can’t commit to the full $4200 for participation.

Organizations hosting charity fitness events are searching for ways to keep total donations up and promote growth. Many are taking action to raise their number of participants knowing that each person is probably going donate less. Less money from more people is one way to meet fundraising goals.

Despite challenges, positive news is still being reported and many are taking an optimistic view of the situation. The Run, Walk, Ride Fundraising Council conducts an annual survey among managers of well-known athletic fundraising events. This information is used to compile the Run, Walk, Ride 30 – the top 30 athletic event fundraising programs. The survey also gathers information on strategies and trends among event organizers.

Their annual report shows that in 2008 the top 30 “athon” programs had a 7.6% increase in dollars raised to total $1.76 billion in gross revenue for charity. The top five programs included the Relay for Life, Team in Training, March for Babies, Race for the Cure and Breast Cancer 3-day.

This diverse group of events which topped the list can only be seen as a positive from the perspective of fundraising and participant numbers. The group includes everything from a short walk to endurance events. A wide variety of events such as this will help to draw novice exercisers as well as trained athletes. More participants mean more fundraising dollars.

Although there are worries about the ability to repeat similar fundraising growth in 2009, the survey showed that managers are implementing strategies to succeed. The top two of these strategies includes increasing corporate team recruitment and providing participants with tools to raise more funds. By focusing on the challenge from this perspective hopes are high that successful fundraising and growth will continue this year and beyond.

Do you organize charity fitness events or participate in them? How has the economy affected your efforts and what is your outlook for this year?

Photo by ronnieb, morgueFile.com

Now, where should I put my keys?

This is the question I often ask myself as I walk out the door for a run or walk. I have a few pairs of workout pants that have a pocket, but I really don’t like having things in my pockets and resting on my legs when I run. I know. It is one of those personal preferences.

I’ve tried tying them to my laces and putting them in my shoe only to be gouged in the ankle about 10 minutes into my workout. I would much rather hold them in my hand which I know would drive some exercisers crazy.

I think I finally found my solution, though. A few weeks ago I was visiting one of my favorite fitness blogs, Fit Bottomed Girls, and they were giving away a tank from Gracie’s Gear. I had never heard of the company, but their product looked nice so I entered the contest via leaving a comment.

 Guess what?! I won!

I guess I should tell you why I’m so intrigued by these tanks and sports bras to begin with. Well, they conveniently have a zipper pocket, called the POWER POUCH ™, in the front for storing those things you can’t seem to find a place for…like keys. It has three separate compartments to keep things in their place. A simple design which just happens to be brilliant.

Here are a few other details about these Gracie’s Gear products:

• They are made of moisture-wicking, anti-odor fabrics.
• The pocket in the front provides a space to thread your MP3 earphones and a loop to keep them the cord on your shoulder so you can have it tucked away while running to your favorite tunes.
• The fabric and design is well constructed and supportive.
• The tanks and sports bras come in a variety of colors.
• Sports bras start at $33 and the tanks at $39.

These functional tanks are the perfect addition to your workout wear or a great gift for female fitness enthusiasts.  In addition, the company is a proud sponsor of many health related events and causes including breast cancer.

Particulars:

Denver Tri for the Cure

• August 2, 2009
• Cherry Creek State Park, Denver
• Sprint Distance Triathlon (1/2 mile open water swim, 11.4 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run) open to women of all ages and athletic abilities.
• Registration Fee — $85 per individual or $150 per two- or three-person team
• Pre-Race Expo, August 1, 2009, 9am-3pm, Bicycle Village in Aurora

The event is limited to 3,000 women.  You can register as an individual, as a buddy with another person, or as a relay team of two or three.  The elite wave begins the race, followed by survivors and then age group waves of 100 women each.  Buddies will start in a special wave and will be timed, but not eligible for age-group awards.  Relay teams require each member to participate in a different part of the race (one run, one swim, one bike).  Two member teams will have one member racing in two different sports.

