The challenge of getting runners to run for charity
The rate of people taking up running is booming and every year there is an increase in people lacing up their trainers and going for a run. Naturally that means running races are popping up everywhere. The first thing most runners do is an online search for training plans. This could be ‘16 week marathon training plan’ ‘find running coaches near me’ or ‘How long does it take to train for a marathon’. These are all very common searches which show where runners are looking for support.
You would think the rise in runners and races would be a good thing for charities. Those famous races having more people enter but for some reason it seems charities are still struggling to fill their places for races. It could be the London Marathon, Great North Run or one of the world's major marathons. All of these races are on peoples’ bucket lists which means people are desperate to compete in them. But more and more we’re hearing that charities can’t fill their spots.
With that, we took a deep dive into the why behind this and tried to understand how charities can do more to attract runners.
When people choose to run for charity, their first port of call is to run for a charity which has helped them or a loved one. This could be running for MacMillian because they supported your loved one during the final stages of their life.
Another reason could be because they want to raise awareness. An example of this is our co-founder Pete, who runs for CardiomyopathyUK because his mum passed away from a heart attack and he learnt after this that he too could have a heart problem. His motivation for running here is to raise awareness and help the charity do this by raising vital funds for them.
If the runner is running for the second reason, it’s likely that they aren’t immediately dedicated to a certain charity. There are lots of charities Pete could have run for. This is why charities need to review what other charities are giving their runners and try to provide a more updated offering. If you need to raise £2,000 for your charity place, you will expect support as just a starting point.
When doing a review of what charities offer runners, lots of it is extremely similar. A Facebook group, a PDF training plan and maybe a training day.
In 2022, runners and humans are much more digitally functioned and expect more from the charity for their training. We can now get hold of so much fairly instantly, so do we really want to be using a static PDF training plan or driving a few hours to a training day?
When we spoke to some charities, it seemed that many Event Managers are wanting to provide more updated offerings but they don’t know how to. We heard ‘the Facebook community chat doesn’t really drive community’. ‘We tried a WhatsApp group but it got annoying and many just muted it’.
One charity who spotted this problem was the Big Issue. Rhia Docherty, Events Manager at Big Issue used a great term to explain how everyone has a unique situation, whether it’s training for a marathon or being a big Issue Vendor: ‘Our work is tailored to ensure we are providing the right kind of support for Big Issue vendors. Every vendor has a unique situation that brings them to the Big Issue and each vendor has their own unique vision of their future. We ensure the support received by each vendor is tailored to their specific needs. Having the support of Coopah means that when you take on a running event, you can receive a tailored training plan that is specific to your fitness level and goals.’
When speaking with runners, there was a real urge for charities to support further and we put together three key things they can do to achieve this.
THREE TOP FEATURES CHARITIES MUST OFFER RUNNING FUNDRAISERS
Personalised Training Plans
When it comes to training, one of the most common options we see on charity fundraising pages is access to our range of training plans. With tech developing so much further now, people don’t want a generic 16 week training plan which they need to either print off and put on the fridge or keep zooming in to, to see their training for each day. In 2022, people want personalised and adaptable training plans preferably through an app. By providing them with this, it not only helps them get faster and be able to adapt their training throughout the 16 week plan but it also makes training much easier and avoids the chance of injury, as the plan adapts to that person, their fitness levels and ability as they progress. Everyone gets better at different rates.
Cheer Squad
Nearly every charity offers this but it’s what us runners want. There is nothing better than being tired in a marathon but knowing you’re not far from a huge charity cheer squad. Nothing beats the sound of a large crowd screaming your name and it sure does help you get round the course!
Connection between runners
When running a marathon, it can be tough. If you do a 16 week training plan, or even a 12 week training plan, your family is going to get bored of you talking about running every day, your friends probably will too and as for your colleagues….hello?
With that, it’s vital that charities connect their runners together in an easy to use way. Facebook groups are slowly becoming a thing of the past and how many times have you heard ‘Not another WhatsApp group’. Charities need to find new ways to connect their community, it could be through apps which are built to connect runners at similar abilities or through events but however it’s done, fundraisers will really appreciate the ability to connect with other marathon runners.
Elevate your fundraisers experience today
At Coopah, we work with a range of charities to help them develop their core offering to runners and help to see more runners do more events for the charity. If you’d like to hear more, please drop Pete an email on pete@coopah.com