To think that minimum targets for charity events are sometimes just too high?

[surreygirl1987]

Maybe I am being totally unreasonable - I'm not sure.

I just enquired about a charity event that looks really interesting. It's a lake swim. Entry fee is £40 - fair enough. But the minimum fundraising amount is £400! I know I wouldn't be able to raise that from my family and friends, especially at thr moment when money is tight. So what happens then - I presume I'd end up having to pay the difference myself?

I'd love to do it, and could pay upto around £100 myself- and would be happy to do so - but my family, friends and I would never be able to afford £400. AIBU to think that this is just too much? I get that the purpose of the event is to raise money but it seems unaffordable for most, surely?

Absolutely.

£3000 is a huge sum to raise and most folk are still well short after the obligatory tapping up of friends, family and work colleagues. It is quite stressful to try and make up the shortfall while training to run the distance.

Go for a swim in a lake!

I do quite frequently. I also used to be a volunteer lake and sea lifeguard. But it would be foolish to just go and swim across this large lake on your own!

£3000 is a huge sum to raise and most folk are still well short after the obligatory tapping up of friends, family and work colleagues. It is quite stressful to try and make up the shortfall while training to run the distance.

Absolutely! I paid more for childcare than I earned last year... can't imagine the stress of trying to find that sort of money! Anyway, I'm not doing a marathon thankfully.

So presumably after the expenditure on safety measures etc etc the charity wouldn't be generating enough for the effort to be worthwhile if the target was lower?

There's no point in them expending all that effort simply to break even (or make a loss), that wouldn't be serving their charitable purposes.

The "admin" costs of putting on the event aren't people doing photocopying, they're all the reasons why you need it to be done as part of an event rather than just doing it on your own.

The people participating in the event are not the charitable cause.

The idea of fundraising makes me want to lie down and die in a hedgerow, hence my never entering charity races. I wouldn't mind if I could just pay a fee (which would go to the charity) and then just compete.

Still places available for Paris

Paris Marathon

I guess it depends. If they have maximum numbers taking part and can fill those slots with people who will raise over £400 then it makes sense. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth their while organising the event.

i did a mighty hike for Macmillan a few years ago. It was £250 minimum sponsorship which I was a bit concerned about.
I used my FB account to post regular updates about my training walks with a link to my JustGiving page.
I did cake sales at work (big team, was a great fundraiser), and my kids washed cars (under supervision!) for friends and family. I’d just about made the target, then social media posts after the event brought another flurry of donations.
It can be done without too much effort but you do need a big pool of people to ask.

There aren't any non-charity events there, as far as I can tell.

As an exclusive event that will make it more desirable. It might be more expensive to stage hence the £400 minimum

So presumably after the expenditure on safety measures etc etc the charity wouldn't be generating enough for the effort to be worthwhile if the target was lower?

I honestly have no idea! I've never organised an event like this so I wouldn't know. I have organised sponsored swims in swimming pools, with no participation fee and no minimum fundraising amount (I lifeguarded them myself) but they were much smaller-scale events and we had free use of the pool. I've also been a volunteer lifeguard for loads of open water swimming events in Australia (where I used to live) so event organisers didn't pay for that, but I don't know how the organisation of these events in the UK works. I assume that the £40 entry fee covers the cost of entering (administration, H&S etc) and anything raised goes to the charity, but I really don't know - I could be very wrong about that.

i did a mighty hike for Macmillan a few years ago. It was £250 minimum sponsorship which I was a bit concerned about.
I used my FB account to post regular updates about my training walks with a link to my JustGiving page.
I did cake sales at work (big team, was a great fundraiser), and my kids washed cars (under supervision!) for friends and family. I’d just about made the target, then social media posts after the event brought another flurry of donations.
It can be done without too much effort but you do need a big pool of people to ask.

Well done, sounds great!!

*Still places available for Paris

Paris Marathon*

Ha thanks... no, running is DEFINITELY not my thing!

Of course you can pay the full amount yourself. For many people it is more than they can afford so they fundraise but there’s certainly no requirement to do it that way.

If people don't want the stress, there are hundreds of much cheaper running races all over the country literally every single weekend. But the London marathon is a big name race that people want to say they've done, so... It's a choice - anyone doing it has chosen to take on the stress of raising that money.

I think it’s a bit rubbish. I could send an email around at work (bank) and have £400 in a morning. But what if you worked at a food bank instead and came from a more deprived community? Are your efforts not welcome? Are the middle class people the only ones that matter to
these charities? Are we happy with that?

I thought your said this was somewhere you go SUPing? In which case, its obviously ok for you to just go and swim it.

When it comes to raising money, yes, the charities are obviously going to target people with cash in their pockets. Why would they target people who have nothing to give? The charity's purpose is literally to raise money for whatever their cause is.

Nope, genuinely popular. She's a bit of an influencer. She also started with an MLM and within days had people clamouring to buy from them and attending their "buy at home" party. She barely posted at all on social media about the charity event, but had 10-20 shares and reposts with comments every time she did.

I agree. Many moons ago I did the Great North Run as a way to experience a large scale running event, have a healthy goal and to basically enjoy it

Now swathes of the NE population are put off doing this event as it's all for charity and some people aren't in a position to raise the cash The GNR was originally set up to encourage running and healthy lifestyles as well as raise civic pride in what was a deprived region. It has lost its original purpose.

Of course it's easier to raise money if your wealthy or move in wealthier families . This is why events like the GNR and the London marathon are dominated by the middle classes. I guess the less well known events are for the poorer people?

I don't think that's quite fair.

Most places are via the public ballot (separate ones for UK and international entrants)

Then there are further places for members of running clubs (they get an allowance by size of membership, and decide for themselves which member/s get them)
Good For Age places (for higher performing regular competitors, in all age groups)
Elite athletes
Disability athletes
Promotional places (allocated by sponsors, used in competitions etc)

Then charity places

• gold bond holders - guaranteed place/s every year
• silver bond holders - one place every five (?) years and entered into charity ballot in intervening years
• other charities via the charity ballot

Charity places are capped and the waiting lists for both gold and silver bonds have been closed for years. Not sure how many places are available via charities ballot.

I've never done GNR, so not so familiar with it. They don't publish a breakdown of what proportion of places are public ballot, how many via GNR membership, how many via charities, and how many by other criteria.

But there are routes to run it that di not require you to fundraise.

The trouble is when you get oofed in the ballot year after year after year!!

I agree OP. I wanted to do the tower run at the Leadenhall Building which ends with a zip wire over to the Gherkin, but when they sent the registration email the minimum was £2.5K and whilst I'd be happy to pay it myself if I could afford to, I can't.

Then again I'm sure there are plenty of people who can. It was just disappointing because I was really looking forward to it; I'd anticipated paying maybe £1K or so, but that's too much for me.

The thing is - I run anyway. I do races anyway, so asking folk for money for my hobby seems disingenuous. Close family will bung me a few quid, friends or colleagues who particularly supported the charity may put something in, but I feel most people would think they were just paying me to do what I'd be doing anyway. Fair enough those who have never run, and have trained to do a 10k or a half, getting sponsored, but I would feel uncomfortable asking people for money for me to go for a run. So the likes of the London Marathon are pretty much closed to me.

@gawditswindy i don’t walk marathons for fun, and it was a big challenge for me.
Even if I did, I rarely ask for sponsorship so perhaps that’s why my colleagues, friends and family were happy to support me in that way.

Tbh, people who ask for sponsorship a few times a year for similar events do irritate me!