To fundraise for a half marathon?

How convenient.. How come noone has EVER asked me in 10 years why I'm running? Another thing that did not happen..

Hilarious!

Speak to your workplace. Most have some kind of goals charity wise they need to commit to particularly if Corporate. Speak to the local Council to see what they can suggest.

Your colleague is totally wrong. It may be they do not have any money to spare and could be embarrassed if you asked, so that is something to bear in mind when asking.

In my last workplace, people would bake cakes for a charity and sell slices or cupcakes during the day. If the big bosses were told they would come down and put extra in the pots.

Best of Luck x

I have a holiday home in another country and I am on a local community FB page for the expats in the town. Today there was a post from a British woman who lives there, saying

'Hi all, Im looking for volunteers to come to my place and help with cleaning, gardening and some DIY and maintenance jobs. It could be a fun weekend, refreshments a snacks will be provided! We are not lazy by the way, it's just that there is loads that needs doing and we are on a small budget.'

After one or two comments along the lines of 'Wow, is this even real?' and about 30 emojis that were either 😂or 😡I noticed she quietly deleted the post.
Some people, eh?

I actually remember seeing a sketch - iirc it was on The Sketch Show (with Lee Mack and others) - with somebody asking their friends to sponsor them to go on a wonderful-sounding dream holiday. When everybody asked which charity it was in aid of, this was met with absolute confusion on the part of the person asking for sponsorship - there was no charity involved whatsoever, but they wanted to do something they couldn't afford, so they just thought they'd ask everybody else to 'sponsor them' (pay for) it!

You could take on a second job and donate to charity- then you would have done something hard for your charity.

We all have charities close to heart- why do you think I should give your charity money rather than mine?

So why are you doing it then? No-one is making you so what is your main motivation?

Pay the standard fee, and make a charity donation that she can afford herself out of her own money. Her parents and siblings have offered a combined £200 donation too. No need to be mithering workmates for contributions.

If I can't go skiing, you can't do a tuba solo and that's that.

Well, I might donate if you did a dance with your tuba solo.

OP can't afford £375 herself, so are the people who disagree saying she should just pay the regular £75 (I think, correct me if wrong!) entry fee and run - and the charity gets nothing?

This way not only does OP get to challenge herself, buy she has a great motivation too plus the charity gets her donation and maybe more depending on her fundraising efforts!

She's not going to be holding anyone at gunpoint for donations.

I want to play a solo with an orchestra. Orchestra will do it for a donation to charity. I cant afford the donation to charity but I really want to perform the solo. After all I have been learning for years to play my instrument and while I enjoy it, it isnt easy and takes grit.

I'll just ask my friends and coworkers to pay the charity donation instead.

what do you think of the guys who ran London marathon with a fridge taped to their back?

Publicity seeking stunt that might cost them dearly, orthopedically speaking.

What am I supposed to think? I wouldn't be donating to them because they ran with fridges, that's just asking for trouble. Crush injuries, no. There is all sorts of stuff that could go wrong.

Somebody I follow on Instagram ran the London Marathon on a charity place last year. She shared the charity details on her page, and her personal connection to their aims - a connection that I also have, although I'd never heard of them before. So they, through her, got a donation they wouldn't have had (and a few subsequent ones too) if she hadn't had that place. Did she do it primarily because she wanted to run the London marathon- almost certainly. I just think it was a win win and I'm glad I found out about them.

This. I do not like being asked to sponsor someone for doing something they want to do - I must get at least 10 requests a month.

And having worked for two major charities in the past, I’m very cynical about this sort of fundraising.

The place is normally £60, and you've paid £20 for a charity place. And you weren't even prepared to confirm you're going to top up to full ticket price out of your own pocket, in fact you got quite cross at the suggestion...

Ironic...

I agree you’ve had a hard time on here. The key point is no one has to donate if they don’t want to! I don’t normally donate to this kind of thing but I would if it was a cause I thought was great and a real challenge for the person. I’d definitely buy cakes! I did a sponsored event last year with my son and was a bit reluctant to ask for sponsorship but I did post on Facebook and ask various friends, being really clear I wouldn’t mind in the slightest if they didn’t sponsor us, and we raised nearly £800!

I am in the same boat though of having signed up to do a half this autumn having only been parkrunning for a year. I did a 10k a few weeks ago and did a Runna training plan to get me there, and it worked, I did it! So I guess next step a half! All my best friends are doing it so I signed up due to peer pressure. But it’s just a little local one with a £35 entrance fee and I won’t be fundraising for it.

I am also in the same boat in that I have entered the London marathon ballot (I was drunk when I did it). If I get in I will be panicking! But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Eh? It's a bit different when it's kids, who mean well without understanding the wider picture; but why would it matter in the slightest what the sex of an adult doing this was?

Personally, I think carrying a fridge whilst running for 26 miles is a huge, stupid waste of effort that could have been used much more wisely and profitably. Think how many cars you could wash or lawns you could mow to make some money for the charity in a useful way with all of that energy.

If anything, if I were going to sponsor somebody for running a marathon, I would think twice about doing so for them doing such a potentially dangerous thing - as I wouldn't want to encourage or endorse such behaviour. Running that far exhausts you and puts enough strain on your joints as it is, without adding in an irresponsible gimmick which is clearly deleterious to your health and safety and could well see you in hospital.

Why would anybody only be willing to donate to charity if somebody is willing to endanger their health and wellbeing, but not otherwise? It actually sounds abusive to me to be wanting to put your name to it and 'order' a person to do such a thing before you will give to their charity.

I support charity fundraisers for friends and colleagues if I support the cause and I think some effort is going into it: I don’t give more than I can afford. Hopefully the company itself can sponsor too if it’s private sector.

I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t support, not that I’d know! I’d just assume that they didn’t want to for whatever reason.

I certainly don’t think it’s in bad taste to fund raise.

Yes, you're rude.
And what £1000s?
And why don't you just sign up and pay for a local half marathon non charity spot yourself? And make your own donation to charity out of your own funds if that's important to you.

Why oh why do you think it's OK to expect others to foot the bill for your choices?