A-Z Challenge…Fundraising

I’ve noticed lately that many races are either sponsored or asking participants to raise money for various charities.  The the Komen Race for the cure and Bike for MS are two that come to mind.  I’ve been thinking lately how much of the entry fee actually goes towards the charity?  Depending on how big the race is and who is promoting the race, medals will be awarded, food and water will be waiting at the finish line and of course there is the race t-shirt whether it’s cotton, or the new dry-fit material. 
Last year during the Expo for the 2011 Army ten miler I spotted a booth for Girls on the Run.  I had heard of the organization,and after talking with the booth volunteers I decided to sign up, become a Solemate and raise funds for the organization.  It sounded easy, just raise $450 by April 17 (this was October), and not only would I be raising money for a worthy cause but the entry fee for the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon would be paid for as well. Why not plunge into the fundraising band wagon?  I thought my friends would jump at  helping this worthy organization.
It was harder than I thought!  I hate asking people for money.  I set up my webpage and sent out emails to all my contacts.  Not one hit on my website for over a month.  I donated $10 toward the cause, thinking that it would jumpstart the flow of generosity….nothing.  Before the end of the year I sent out a Facebook status update, it read something like this “looking for a worthy cause to donate to before the end of the year, why not…” with a link to my fundraising webpage.  Again, nothing! 
I decided to take it up a notch and go out of my comfort zone.  What did I do?  I wrote the following blog post and I titled it “5 Reason why I need your help”, I then tweeted about the post, sent a  Facebook message to all my friends linking the post, and sent out emails to all my contacts.  The funds starting coming in,  I was so excited!  Did I meet my goal? No,  I’m about $100 short, but I see it as the entry fee to the 1/2 marathon! Stay tuned for more on the 1/2 marathon sponsored by the letter H, and why I don’t think I was able to raise enough money, sponsored by the letter S.
Participating in the A-Z challenge. The challenge is to write a post everyday using the corresponding letter of the alphabet. The theme I’ve decided to tackle during this challenge is running. The posts will spotlight varied running related aspects. Enjoy the running journey. (#1682)