Race organizers will be offering clinics and a Tri Training Camp in the weeks to come.  If you’ve never challenged  yourself with a tri and you’ve always wanted to, this is a perfect one.  For many of the participants, this is a first-time endurance event, and the atmosphere, while competitive,  is also supportive and encouraging.  Grab some friends and just do it!

The annual series of Breast Cancer 3-Days benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure are now open for registration.  Event participants spend three days walking a total of sixty miles and raise a minimum of $2300 for the cause.  The organization provides resources for training and fundraising as well as full support during the event.

My first distance walk was a Breast Cancer 3-Day in 2001, and it was a life-changing experience.  The sharing and camaraderie of everyone associated with the event touched me deeply — I came away from it and immediately made changes in my own life, even including a career change.  I probably would have done that anyway, but being a part of the 3-Day definitely helped me along my path.

Here’s the 2009 schedule:

• Boston, July 24-26
• Cleveland, July 31-August 2
• Chicago, August 7-9
• Michigan, August 14-16
• Twin Cities, August 21-23
• Denver, August 28-30
• Seattle, September 11-13
• San Francisco, October 2-4
• Washington, D.C., October 9-11
• Philadelphia, October 16-18
• Atlanta, October 23-25
• Tampa Bay, October 30-November1
• Dallas/Ft. Worth, November 6-8
• Arizona, November 13-15
• San Diego, November 20-22

Visit the web site for more details or call 800-996-3DAY.

If you’re doing one of the events, let us know.  We’d love to follow your progress as you train and raise money.

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is hosting the Great Start Party to Kick-Off the 2009 Walk Season. The party is happening on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 1pm in several cities nationwide.

At the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer “Great Start Party,” individuals and teams will register to walk or volunteer for the 2009 events. Local residents will meet other participants, find out about training walks, learn about the impact of past funds raised and much, much more. For returning participants, the “Great Start Party” is an opportunity to register for the upcoming walk, share memories and renew friendships.

The full schedule for the 2009 Avon Walks for Breast Cancer includes:

• Houston (April 4-5)
• Washington, DC (May 2-3)
• Boston, MA (May 16-17)
• Chicago, IL (June 6-7)
• Rocky Mountains, CO (June 27-28)
• San Francisco, CA (July 11-12)
• Los Angeles, CA (September 12-13)
• New York, NY (October 10-11)
• Charlotte, NC (October 24-25).

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is an annual noncompetitive event which offers women and men a choice of walking a marathon (26.2 miles) or a marathon and a half (39.3 miles) over a weekend to raise money and awareness to fight breast cancer.

Visit the Avon Foundation for more information and to RSVP for the party in your local area.

Image by MargiL via Flickr

There are seven of us on the team, ranging in age from 25 to 54.  Most of us live in the Denver area, but two of our members live in Phoenix.  We enjoy different levels of fitness and fundraising expertise, so we decided to do some joint events to complement our individual efforts.

I registered our domain name with GoDaddy and set up our team blog on Typepad. (About the name — one of our members is a wine rep, and the rest of us appreciate a nice glass or two.  We thought “Sauntering Sommeliers” would be better for fundraising than “Walking Winos.”)  The blog will be one tool we’ll use for promoting our events, thanking our sponsors, and keeping our supporters updated on our progress.  The Avon walk also gives us individual pages and a team page, but we wanted to have a little more creative control and fun with it.  On the blog I included an About Us page; contact info; a tip jar in case anyone wants to make a small donation; links to our Avon fundraising pages; sponsor links; and a Tribute Wall, a place to list friends and family who have battled breast cancer.

Our Denver events will include two garage sales in early spring in two different neighborhoods so that we can take advantage of the pent-up garage sale mania that comes at the end of a long winter.  We’ll be collecting slightly-used treasures from our friends who want to do some spring cleaning and donate their cast-offs to a good cause.  Our Phoenix members will come to help us, and if they do one in Arizona, some of us will probably be there for them too.  We’ll also be selling some of the better stuff on Ebay to reach a larger audience.

With the wine and restaurant connection, we’ll be holding two or three wine tastings at local eateries.  We’re not sure yet what form those will take, but at least one of them will include a silent auction.  We’ll evite everyone we know and send out press releases to our local media.

