How to Organize a Walkathon 

Walkathons can be powerful community events that appeal to a large audience and raise a large amount of money. If you want to boost your campaign’s success, consider adding this event type to your schedule. 

What is a Walkathon? 

A walkathon fundraiser is where donors pledge for participants to complete a specific distance or number of laps. Walkathon donors can use their donations to support participants in two ways. 

1. Helping participants reach a set goal: In this method, participants have already decided how many laps or miles they will walk, and are asking donors to support the process through donations. When they reach the milestone, they might continue to collect donations while keeping their goal the same. 
2. Setting a goal for participants: Alternatively, participants might choose not to establish a plan until the event day. Instead, they will encourage their friends and loved ones to sponsor them and use the amount they earn to determine how far they walk. 

How does a walkathon work? This fundraiser type classifies as peer-to-peer fundraising. Participants create individual donation collection pages and share them online with friends and family. They might include their connection to your organization or your cause, helping build trust and emotional appeal with potential donors. This fundraiser can be especially successful when participants want to set a walkathon goal. 

Why Host a Walkathon? 

Your organization can pursue multiple fundraiser options, so you’ll need to weigh the potential pros and cons of each. A walkathon offers several advantages to organizations and participants, particularly when your goals are to boost engagement and retention. Some benefits of walkathons include the following. 

• Improving event flexibility: Walkathons can accommodate various campaigns, causes, goals, and audiences to fit your organization’s unique requirements. You can customize the event as much as you need without losing central elements like walking and peer-to-peer fundraising. For example, some organizations hold remote walkathons, where participants try to reach a specific step count or distance from their locations rather than assembling in one place. This option has helped many nonprofits engage people and raise funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Increasing cost-effectiveness: If you want to optimize your earned funds, a walkathon requires minimal investment. When hosting a walkathon, you can use almost any premises with a perimeter where participants can count laps or measure their distance. Some costs might include T-shirts, water bottles, and other branded merchandise and marketing materials. 
• Getting more individuals involved: Many of your organization’s loyal supporters might want to increase their involvement without over-committing. A walkathon allows them to fundraise, market the event, and participate on the day of to feel more involved and engaged in your organization and your cause. 
• Reaching new donors: Because your participants share donation pages with their families and friends online, you can extend your reach. They can access communities that are challenging for you to target or outside your marketing segment, like family members who don’t live in your region. Additionally, loved ones can show their support for their participants by sharing donation page links with their communities — further optimizing fundraising and reaching new donors. 
• Optimizing fundraising: Peer-to-peer fundraising helps bring in more donations than other types. People are more comfortable giving money to people they know and trust, so your participants can earn more for their efforts. Additionally, the customization features of individual donation pages help increase emotional appeal and trust because potential donors can learn why participants love your organization or even better understand your impact and cause. 

Walkathons can benefit many organizations and causes, boosting your fundraising to help your nonprofit reach its goals. When you want to increase audience engagement and involvement, this event encourages participants to help beyond donations, so they can feel good and better see their impact. 

How to Organize a Walkathon 

If you determine a walkathon is suitable for your organization, knowing the steps to host and execute this fundraiser event type can help it run smoothly and successfully. While walkathons are more cost-effective and require fewer resources than other events, you will still need to complete adequate planning and setup to maximize the impact for everyone involved. 

1. Assemble your team

Before hosting a walkathon, you need to gather a planning committee. The members might each take charge of a different aspect of your planning and execution, like marketing, volunteer management, and donation management. They should have experience and passion for your practice. Leadership and communication skills are vital, as they will need to manage and run their volunteer teams and update others on the planning board. 

2. Choose a time, date, and location

Once you have your planning committee together, you can collaborate to decide on the event’s central elements. Your planning initiatives will depend on these factors, shaping your timeline, following tasks, and assigning volunteer activities. For example, deciding on your location can determine whether you need to reserve a venue. 

3. Determine your goals

All fundraisers share one essential element — raising money. However, you might want to use funds to inspire participants even more. The money can go toward funding a volunteer project, like building houses, or to a specific community. 

4. Come up with a memorable name

Your marketing materials will impact your success. A catchy name will help individuals remember and identify your campaign and event. You can put this name on physical merchandise, like T-shirts, water bottles, and keychains your volunteers can use to further marketing efforts. When decorating your space, you can display the name so it appears in pictures and post-event marketing. 

5. Find sponsors

Event sponsors can help with many event elements. If you have some costs, their donations can help cover them, so you can optimize fundraising efforts. Sponsors can also contribute to the activities you want to offer at the walkathon. Many walkathons include raffles, food, and other attractions. Your sponsors can donate goods and services for quality activities that attract visitors and participants. 

6. Create registration and donation forms

When you have the logistics prepared, you must start engaging your participants and donors. Developing the essential documents and pages can help you smoothly launch the peer-to-peer fundraising aspect of your event. 

7. Recruit volunteers

As the event date approaches, you’ll have various marketing, sorting, and setup responsibilities. Volunteer teams can help you efficiently accomplish multiple processes while helping your audience feel involved and engaged in your organization. 

8. Promote your event

After developing your marketing materials, you must use them. Social media is powerful for reaching your various audiences and engaging members. You can use comments to answer questions and share resources. With peer-to-peer fundraising, a robust social media presence is essential when new donors want to research your organization. 

9. Launch 

When the date arrives, you should be ready to host your event. Volunteers can help direct participants to various activities. Photographers can capture people in action for powerful future marketing material. 

Manage your Walkathon with GiveSmart 

Accessing quality tools is essential when launching a fundraising event. GiveSmart’s software solutions help nonprofit organizations leverage peer-to-peer fundraisers with donation pages that participants can customize while still upholding your branding standards. Volunteer and participant management features help keep your audience engaged throughout the campaign for stronger events. 

Request a demo today and start planning your walkathon.