I MIGHT have a GREAT idea... (Read 1353 times)

Looking for some opinions...

It's 5:15am, and i can't sleep, i'm laying down in my bed wondering how to keep myself motivated to run. I had a bad week, i went on a minivacation, ate a bunch of taco bell and chicken express, and did not run for like 4-5 days. I got back on the straight and narrow tonight, but i know myself all too well and know that this could be a common occurrence, although i REALLY don't want it to be.

So, i thought about how can i motivate myself to lose weight, stay in shape (after i get back into it), and not feel like i am just in this endless cycle...

And i came up with this idea...What if i ran for charity? What if my job was to jog and get into shape to help someone else? It seems perfect... I would really like to do this. My new Nimbus 11's are on their way, they arrived in Dallas at 11:46 am yesterday, i should get them today or tomorrow. The "shoe expert" said i could get 500mi's out of them easy, so thats 500 miles that i could be helping people.

At my college we have an indoor track that i can use a lap counter on. I think 13 laps is 1 mile. My idea is to ask people to pledge X amount of money per mile i run, i'll run for a certain period of time (i think 1 month maybe? any other suggestions?), once i get my miles, i e-mail or mail you, you send cash/check, cause i have no clue how i would use a credit card, and i send the money i collect to a charity that we as a community pick. I could narrow it down to 3-5 charities and we could vote on it...

Is this a good idea? I am really interested in doing this...

All replies are welcome! Thanks for reading and happy running!!! =)

PS i Think i would hit up the town i am going to school in for support, putting up posters and things of the like to support this, make some youtube video's, facebook it up, etc...

 i'll run for a certain period of time (i think 1 month maybe? any other suggestions?)

How many ultras have you run?  Running for 1 month is a big call.  There are very few ultra runners who would contemplate this.

Actually - I don't think you meant to say 1 month did you?

Sorry - I thought you meant that you would run for 30 days.  (Something like the Sri Chinmoy 3100mile race)

If you are asking for sponsorship because you intend to run 60 miles in one month... you are asking the wrong man.  I'm afraid that it just doesn't seem difficult enough to warrant parting with my hard earned money. 

I commend your attitude, but think that you might struggle to raise a significant amount. 

 

So go run!

 +1

Big suggestion.  If you want to raise money through running, first find the charity you want to donate to... then work your idea through them so that prospective donors can donate directly to the cause.  That way, their donations will be tax deductible (and you can explain what you are doing easier).  If you are expecting people will give you x dollars while you run so that you can then give it to a charity, you won't raise as much.

Also, by finding a charity/cause, you can more tangibly decide how you want to make a difference.

Don't expect people to give you money and then "as a community" you pick the charity.  It sounds nice in theory but it won't work well.  It will greatly limit the donations you get (people don't know what they are donating to) and you will never ever ever EVER get the community to come to consensus on where it should go.  And if you try, you then have to figure out fun logistics such as "does the dude who gave me 5 bucks and really wants it to go to X have as much say in deciding as the family who gave me $30 bucks and really wants it to go to Y".

Yes, there are lots of charities that do fundraising through running and other physical pursuits.  This is good.

The "hey look what I'm doing" self promotion thing is tricky, and I do think about that a lot.  No matter how I do it, some amount *is* a little self-promotion and different people have different feelings about it.  That's alright, part of the deal when you put on the pink shirt.

That said, different cause/stunt runners are at different points along the "do it for me vs do it for others" continuum.  I know a few (who shall remain nameless) who surely seem to be tipped way towards the do it for me end.

Sign up for something like a Team In Training races, and people might be more willing donate directly to the cause, rather than write a cheque to you.  If you don't raise enough, pay the difference yourself and enjoy the race, or don't race. You helped  the charity get some money, you got yourself in shape Win-Win.

Yup.  Plus having an online donation page is just plain convenient for everyone involved.  I have done 4 rounds of fundraising for Girls On The Run and found it very useful to have that online donation page set up.  I am able to post a link online and also accept donation checks that are made out to the organization, I simply forward them on once the donation period is over.  There are lots of great charities that you can raise money for.  

FirstGiving is a useful resource if you want to be able to choose from a large # of charities and have the ability to accept donations online.  I always found that the bulk of my donors gave via online CC/debit transaction, rather than mailing a check.