One of our members has monthly staff meetings at his place of business.  The company buys lunch for everyone, and it usually consists of pizza or other boring food.  He’s going to see if we can provide lunch instead — they’ll make a donation to the team and we’ll get many, if not all, of the ingredients donated from local grocery stores.  Once a month we’ll use my kitchen to turn out 50 healthy, tasty, yet simple brown bag lunches.  It will be a great way to build awareness of the cause and our fundraising efforts.  It’s not as labor-intensive as a garage sale, and since a couple of us are cooks, we’ll have fun doing it too.

Our goal is to raise $15,000 while we build awareness and have a good time with it.  Breast cancer is a serious disease, but you can’t always beat people over the head with scary statistics and gloom and doom.  We plan to put the fun back in fundraising while we’re making a difference.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress, and if any of you would like to share your own successful fundraising strategies, I’d love to hear them.

Happy New Year!

Show time is 5:15 AM at the 17th and Wynkoop entrance, but you’ll be finished and ready to head for work by 7.  What a fun way to spread the word about the cause!

Well, guess what. I found one!

I tend to overdo it a bit on health magazines. Since I live abroad I always want to make sure I have reading material in English. I pulled an issue of Shape® magazine out of my stack was thumbing through it the other day when I came across Shape® Pilates for Pink; a joint program with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®.

What a cool event! It takes place in October, of course, with that being Breast Cancer Awareness month. You can actively participate in two ways. Pilates studios and fitness centers can register with the program and offer classes throughout the month to raise money for breast cancer research.

You can also participate in classes taking place in your area. For those in the New York City area you can sign up for Pilates in the Park and take part in classes offered in Union Square Park. This event usually takes place the last weekend of September.

While a fairly new event, Shape® Pilates in Pink was almost instantly successful. I can see why. Who wouldn’t love doing mind/body exercise while raising money for a good cause? In 2007, 500 Pilates studios joined the event. Their classes and fundraising resulted in over $100,000 for breast cancer research.

Details haven’t been released for the 2009 event yet. It is a good thing to keep on the back of your mind though. If you currently take Pilates classes encourage your studio to become involved in the event. If you own a studio, register online and offer classes to raise funds for a great cause.

It is so exciting to see a different type of physical activity being used to support an important charity. It is another great reason to get involved in some mind/body exercise and see what you’ve been missing!

“Running. Writing about it. Happy to be doing both.”

This is how Felice describes herself on her blog The Happy Runner.  After reading those words on my first visit and just a few minutes into reading her posts, I knew I’d come across a down-to-earth person with a love of running and supporting charity events.

Felice lives in upstate New York with her husband and 17 month old son. She works from home as a freelance writer and editor while keeping up her blog. I had the chance to talk to Felice and here is what she has to say about the thrill and challenges of running, and how blogging has given her a sense of community while teaching her along the way.

I hope you will find her attitudes and experiences as motivating as I did!

What initially sparked your interest in running? How long has it been a part of your training?

I used to run when I played lacrosse in college but, at the time, I thought it was a necessary evil. I didn’t mind running in a game, but I didn’t really like running just to run.

In the mid-1990s, I was working in NYC and a co-worker asked me to run in the Corporate Challenge with her. I had been running on and off and so I decided to go for it. I ran somewhat consistently in preparing for the race but it didn’t save me from having a really awful race. The race day temperature was in the high 90s and I went out too hard, didn’t drink any water, and almost passed out at the end. But, I finished, and — oddly enough — had caught the running bug!

What would you name as your most significant barrier to overcome with running? What motivates you to keep going?

The hardest thing for me is fitting it in. I stay at home with my son full-time, but I also do some freelance work and a lot of volunteer work. I usually squeeze my work in during my son’s naps and in the evenings, so my time for running is limited. Since it is something that I truly love, though, I’ve made it a priority in my life.

Some evenings, I’ll be dressed and ready for my run when my husband gets home so I can take off the second he walks in the door. Or, I’ll sneak in a 15 minute run, if that is all my schedule allows. My husband usually wants to spend a lot of time with our son on the weekends, which allows me to get my long runs in.

