The Top Questions We Get Asked About Running a Walkathon Fundraiser

Running a walkathon fundraiser for your organization’s fundraiser can be an incredible way to raise funds effectively while also promoting healthy habits. If you’re completely new to walkathon’s, don’t worry – we’ll cover that here! However, we also wrote A Complete Guide to Running an Effective Walkathon Fundraiser, which could be a great place to start for a general Walkathon fundraiser.

Regardless, even for walkathon experts, we fully understand that questions still pop up before, during, and after running a walkathon fundraiser. That’s why we're sharing the most commonly asked questions about running one below. Without further ado, let’s start with the obvious question: what exactly is a walkathon?

‍What is a Walk a thon?

A walkathon is a variation of fundraiser that teams, clubs, and organizations use to raise money for a specific cause by walking around a walking course for a set amount of time to see how many laps/miles (whichever is chosen to track distance) each individual can complete.

Leading up to the walkathon event, each fundraiser participant collects pledges from supporters  (usually family and friends) that are contingent on their walkathon performance. For example, a pledge could be $1 per lap of the course. If on the day of the event they complete 30 laps in the set time amounts, that would be a $30 donation from the individual who made the pledge.

This can be an incredible fundraising option for teams, clubs and organizations who would like to raise money for a cause, while also promoting healthy lifestyles.

‍How does a walk a thon work?

As mentioned briefly in the question above, a walkathon works by collecting pledges contingent on the distance the fundraiser participant completed during the walkathon event. Using the units you decide on for your event (usually miles or laps), your participants would contact fundraiser supporters asking for pledges based on that unit of distance.

For example, if a participant collects a pledge of $10 a mile from a supporter of theirs, and then they complete 4 miles during the event, that  would amount to a $40 donation for your organization. The same would be true if using the unit of laps (usually of the course that is decided upon for the event. If a supporter pledges $5 a lap, and then 12 laps are completed during the event, that would then amount to a $60 donation.

In this way, the organization running the walkathon is able to tie their effort/performance to support for their cause – creating a fundraiser that is both effective and promoting a healthy activity.

‍How do you organize a walk a thon?

To successfully organize an effective walkathon, you’ll want to think about a few things:

1. When will it occur? (think of a specific time/date)
2. Where will it take place? (think of a good place to host a walkathon)
3. Who will be participating? (who/what are you raising money for)
4. How will pledges/donations be collected? (pen and paper or digital)

Once you’re able to answer these four questions, you’ve basically got it covered! The last step is to host a kick-off meeting for your fundraiser participants to inform everyone of the walkathon and how to collect pledges and donations for their participation in the walkathon.

Usually, this is in the form of a walkathon pledge collection sheet which helps each fundraiser participant stay organized. These can cost anywhere from $5-10 online, or you can use Teamfi walkathon template that is completely free.

Alternatively, if you opt to use a digital walkathon software, there’s no need to print off any templates – all pledge and donation collection is done entirely online! Side note, Teamfi’s digital walkathon software is also 100% free to use.

How do you host a walk a thon?

To host a walkathon, all you need to do is pick a date for it to occur (usually a few weeks in advance so that you can market it), and pick a location.

For location, we’d strongly recommend picking an accessible spot that everybody can get to that is centrally located. Additionally, you’ll want to keep in mind the actual path – you’ll want to pick something that isn’t too treacherous so that your participants have an opportunity to really rack up the laps/miles without being dangerous. For this, a school track can work really well, or even a paved path at a local park.

How long should a walk a thon be?

Unless you’re doing an extreme 24-hour, team-based walkathon (which we’ve seen some organizations do!), we’d recommend that your fundraiser is anywhere from 1-3 hours long. That gives plenty of time for your fundraiser participants to walk without being over-strenuous.

When is the best time of the year to run a walk a thon?

The answer to this one can be very geography-dependent. If you live in a location where the weather never gets too cold or snowy and the summers can get excruciatingly hot, then you’d likely be in a situation where running a walkathon in the spring could be an awesome choice. That way, you can plan for weather that is nice but not too hot, helping boost participation.

If you live in an area that can get super cold and snowy (Like the great state of Michigan where Teamfi is based), then you’d likely want to hold off until summer or early fall to host your walkathon to maximize the chances of ideal weather.

In any case, the goal is to aim for a comfortable temperature and weather conditions for all of your fundraiser participants to be outside and enjoy themselves through the walkathon – more than anything, it should be a fun experience for everyone.

Conclusion

There you have it, all of the most frequently asked questions about walkathons by fundraiser organizers. We hope that after reading through this list, you might have a bit more confidence in running a walkathon fundraiser yourself – either digitally or pen and paper style with Teamfi for 100% free. If you’re interested in seeing what these solutions could look like for your organization, book a quick <15 minute demo with our founder and he’ll show you exactly how Teamfi could work for your team!

If you have any additional questions that weren’t covered here, be sure to email us directly and we’ll respond as fast as humanly possible.