How to plan a prosperous race fundraiser

How to plan a prosperous race fundraiser

Apr 16, 2024 | Fundraising, General interest | 0 comments

A Kiwanis club in Florida, U.S., has held a 5K run for 16 years. Their tips can help you meet your fundraising mark. 

By Julie Saetre

In January 2024, the Fort Myers Metro-McGregor Kiwanis Club held its 16th annual BUG Chase 5K run. Nearly 300 enthusiastic participants raced along trails at a local nature center, helping the club raise over US$12,000. 

Proceeds from the race benefit the club’s Bringing Up Grades program at three local elementary schools as well as other club-sponsored youth service projects.  

At the helm of this successful effort was Rachel Toomey, the BUG Chase chair and the club’s public relations chair.  

“Rachel is results-driven,” says Kim Berghs, the club’s secretary and a BUG Chase team member, “and extremely organized.” 

While the race itself and its financial results are impressive, the long hours and hard work behind the scenes by Toomey and her dedicated team are just as significant. Their combined experience makes these Kiwanians ideal resources for other clubs hoping to replicate results by starting their own fundraising runs. Below, Toomey and Berghs offered a primer on organizing a race and/or walk, from initial planning to effective follow-up. 

Prerace planning 

  • Start early. Give yourself a minimum of at least six months to prepare. 
  • Designate a director. Make sure that person has a team of support volunteers.  
  • Delegate duties. Create a shared Google Doc or similar folder and give key volunteers access so they can store information, enter updates and cross reference details. This avoids an endless stream of easily misplaced emails. 
  • Pick a date wisely. Research other walks and races in your area so your target participants don’t have to choose between your event and others. 
  • Recruit sponsors. Create an attractive sponsorship packet with detailed benefits and deadlines. Ask a club member to take charge of sponsorships. 

Member engagement 

  • Identify which members can volunteer on race day. Assign pre- or post-race tasks to members who can’t attend the event. 
  • Call on your Service Leadership Program members to volunteer on race day. With a large event, you’ll need many hands to help. 
  • Make sure race-day volunteers are assigned tasks that they can comfortably complete at their mobility, skill and ability levels. 

Support services 

  • Work with a professional race-timing company. Different timing companies offer different services. Get two or three quotes and compare details to find a company that best fits your needs and budget. 
  • Look into race software such as RunSignup to handle registration, check in runners and post results. 
  • Select a vendor for race shirts and awards. Make sure to get deadlines for orders and schedule those into your timeline. 
  • Ask your community partners and the schools/organizations sponsoring your Service Leadership Programs to help you promote the race. Let them know how they will benefit from race funds raised. 
  • Reach out to coaches of running clubs and track teams at local schools. “Over half of our race registrants this year were from local run clubs,” Toomey says. 

Race day necessities 

  • Ask local law enforcement or safety officers to help with traffic control. This might come with a fee, so budget accordingly. 
  • Recruit on-the-ground safety assistance. The Metro-McGregor BUG Chase team fills out a request form each year to ask for volunteers to help with safe pedestrian crossing from the parking area to the registration and race-start locations. 
  • Request donations from local companies (grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.) for race-day food and water; be sure to recognize them as in-kind sponsors. 
  • Be flexible. With so many moving parts — literally and figuratively — a lot of items will be out of your control. “Roll with the punches,” Toomey says, “and lean on your Kiwanis members for help.” 

Post-race follow-up 

  • Ask for feedback. Toomey sends a post-event survey to all runners, sponsors and other participants. Included are links to race results, event photos and business sponsors. “I forward that email to all club members (some were also participants) so they can see the nice recap and access the same information,” Berghs says. 
  • Thank sponsors. Two club members send out personal letters of thanks to sponsors and in-kind sponsors. “Included in each letter is an actual thank-you letter or two from children in some of the elementary schools where we do a WorldAtlas distribution,” Berghs says. “That way the sponsor can see firsthand one of our club projects from the eyes of a child.” 
Club grants span continents 

Club grants span continents 

Mar 25, 2024 | Fundraising, General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund | 0 comments

Kiwanis Children’s Fund grants help clubs start projects that support kids’ health and education.

By Erin Chandler

This March, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded club grants to 12 outstanding Kiwanis club projects that are making a difference across four continents. The following projects highlight the truly international spirit of Kiwanis and show how Kiwanians have addressed the specific health and education needs of kids in Italy, Panama, Austria, Nepal and the United States.  