What would you name as your biggest accomplishment with running?

My biggest accomplishment was running a marathon in 2004. I trained by myself, which was sometimes tough. I’m a solo runner, though, so I thought that training alone would work best for my personality. And, for the most part, it did. I love running alone and I relished in the long runs where it was just me and my thoughts. But, I had to really keep on top of my training and I had to be very disciplined. My goal for the marathon was to finish in 4 hours and 20 minutes. I ended up beating my goal by 8 minutes, which was a GREAT feeling! I was ecstatic (and exhausted) when I crossed that finish line!

I’d love to run another marathon, and my current plan is to run one in 2010 (for a milestone birthday!).

Do you participate in any charity fitness events?

I always run in our local Komen Race for the Cure. It takes place in Albany, NY in October each year and it raises funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer.

I’ve also run in a number of smaller races that support local causes, including a few races that raised funds for local parks and arts charities. In addition to races, I participate in community walks that raise funds and awareness for some other local charities, like Gilda’s Club.

Why are these events important to you?

My two “hobbies” are running and volunteering. I’m very active in my local Junior League (I’m the president this year) and I’ve volunteered for and served on the board of several other non-profit organizations. I also love to run. So, when I can combine these two things, I’m one happy woman!

I’ve found that in charity races — like the Race for the Cure — you see a lot of people who don’t normally run races. I think that is terrific! It is great to see people coming together and pushing themselves physically, all in support of a good cause. Running a 5k, for example, is really tough for a lot of people. And yet they get out there and do it because they believe in whatever charity is benefiting from the race.

It would probably be a lot easier to phone it in and write a check to the charity, but the power of a mass of people exerting themselves in support of something is pretty amazing and I think people really respond to that. I know I do. I love being part of a large group of people all supporting, for example, breast cancer awareness.

You keep a blog called the Happy Runner. Do you find that blogging about your activity and creating a community through your blog helps you with your training?

Yes! I have become a more dedicated and better runner since I started blogging. Once I became serious about running, I started to read about it. In the beginning especially, I couldn’t read about running enough. I would read Runner’s World religiously, and would take running books out of the library. I still do both, but now I have running blogs to read, and my own blog to write. I feel like I’m part of a running community now.

This community has lifted my spirits when they’ve needed lifting, which tends to happen whether you are a runner or not! And I’ve learned so much from my fellow running bloggers — they’ve shared a ton of training, nutrition and injury prevention tips that have helped me progress toward my goals. They’ve also helped keep me accountable, because I set and wrote about my running goals on my blog. I don’t want to disappoint those who’ve supported me!

After much sweat, seemingly endless rain and more blisters than anyone would care to count, these 3,400 walkers marched into the Georgia World Congress Center and were greeted by their husbands, their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers and friends. I was lucky enough to be there, lucky enough to know two of those profound women, lucky enough to call them friends. They walked in, pink pom poms waving, and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the building. We cheered and screamed and clapped. It was a welcome befitting royalty, and they deserved even more.

As a writer, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit that I can’t even find the words to express the sheer force of those closing ceremonies. It felt intimate, almost, thousands of us packed into a crowded auditorium, signs held high in support of our loved ones. It was overwhelming, being in the presence of these remarkable women who had just achieved this remarkable thing. I held my two year old son high on my shoulders, the entire time hoping that as he grows up, he’ll remember that day he spent just a few minutes in the presence of greatness.

Afterward, I brought my friend Natalie, who had flown in from Salt Lake City, home for the night. She was sore and tired, but her face was lit up like the setting sun. We found her luggage and as we staggered to the car, I asked her what was next for her.

“I don’t know,” she said, shuffling sideways up a step. “There’s a 5k, a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving that I’d like to run if I can walk by then. And then, I don’t know. A 10k? A half-marathon? Ohio, definitely. Anything, really,” she laughed. “And everything.” .

For more information about the Breast Cancer 3 day benefitting Susan G. Komen For The Cure, please visit www.the3day.org