Is There Charity Awareness Overload?

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Is there really awareness overload due to too many charity walk/run events?

There have been several articles and blog posts written lately suggesting that there are too many charity runs and walks. One of these posts is at http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2010/05/running-toward-an-awareness-overload.html.

I decided to examine the online community calendar of my local newspaper in Fredericksburg, Virginia. For today, the events listed include:

17 music events
4 art exhibits
3 theater events
2 book signings

Is it likely that people will complain about the promotion of too many music events? Art exhibits? I doubt it.

It is recognized that people have different tastes in types of music and art so multiple events on a given day are expected. So why isn’t it recognized that people have different passions regarding causes? Why isn’t it recognized that these charity events help provide nonprofit organizations with money, volunteers, public awareness, advocacy and partnerships with community businesses that are needed to make a difference?

What isn’t discussed is how many people are participating in these events. What isn’t discussed is how successful they are.

If there was true awareness overload, participation would dwindle, donations would evaporate, and sponsors would disappear. But that isn’t the case for most of these events. These events require hard work by many nonprofit staff and volunteers. They would be canceled if there wasn’t a good return on investment.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Thanks,

Roger-Carr-Signature