Bright futures start with a diagnosis
Kiwanis Club of Lalbandi, Kathmandu, Nepal
According to a survey conducted by the Kiwanis Club of Lalbandi, four to five cases of autism spectrum disorder are being diagnosed each day in one Kathmandu health clinic alone. Some children stop attending school as a result. Seeing the clear need in its community, the club is partnering with local autism centers to support kids dealing with this often-misunderstood condition. Club members will receive training to help screen for autism spectrum disorder and assist at therapy centers that provide speech-language, play-based, physical, occupational and nutritional therapies. A grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help purchase medications and food supplements for those who can’t afford them, as well as software to track patients’ progress. 

A new dining room for a healthy start
Kiwanis Club of Libertad, Coclé, Panama
The Kiwanis Club of Libertad will use a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant to purchase tables, chairs, eating and kitchen utensils, a refrigerator, an industrial sink, paint and food for the remodeled dining room at Boca de Chiguirí Primary School. Children in the area suffer from food insecurity and often come to school without receiving meals at home. The club is partnering with various government ministries, local companies and others to create a self-sustaining nutrition program that will include vegetable gardens and poultry farming at the school. Once the dining room is structurally safe and furnished, students, parents and teachers will collaborate to bring the program to life. 

Children’s gardens for kindergartens
Kiwanis Club of Mühlviertel, Schwertberg, Austria
The word “kindergarten” means “children garden” — and the Kiwanis Club of Mühlviertel is taking it literally, installing raised-bed gardens at 19 kindergartens in the Perg district of Austria. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will help cover the cost of the aluminum beds. Once the gardens are installed, the “little researchers” will learn how vegetables grow and thrive, how insects pollinate flowers and how fruits and blossoms form — and they will develop a sense of responsibility from caring for the garden. 

A soft room in a safe house
Kiwanis Club of Gallarte, Varese, Italy
A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will help the Kiwanis Club of Gallarte build a Montessori room for children ages six and under living in “protected houses” after leaving dangerous home environments. These children often arrive experiencing severe physical and emotional complications. The room will be painted in “soft colors” to promote tranquility and filled with child-size furnishings, sensory panels, carpets, games, “work” surfaces and more. The club hopes this room will help develop the children’s creativity, intelligence and sensory awareness, setting them on a path for healthy growth. 

Reading in the rain
Kiwanis Club of Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.
Since 2016, the Kiwanis Club of Malden has provided free books to hundreds of local children at its Bubbles and Books event. (It also features a bubble magician for extra fun.) A puppeteer storyteller even takes part to enhance a love of literacy for all kids in this very diverse community, where over 50 languages are spoken in the public schools. Recently, however, the club has had to cancel or reschedule Bubbles and Books due to rain or extreme heat. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will help the club purchase tents for shade and shelter, so kids can choose new books to take home in rain or shine.  

More books, playgrounds and essential supplies
Other projects that received club grants in March include: 

  • Book giveaways from the Kiwanis clubs of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, U.S.; Cicero, Indiana, U.S.; and Literacy in Salinas CA, California, U.S. 
  • A book vending machine from the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln, California, U.S. 
  • Inclusive playgrounds from the Kiwanis clubs of Portsmouth, Ohio, U.S. and Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. 
  • A supply closet for students in need from the Kiwanis Club of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, U.S.  

Apply for a club grant   
The upcoming deadline to complete the first application step for a Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant has been extended to April 15, 2024! Learn how your club can apply for a grant to help kids in your community. If you have any questions, contact grants@kiwanis.org. 

How you can help
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund makes grants that improve the lives of children around the world by identifying projects that create a continuum of impact in a child’s life — one that spans their entire childhood and sets them up for a bright future. By funding projects that target the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — whether through a Kiwanis club’s local service project or a club’s partner, the Children’s Fund ensures that its grantmaking has the greatest possible impact.

If you are interested in extending your and your club’s impact beyond your community, make a gift to the Children’s Fund. 

Grants keep kids healthy and active

Grants keep kids healthy and active

Feb 1, 2024 | Fundraising, General interest, News | 0 comments

Clubs help communities access playgrounds and medical care with Kiwanis Children’s Fund grants. 

By Erin Chandler 

Some of the most popular and directly effective community projects sponsored by Kiwanis clubs are playgrounds and health-related screenings. In August 2023, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded seven club grants for projects that enable kids of all backgrounds and abilities to access medical care and places to play.  

