Walk-a-thons for fun and profit
Walk-a-thons, which first took off in American in 1969, are a great way to raise money—and awareness—for a worthy cause. Walk-a-thons, which are usually staged as community events, most often focus on raising funds for issues that affect a large segment of the population. Issues such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, lupus, weight loss, and arthritis have all been beneficiaries of walk-a-thon funding.
Because walk-a-thons are non-competitive and low-intensity, many people can participate. That’s perfect for many causes, where the organizer’s want to generate broad, community-based support.
Organizing a walk-a-thon involves a bit of elbow grease, especially if you desire publicity and community-wide participation. If there’s a walk-a-thon in your future, start by organizing a steering committee and choosing a chair-person for the event. This will be a big job, so be sure to get plenty of help.
Staff you will need include:
Traffic control coordinator: To plan the route, recruit traffic control volunteers to manage the route, obtain any needed permits, secure walkie talkies, contact the police and any other city officials, mark the route with traffic cones and tape. Your traffic control organizer should also obtain orange vests for all volunteers along the route (these will usually be available through either your fire or county road department). The traffic control coordinator should also ask the local EMS to standby during the walk-a-thon. Most EMS services will do this free of charge.
Judges: This is especially important if your walk involves a race. The longer the race-walk, the more critical the need for judges. Judges should be stationed at set intervals, making sure that those who say they walked really did, by recording those who pass by the checkpoint. Though it seems far-fetched, there are those who will try to hop in a car for part of the race. This undermines the integrity of the walk for those who participated fairly, and could jeopardize participation in future walks. Stationing judges along the way, particularly if the walk is a race, should help to alleviate that problem.
Hospitality coordinators: This will be your “home base,” a place where the walk begins and ends. A tent, tables, chairs, and refreshments will be needed. You may provide bottled water, or even sell Gatorade or other snacks. Your hospitality coordinators will oversee this area, which should be a pleasant place where people will want to gather. You may even provide music or other entertainment, or a leader board showing who is ahead in the race.
Public relations coordinator: This person will be in charge of publicizing the walk-a-thon in the first place. They may contact businesses, write press releases, coordinate radio ads, or recruit various organizations to participate in the walk-a-thon. Other functions the PR coordinator organizes include providing recognition to volunteers, arranging for an announcer, giving red carpet treatment to any dignitaries who take part, and obtaining and hanging banners from organizations or businesses sponsoring the event.
The PR coordinator is one of the most important jobs for the event, and should be given to person of energy and commitment. Start promoting the walk-a-thon to the local chamber of commerce and other civic groups 8-12 months ahead of the event, so they can put it into their calendars. 4-5 months before the walk-a-thon is a good time to start making announcements at local civic organizations and schools. Begin contact the radio stations, TV stations, and local newspapers in the 3-5 months leading up to your walk-a-thon. Ask these media outlets to be sponsors, or for free advertising (which they often give to good causes).
Prize coordinator: Responsible for asking local or national businesses to provide door prizes, awards, certificates and gifts to be given away, and also for organizing the awarding of those items at the “home base,” when the walk-a-thon is over. The prize coordinator could also order T-shirts for the event: those for participants, those for event staff (which may have a special “staff” designation on the sleeve, and those to be given away as prizes).
Registration coordinator: This person registers people as they enter the race, hands out T-shirts to participants as they arrive, and coordinates door prizes and other recognition with the prize coordinator. They are also in charge of accounting for the event, collecting money from registrants and sponsors and reporting on the amount raised at the event. The registration coordinator also helps to set-up a computer database of participants, and mails pledge forms out to the appropriate walk-a-thon sponors.
Last Minute Details
In the final weeks leading up to the walk, Walk-a-thon volunteers should attend weekly meetings to iron out the details. Publicity should be in full swing, and the walk-a-thon chair should be doing media interviews in this regard. Registered walkers should be reminded by mail and e-mail, and encouraged to double their sponsors. Send out one more e-mail in the days leading up to the race, with words of encouragement from the event chair and final walk-a-thon related instructions. Advertise a good breakfast for helpers who arrive 2 hours early.
At The Race
Your staff (a combination of hospitality, prize, and/or registration) should be greeting helpers and participants alike as they arrive, giving them the appropriate T-shirts. To keep things upbeat and exciting, you could have some music playing, or lots of announcements. Have the door prizes out where people can see them, and have a good time!
After The Race
Thank everyone who walked, helped, sponsored, or donated, and thank them profusely. Then start planning for the next year!