Forums >Running 101>Running Fundraising??
For Example.... The Boston Marathon..?
I know many races allow fundraisers to run with non-qualifying times?
I must admit I'm completely ignorant on this and am wondering?
What exactly is fundraising?
Asking friends and family to give you money for a cause...? and in exchange you get to run the Marathon??
Asking random businesses? GoFundMe?
While I support fundraising and causes, I feel like 1 I wouldn't really want to run a race that way, but perhaps if I always wanted to run boston and never was able to maybe it's a way in, or if there was a cause I was really behind.
Personally though asking random people for money just is not really my thing, but perhaps I'm looking at it as begging vs. for a good cause...
Off the top of your head, does anyone know how much you must raise say to run Boston?
I wonder if anyone just writes a check themselves...and gets in,
300m- 37 sec.
Village people
$2-5k for Boston. I don’t know for sure. I think you need to be sponsored by a charity. I know people who have done this and I once had a friend tell me he could get me in through his business. I have never asked the specifics. I live close to Boston so I have had many friends run either through charity or by qualifying. I have one friend who posted a pic of his kids waiting for him and one of the marathon bombers was in the crowd with them. MTA he was running for Dana Farber.
For Boston it's $5000 minimum, although some of the individual charities may set a higher one.
Feel free to use the google to find out more.
https://www.baa.org/faq#
I would assume that's one way to go. Overall the 2018 race raised $36.6 million for charities. That seems like a more productive use of the clout of the race than opening up some extra spots for qualifying runners.
Dave
Thought it was $5000.
an amazing likeness
I must admit I'm completely ignorant on this and am wondering? What exactly is fundraising? Asking friends and family to give you money for a cause...? and in exchange you get to run the Marathon?? Asking random businesses? GoFundMe?
It's fairly common in races which have their profits directed to a charity. The race reserves a certain # of entries for runners who raise money for that charity. Not a random charity...for the designated beneficiary of the race. Often these are races which have limited and desirable entry slots.
Basically, for a race which has a limited field and (often) a lottery entry system, the 100 (or whatever) bibs the race gives to the charity have some real value in terms of racing $ for the charity.
Here's a link to one example (Covered Bridges Half) if you want to read some details. There are variations on the theme.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
Most races don't have qualifying times.
At Boston it depends on the charity team but most require you to raise at least $5000. Each one is a little different and most require an application process and interviews--you don't apply with the BAA, you apply with the charity team. It is competitive to get a spot as a first timer and it's definitely not as simple as writing a check and getting in.
Many of the fundraisers on the charity teams raise way above the the minimum and that is how they get invited back, so on many of the charity teams there are limited open spots on any given year.
Runners run
I've done the Baltimore half for charity a few times.i had to raise $250 (I wrote a check) and it covered my race entry. We then got to write off the donation. With the new tax laws, this isn't as appealing.
If a race sells out quickly, the fundraising requirements are usually much higher than Baltimore. And yes, the gist is they want you to hit up everyone you know.
I ran for charity the first time I ran Chicago. There are lots of ways to fundraise that don't feel like begging. You can do a poker night or a raffle or something. I do a football pool that raises more than the minimum (Chicago minimum was $1,500, I don't know about the others). I have run Chicago twice more since then through the lottery, but my work community loves the football pool, so I still do it and pick a new charity to raise money for each year. If you have tickets to a game, you can raffle them off as a fundraiser. Lots of ways for people to feel like they get something out of it beyond just a charity donation.