A century-old signature project gets a boost
The Kiwanis Club of Denton, Texas, U.S., has provided free medical, dental, vision and mental health care to children in need since 1925. For the outstanding work it does in its community, the Denton Kiwanis Children’s Clinic was recognized with the Group II Silver award in the 2023 Kiwanis Signature Project Contest. A club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help club members continue to advertise their clinic’s services and promote healthy dental practices. To date, Denton Kiwanians have given out 7,500 Kiwanis-branded bags containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental hygiene coloring books and clinic flyers at back-to-school events. This year, they will distribute thousands more dental hygiene kits that they hope will lead to even more kids being helped by the clinic. 

A fair for fun and health
For the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln Foothills, the annual health fair in Lincoln, California, U.S., is a true community event. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant joins grants and donations from other service clubs and medical, dental and vision organizations to fund a free health fair for seven elementary schools and two middle schools. Kids who attend the fair receive health, vision and dental screenings; food bags, healthy snacks and lunch; haircuts; bicycle safety information and helmets; and books — plus educational games and entertainment, all at no cost to families. Eyeglasses and follow-up dental procedures, if needed, are paid for by the local Lions Club and Rotary Club, respectively.   

Expanding bike safety
The Kiwanis Club of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, U.S., has held its Bike Rodeo Safety Fairs for 15 years. A grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help them expand their fairs into a fourth area community and a local middle school, as well as provide professional bike safety checks and repairs. Kids who participate in a Bike Rodeo Safety Fair receive basic bicycle safety instruction from local police officers, pedal through a course with guidance from Kiwanians and receive free bike helmets, bells and lights. Kids of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome and are even entered in a bike-giveaway drawing. 

Clubs team up for two accessible playgrounds
Twenty percent of children in the Albert Lea school district in Minnesota, U.S., receive special education services — yet none of the city’s 41 parks and recreation areas have facilities accessible to children with physical or developmental disabilities, autism or sensory disorders. The Kiwanis Club of Albert Lea is teaming up with the other area clubs — the Kiwanis Club of Albert Lea Golden K and the Kiwanis Club of Day Breakers, Albert Lea — to help remedy that situation. The All-Together Albert Lea Inclusive Playground will be wheelchair accessible and provide fun activities that children of all abilities can enjoy together. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will go toward the purchase of equipment for the “Kiwanis Play Zone” area, including a Loft + Market Café for toddlers, a sensory panel, musical features and an Oodle Swing. The club plans to organize activities such as games and book giveaways at the playground at least once a year. 

In Wisconsin, U.S., the Kiwanis Club of Ripon Early Bird is teaming up with the Kiwanis Club of Ripon Noon to build a new playground that will be accessible to kids and families of all abilities. A grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help to pay for the ADA-compliant poured surface and eight accessible features, including multiple swings that will accommodate wheelchair users. Overall, the playground will feature over 40 pieces of equipment and be located next to the existing Kiwanis Splash Pad. Kiwanians from both clubs will maintain the park on service cleanup days, and they will work together to hold an annual children’s fair there. 

Two more playgrounds get an upgrade
A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will help the Kiwanis Club of Lebanon, Indiana, U.S., replace the 30-year-old playground equipment at Abner Longley Park with safer, more modern structures. The club will also install a Little Free Library at the playground, and club members will work with the Lebanon High School Key Club to place protective mulch in the play area. The idea for the playground revitalization came from a “wish list” compiled by local organizations that serve young people. Club members hope this addition to a low-income area will have a long-lasting, positive impact on thousands of kids. 

To mark its 100th anniversary, the Kiwanis Club of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, U.S., is also upgrading a beloved community playground. Kids have been playing at the Bastian/Kiwanis Playground since the 1950s. The club will enhance parking, remove or relocate outdated structures and install new equipment to bring the playground up to code. The majority of a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will go toward the construction of a new accessible entrance that will allow more kids and families to enjoy all the playground has to offer. 

How you can help
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund makes grants that improve the lives of children around the world by identifying projects that create a continuum of impact in a child’s life — ones that span their entire childhood and set them up for a bright future. By funding projects that target the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — whether through a Kiwanis club’s local service project or a club’s partner, the Children’s Fund ensures that its grantmaking has the greatest possible impact.

If you are interested in extending your and your club’s impact beyond your community, make a gift to the Children’s Fund or learn how your club can apply for a grant to help kids in your community.