By Peter Panepento
Are you looking for ways to get participants in your next race or walk-a-thon to raise more money?
During a recent webinar, we asked Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation marketing manager Erin Albano and Gary Wohlfeill, director of marketing for CrowdRise, to share some of their most successful tactics for getting more people to register and increasing per-participant fundraising totals.
Here are some of their favorites:
Create a low-cost contest
Some organizers have inspired racers to raise more by creating contests that offer them a chance to win a finish-line tape signed by the race winner or choice seats for their families if they reach certain fundraising thesholds.
“These are great, experiential things that don’t cost any money but they still get people engaged and influence behavior,” Wohlfeill says.
Contests are also a great way to engage sponsors.
The Pittsburgh Marathon, for example, works with sponsors such as local hotels to donate rooms near the race’s starting line. In one contest, the marathon’s organizers offered racers a chance to win a free room if they raised at least $200 by a certain date.
The organizers reported a $9,000 increase in their daily fundraising totals when they activated that promotion, Wohlfeill says.
Discount fees to drive early registrations
Restaurants often offer early-bird discounts or happy hour deals to get people to come through the doors during off-peak hours.
The same tactic works for getting racers to register well ahead of your deadline.
In advance of its annual 5K run this fall, Tunnel for Towers offered a one-week promotion in which it discounted its registration fee by $10.
Albano says the tactic worked brilliantly.
“We tripled our daily registrations and gained 2,000 new registrants over just 7 days,” she says.
Offer race ‘schwag’
Your local NPR station gives away travel mugs and tote bags to members who reach certain donation levels.
You can do the same thing at your race by offering those who reach certain fundraising levels a free hat, long-sleeve T-shirt, or windbreaker.
That type of offer was a factor in increasing per-participant fundraising from $87 to $98 for Tunnel to Towers, says Albano.
Post a leaderboard
CrowdRise has found that race organizers that utilize online fundraising leaderboards often raise more money — simply because teams compete to earn the top spot.
A fundraising event organized by Edward Jones Investments, for instance, raised 40 percent of its total during the final month before the event, in part, because teams wanted to finish No. 1.
“There was no incentive for teams to raise the most,” Wohlfeill says. “But simply the existence of a leaderboard turned it into a competition.”
Catch an archived version of our free webinar for more tips on how to use contests and incentives to improve your fundraising results. And share your favorite examples by posting a comment below.