Marathon, NGO, and Fundraising
Notes on how NGOs with marathons can do peer-to-peer fundraising
Earlier this week I was exchanging thoughts with an industry expert on the state of digital fundraising in India. One question that stuck with me was:
What is the state of peer-to-peer fundraising and are Indian NGOs actively doing marathon fundraising?
Peer-to-peer is a specific type of crowdfunding by which individuals raise funds by hosting personal campaigns for a cause by reaching out to their friends, colleagues, and family members.
The recent COVID outbreak witnessed a sea of influencers and celebrities raising money for causes. Fundraising, NGOs, and Celebrities: my blog post shared the growing trend, especially on Meta with the platform enabling peer-to-peer fundraising.
Additionally running marathons is no more uncommon for Indians. For instance, The Tata Mumbai Marathon one of the most prestigious marathons event in the country in its 18th edition of 2023 witnessed 7201 runners participating in the 42.1 km run. Besides the age group, 40-44 saw the most number of finishers. The race also collected close to 40Cr in fundraising of which of 17.5Cr was contributed by corporates.
My running journey started in 2017. I first ran my 10KM in the Pune International Marathon which has been conducting the race since 1983. In 2019 I ran my half marathon and in 2022 I went back to the city to run my first full marathon. I was happy with my preparations but the beast of the marathon took over me on race day. I completed the race with not-so-great timing(4hrs 20mins.)
I was keen to run for a cause. However, it never happened since I was still not sure about my timing, none of the causes connected to me and I wasn’t active on social media.
I came back from the Pune marathon and got back to my routine of running. I wanted to participate in the Mumbai Marathon but resisted the temptation.
At this point, I got a donor email communication from Action Against Hunger India that they have a few marathon passes. It was late for me and the passes were for a half marathon. However, after one or two emails the communication dropped and I wondered shouldn’t these emails come at least 2 months before.
Anyways if an NGO is looking to integrate marathon running with fundraising then it should consider the below-listed thoughts:
Defining the cause
Cause matters for any kind of fundraising. An NGO can do generic fundraising but if the cause is more defined with a target amount then it becomes uncomplicated to share updates on how the fundraising is going and later even communicate with donors how the funds have been used. So defining the campaign with a structured cause and clear donation amount will do more justice.
Tying up with marathon event
It is a shame that I didn’t see any NGO collaboration with Pune Marathon. There was no communication when I entered the race or any such details on the website.
Whereas the Mumbai Marathon has a dedicated section on philanthropy and United Way Mumbai is the registered NGO that allows participants to create fundraising activities. NGOs should collaborate with marathon events and platforms like Runbuddies, Townscripts, etc give you a list of marathon events happening in the country.
Reaching out to runners
The first and easiest way should be reaching out to donors via email and simultaneously communicating the same on social media. Once you receive a positive response make sure you communicate the whole campaign idea with the runners and be in constant touch. Also, start the entire activity 2-3 months before the race day.
The second could be reaching out to the employees. Doesn’t matter whether they do a 10KM or a full marathon but it could be a great team activity and an additional way to raise funds. Do make sure that you post their race updates on the company network and social media to provide much-needed motivation.
Finally, if you have funds then you can reach out to an influencer network or agency. It might work but another smart way is to reach out to companies who are supporting runners every day. For instance, I buy all my running clothes from GoAthlos and hydration gels from Leap. Can a NGO collaborate with them and see who are the runners they can recommend? It is a slightly long shot but worth trying since I know all these founders have immense love for the sport.
Peer-to-peer platform
Finally being a part of peer-to-peer platforms like Ketto, Give India, etc is very crucial. NGOs will have to register with such platforms and they will take a percentage of the fundraising amount. However, make sure that at the end of the campaign, you are able to get the donor data. So that you keep the retention communication on with your donors.
Facebook Fundraisers aren’t working in India due to government regulation whereby one had to provide donor statements which should have donor IDs and user information that confirms the donor's identity. In fact, all NGOs who are involved in digital fundraising are already providing such details.
During the lockdown, I did a fundraising for an NGO. The big problem was that the NGO had no collaboration with a crowdfunding platform and creating a personal page meant a lot of effort. So I had to divert my donors to their generic donation page. I was able to raise some money but having a personal fundraising page makes it more effective to share all updates and campaign details. It also builds donor confidence and managing it is easy and seamless.
With all the above-listed points it goes without saying that an NGO needs to build a strong strategy for communicating about the race and building a strong relationship with the runners who are fundraising.
The major marathons in India generally happen post-September and with no virus fear all sporting events are back on track. So along with individual giving, marathon fundraising can be a good idea not only to raise funds but also to create much-needed awareness.