Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Get A Walking Event Together

Walking events are great ways to raise awareness in your community for charities and wellness.


Walking events provide an outlet to generate funds and raise awareness of special causes in your community. Interest groups, schools and community leaders can help you announce the event, gather resources to pay for the hosting site and strengthen community connections for your business. Well-known walking events include the March for Dimes, Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Fall Pier to Pier Run/Walk in New York and other events across the nation. You can organize an event like these or develop your own for local causes in your community.


Instructions


1. Write an outline explaining the purpose, audience and expected outcome you would like to achieve from hosting a walking event. Identify a cause to donate funds to, such as charities, schools or nonprofits of your choice. If the event sponsors awareness, develop a plan to invite certain organizations to provide funding to host the walking event in your city. Conduct research to find the costs for hosting an event in the city in order to create sponsorship packages that invite organizations to participate.


2. Contact organizations in your community to propose sponsorship opportunities to fund your event. Request permits to host your event in your city. Check local requirements with your county's deeds office before announcing the event's location to participants. Traffic and participant control is necessary; speak with the police chief to hire off-duty officers to attend the event.


3. Recruit and train volunteers on the principles of fundraising to sponsor teams in the competition. Use publishing software to create brochures, flyers and announcements to share in your community. Work with knowledgeable community leaders to promote your events within their networks of family, friends and colleagues. Use your project timeline to keep track of tasks, notes and costs.


4. Offer local businesses opportunities to have tents, refreshment stations and other activities available for spectators. Propose a price list for spaces available at your host site then advertise locations through local newspapers, word of mouth and other grassroots marketing.


5. Pay for the hosting site, vendors' base pay and other fees for the event. Make sure you have documentation from all transactions. Ensure volunteers stay to manage the cleanup phase of the event. Offer volunteers awards for outstanding work.







Tags: your community, causes your, causes your community, community leaders, event your, event your city