To fundraise for a half marathon?

[tilyougetenough]

I’ve entered a half marathon next spring (I do appreciate it’s a long way off but it’s a very popular one and I wanted to secure my place!), and in order to take part I need to raise £375 for a charity.

I want to do things like bake sales, etc., to bring in some money as I think it’ll be tough to hit that amount without doing it. But one of my colleagues has mentioned in passing that it’s not in good taste to do something like this at the moment as times are tough.

I can’t lie, I do expect the majority of it to come from my family - my parents have promised £150 already and my SIL has promised some money too. AIBU to try and fundraise, or should I just stick the link on my Facebook page and hope for the best?

What 'pressure to donate' do you actually get from someone sticking their JustGiving page link on Facebook? None. You can scroll past, just as the vast majority of people scroll past the vast majority of posts on FB.

God, the amount of mountains being made out of molehills on here.

Yeah it’s not like I’ll be rattling a bowl around at work everyday and saying they must donate. I was just going to bring some cakes in and say if people want to donate I’d be really grateful.

In reality I think the amount I’ll need to raise will be about £150, as my parents have pledged a lot of money and my siblings will donate about £25 each

I'm not attacking the OP.

I just think she should cover her own entrance fees (including the required charity donation for the guaranteed place) for the prestigious, sought after activity she wants to do.

So many races are massively over subscribed now, many of them are balloted and the only way to get a place and the experience of a large race is via a charity place...(and 9 times out of 10 you do still have to pay your entry fee yourself too, as you should)

Fuck me it’s the bath half not climbing Mount Everest!

But you have chosen that challenge for yourself - and it isn't something that will actually help them in any way... unlike if, say, you'd offered to do ironing for a fee per load, which you then gave to charity.

There was one bloke who used to famously raise money for charity and publicity for himself by having a bath in a big tub of baked beans, but again, it didn't actually have any benefit for those donating; all it did was waste food. It didn't even have the Schadenfreude aspect to it, with people knowing that they were paying for something that would shock, surprise or disgust him, as he did it frequently so he soon got used to it as 'meh' anyway. I think he even styled himself as Captain Beany iirc.

You know what, that's awesome. Awesome that you've worked hard to lose the weight, awesome that you want to train to half marathon levels. Seriously, a collosal achievement, and you should feel very proud of yourself.

Still think you should be covering your own costs (including charity donation) for the half marathon you want to train for and run.

I’m not really interested in what you have to say anymore because you can’t seem to distinguish between the entry fee (paid) and fundraising target.

Yes, indeed. Obviously OP has a special motive for wanting to help a specific charity; but I wonder how many other people just want to run a marathon and then look for any old charity that has a place available that they can have.

A bit like the chuggers who pretend to be passionate about the charity they're trying to sign you up for - and often asking "Don't you care about very ill children?" or "Do you want the poor donkeys to die, then?" - when they themselves have purely got the job because they want to earn money, and they haven't even been told which charity they will be signing people up for until that morning!

Out of interest, what would happen if you didn't manage to meet the fundraising target? Do they just say "Oh, well, thanks for your efforts anyway" or do they make you sign a commitment in advance that you WILL either raise that minimum or otherwise have to pay it yourself?

If course I know the difference, I just think you should be covering it all.

And much as you're 'not interested in what I have to say' you're trying to raise money from others who may well feel how I do, so it's worth bearing in mind.

(Please tell me that, as a minimum, you're covering from your own pocket the difference between the reduced price charity ticket and a full price general entry ticket?)

Put it on Facebook. I got a few small unexpected donations when my daughter did something for a cat charity.
Also, sponsor your friends doing similar. As those I'd sponsored then repaid by sponsoring me.
I didn't get many donations for my event. You may have to pay some of the contribution yourself.

I sponsored my friend's child's brownie troop to do a local litter pick. The kids had to work hard, the improved the local park and I chipped in a fiver for their fundraising.

I pay the difference. But obviously I’m going to try!

What business is it of yours?

I really, really dislike being solicited for donations to other people's charities of choice in the workplace and I don't think it belongs there. If it's not coworkers, it's their kids doing 5ks or funruns or some other activity.

Put it on your Facebook or other social media, but keep it out of the workplace.

Sure, none if they just stick it on their Facebook and never mention it, but if they drop it in the group what’s app, bring it up in person etc then I think there is a pressure to donate (and because I’m a decent friend and can afford it, in all likelihood I will donate rather than just blank them or tell them what I really think about this kind of fundraising!) Doesn’t change my view on it though, that if you want to do a run which requires a charity donation to get a place, you should put your hand in your own pocket for the full donation amount not just the entry fee, otherwise it’s really just asking other people to fund your hobby/activity.

My son did a half marathon when he was 17 years old. It wasn’t a sponsored place but he did try to raise money for charity, and it was a cause that saved his life. I was amazed how many people who ‘promised to donate’ didn’t in the end.

I have to say, as a runner, the whole way that charities have taken over the popular races is really annoying and feels a bit like a big cartel. Having said that I don't blame people for taking a charity place in eg the London marathon as it is almost impossible to get a ballot place.

WHen DD was 7 she did the race for life and got the fund raising down to a T as I wouldn't let her ask anyone except family for sponsorship. Some of her ideas (I realise that being at school helped)

she went round the local allotments and asked people to donate any spare plants and then ran a plant stall outside our house.

we made cakes (flapjacks and brownies were the most popular) which DH took to work. He left them in the kitchen with an envelope and sent an email round saying that there were cakes for anyone who wanted them but that a small donation would be appreciated. It was basically not in person although some of his colleagues who were not in the office donated as well.

She bought some cheap card blanks and small plastic bags at poundland and then made up card kits using the excess items in our sticker box (plus a few poundland sheets) and got the school office to put them on the reception desk with a homemade cash box - I think she asked for a donation of 25p per kit. A lot of mothers bought job lots for party bags so she spent a lot of time restocking the box. Some of the teachers put some spare change in the box too.

She put a note through neighbours doors to ask if they had any "jumble" and if so to email and we'd collect and she did a car boot sale. We paid the fee for her and helped obviously.

She raised about £500

Other ideas include a "bonus ball" type lottery where half goes to the winner and half to the charity, a quiz night - a local pub may well be happy to let you organise at theirs, car washing, weeding etc

i think so long as people know what a challenge this for you and that the charity means something to you for a good reason, you’re fine to politely ask for donations and also do some specific events/activities to help.

I’m a regular runner and I think most people would raise an eyebrow at me doing this and would think it’s just so I could get a guaranteed spot on oversubscribed big races. I don’t think you’d have that problem as a novice runner with a charity link.

Are you not donating any money yourself?

I personally also give a lot more leeway when it's for young children. They don't really understand the financial practicalities and are just wanting to do a kind, helpful thing.

Wow! Rude!
So obviously not!
Why would you not donate generously to this charity that you care so much about?
And it is exactly this reason that I don't donate to the faux "fundraising" events, which are all about the participant doing a prestigous event of their chosing for free/cheap/with guaranteed entry, and nothing to do with actually wanting raise money for the actual charity, which they could easily do without a giant perk for themselves added to the mix.

(Often when I receive these requests, if it's a charity I support, I donate directly to the charity, but not via the sponsorship/event page, as I don't want the charity to miss out).

But isn't it just semantics, then? If it costs entry fee + minimum amount raised for them to allow you to run for them, surely the latter of those two IS essentially just a differently-worded part of the entry fee, albeit one which you can ask others to pay rather than having to pay it all yourself?

Doesn't sound like it! She does get a reduced price entry ticket though!