Hi Carrie,

My husband and I do century bike rides (100 miles) with the Leukemia Society’s Team in Training program. We have to raise between $2,100 and $4,800 per participant per event. That’s a lot of money. My husband is co-coaching the cycle team this year, coaches don’t have to fundraise so we only have to raise $4,800 this year instead of $9,600 – that’s still a lot of money.

We are lucky to have a few sponsors each year that donate between $100 and $800. But we are a bit worried about this years fundraising. The company that was our largest donation last year just declared bankruptcy.

It makes sense that runners are the highest fundraisers. The Team in Training marathon teams in our area are always HUGE compared to the triathlon and cycling teams. It probably has something to do with having to get a bike, and all the related equipment, and riding the bike on the road, in traffic which seems to intimidate quite a few people.

I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of fundraising required by the events. Most endurance events have much higher minimums than say, 5 and 10k runs and walks. Participants are much more committed to raising serious funds because they have to be. But the other thing I’ve noticed in my own fundraising is that when I’m doing something like walking 60 miles in three days or riding over a hundred miles on my bike, people are much more likely to give bigger amounts. I think it’s the psychology of it — if I can commit to pushing myself physically by doing something most people would never consider for themselves, my donors feel like they can push themselves to give a little more. I also try to involve my donors by letting them know how my training is going so they feel like they have a vicarious part in what I’m doing. I think that also leads to bigger donations.

I don’t know if the conclusion is valid, that longer events get larger contributions per contributor. As Marilyn said, they require a larger fundraising minimum per athlete. For instance, the minimum total donations that I need to raise for AIDS LifeCycle 8, which is a 545 mile/ 7 day charity ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, is $3000.00, or I can’t ride. Even though I’ve occasionally gotten donations of $500.00, it has been my experience that most of my donors give $10.00 to $50.00. That’s regardless of the event, it’s difficulty, or its distance.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong?

Carrie, one of these days you should try an endurance event — they’re great fun and a big challenge, but they keep me pushing myself and I love that.

Lisa, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. When I do big events, I get a few large donations and lots in the $20-$100 range. But when I do smaller events, like Race for the Cure, many of those donors don’t give anything at all, and those that do give me ten or twenty bucks. That could be because so many people do the smaller events, including many of the people that are so generous when I do a big one. Good luck with your AIDS ride — I’ve heard it’s lots of fun and a beautiful ride.

My husband and I pay our own way for events with smaller fundraising minimums. For example MS150 ride is $300 each, Tour de Cure is $150 each. We save our fundraising efforts for our higher minimum events such as Team in Training. Biking is our hobby, our life. We don’t really spend much on vacation, fancy clothing, dinning out, vehicles, etc. Just about all our extra $$ goes towards cycling. Might seem extreme to some people but my husband is a recovering alcoholic – almost 13 years sober. Biking is a much better addiction to have.

Hi Carrie,

I don’t think the reason that the FirstGiving marathon runners raised more money than the FirstGiving walkers has to do with the higher fundraising requirements for endurance races. On GiveForward.org, we actually see the exact same pattern as the one mentioned in the article and we don’t have ANY fundraising minimum requirements on our site whatsoever.

I think you hit it on the head with your first point. I think the main reason people participating in endurance events raise more money has to do with the fact that they are perceived as more dedicated to their causes due to the time and efforts they put into their training.

On GiveForward, we’ve seen that the users that consistently raise the most money on our site are the ones that are doing something extraordinary.

These are the fundraisers that pass what I call the “So what” test.

People are inundated every day with requests for donations to worthy causes. Unless you are doing something unusual or extraordinary to raise money for your charity, most people will say “so what” and ignore your request for a donation.

Take the following hypothetical, for example.

if person A said to you:

I care a lot about charity X. To show you how dedicated I am to raising money for this cause, I am going to walk 1 mile this Sunday.

If person B said:

I also care a lot about charity X. To show you how dedicated I am to raising money for this cause, I am going spend the next 2 years of my life attempting to scale the 5 tallest peaks in the world.

Person A doesn’t pass the “so what” test. I might give her $10 or $20 because maybe she’s my friend or my relative, but I’ll probably roll my eyes a little bit as I hand her my donation.

On the other hand, I’ll gladly give $50 or $100 to person B. I am inspired by her dedication. She not only talks the talk and says her cause is important to her but she walks the walk and shows me she’s willing to do anything it takes to get me to donate.

Hi Carrie,

I completely agree with you!!

Most people feel uncomfortable asking their friends and family for money, so I think anyone willing to voluntarily put themselves in this position to raise money for a charity is a hero regardless of whether they are running a marathon, participating in a one-mile fun run or even just promoting a cause they care about without necessarily participating in an event-based fundraiser like a walk or a run.

It’s not easy to get people to open their wallets, especially if your donors don’t have any particular connection to the the cause you are raising money for. That’s why I always tell people who are fundraising that if they want to get their friends to donate that they are going to have to “be extraordinary”.

Being extraordinary doesn’t necessarily mean they have to run a marathon or climb a mountain. To me, being extraordinary could mean any number of things. It could mean making a really great fundraiser page with lots of photos and info on your organization. It could also mean making a funny video to encourage people to donate or making a particularly heart-felt and personal email appeal for donations.

Regardless of how you decide to distinguish yourself, I think the key, like most things in life, is to put in 110% effort. Don’t just tell people you care about a charity. Show them you care by being extraordinary in whatever way you see fit.

by the way, how do you skip lines separate paragraphs on this blog? I seem to be having trouble with that…

Any tips would be appreciated

Thanks

- ethan

Hello guys, I am training for a half ironman in May 2010 and a Full Ironman in Nov 2010. I would like to raise money for an orphanage. The problem is I’m not really sure how to go about that. I am looking for any advice! Visit me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/hassanpeterson

Hassan, I would check out an online fundraising website such as FirstGiving, GiveForward, Activegiving, or Raceraiser.

Hassan, I would check out an online fundraising website such as FirstGiving, GiveForward, Activegiving, or Raceraiser.

I can see the logistics behind giving an endurance athlete more money than a casual athlete. Number one, the endurance athlete usually has higher name recognition. Number two, they are usually already sponsored by major corporations with the money to contribute to charitable events. makes sense.

Hi Ethan,

I just hit the return key twice and that seems to do the trick.

Take care,

Thanks so much for your great insights!