Organizing the Charity Walk Planning Team

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Establishing a charity walk planning team is a critical step to a successful event

Have you attended a charity walk that appeared to be easy to make happen?

You were quickly directed to the parking area. The site was completely set up when you arrived. The areas of registration and fundraising went smooth. All of the volunteers were calm and knew exactly what to do. The walk was fun and safe.

Planning and conducting a successful charity walk is not easy. If it appears that way, it is a good sign that a significant amount of time and energy was contributed by many people to make it appear that way. Many activities need to occur. There is no magic wand that can be waved to make it easy. Some of the activities include obtaining sponsors, providing tools for team/individual fundraising, receiving required permissions and permits, selecting and preparing the site, and a variety of additional tasks.

Because of the number and interdependency of activities that need to be planned and performed, it is important to establish a planning team. Each planning team member will be responsible for the planning and coordination of a particular area of needed activities. It doesn’t mean that person will do all of the effort in his or her assigned area. Other planning team members and volunteers should be recruited to provide additional support. The Chairs will oversee the efforts. It is common for one person to be the chair of multiple areas for smaller charity walks. If this occurs, be careful the person has adequate support to keep from being overwhelmed.

The organization of the planning team is different for each charity walk. There is no “one size fits all” template. The organization needs to be tailored to the purpose of the walk, the size of the walk, the needs of the walk, and the skills available. However, there are some basic chair positions that have proven to be valuable. Some of these are:

Walk Chair
Walk Co-Chair
Sponsorship Chair
Publicity Chair
Logistics Chair
Finance Chair
Technology Chair
Team Development Chair
Mission Delivery Chair
Advocacy Chair

Establishing an effective planning team well in advance of the charity walk event is a critical step towards holding a successful walk event.

Do charity walks you are involved in have the same or different planning team positions? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Future blog posts will describe the role of each of these chair positions, how to recruit capable people to fulfill these roles, and effective ways for the planning team to coordinate.

Thanks,

Roger-Carr-Signature

p.s. Do you need a comprehensive guide that shows how to organize a charity walk? Get your copy of The Walkathon Guide at http://www.TheWalkathonGuide.com.

Photo credit: Julia Freeman-Woolpert

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