Charity Walks Blog

More than 4 feet of snow has fallen so far in my area this winter. That is more snow than any other winter since 1895!

The snow has shut down roads and contributed to traffic accidents. It has closed businesses and schools. Events were canceled due to the snow.

We can’t control the weather, but we need to be prepared for the unexpected when it happens.

When you are planning charity walks, you don’t expect bad weather to happen at the same time as you scheduled the charity event. You don’t expect volunteers to be late (or not show up at all) for setting up and conducting the charity walk. There are a multitude of things that can go wrong.

To ensure a successful charity walk, consider what can go wrong and have a plan to address it.

Here are some examples:

• If it rains on the day of your charity walk, will the event take place as scheduled or will there be a backup date planned? How will you communicate this to your walkers and the community?
• If some of your volunteers aren’t able to show up on the day of your event, what can be done ahead of time to cover the need? You might schedule additional volunteers or have a list of people who are “on call” who can respond quickly in case of this happening.
• If electrical power goes down during the walk, is there a backup plan that doesn’t require the electricity or are there generators available?

While you plan your charity walks, identify potential things that could go wrong. Then develop ways to help prevent it from happening and/or have a plan on what to do if it happens.

Have you had a crisis happen at one of your charity walks because something unexpected happened? What did you do? What could have been done? Leave a comment below.

Thanks,

Technorati Tags: Charity Event, charity walk, charity walks, Volunteers, Walkers, Winter Snow

Members of the group were spread out over a distance of 100 miles. A presentation had to be created by this team of 5 in less than a week. One member proposed using Skype as a coordination tool and the rest of the team agreed. This took place just 2 weeks ago in my college course and this is what happened…

Only 2 members showed up for the 1st conference call. One person didn’t know anything about Skype and wasn’t prepared to participate. Two of us were caught in traffic and didn’t have access to a computer. It was a disaster!

We eventually recovered, but it didn’t have to be that difficult. All of us could have participated if we chose to use the lower-tech telephone conference capability.

A charity walk I am involved in started using an online scheduling service to support planning activities. It was my idea. Many of the members have said it is a tremendous help. However, yesterday I talked with a member of the team and discovered she has not been seeing any of the meeting reminders being sent out via email from this service. I don’t know yet if they were ignored because the sender of the email is a service or if the emails are being trapped by a spam filter. Regardless, it was another reminder that careful consideration needs to be used when selecting and implementing technology in support of charity walks.

Technology can be extremely useful in support of things like charity walk planning, walker registration, and fundraising. However, before implementing a new technology solution consider the following:

• Assess the user friendliness
  of the technology. This includes not just how easy it is to use, but also how accessible it is to your team.
• Is adequate training & support available? If not, guess who will be providing it?
• Provide a low-tech/no-tech option in addition to the more tech savy one. This can help prevent alienating some members of your team (and some potential members). It will alo provide a backup when problems come up.

When you are ready to select technology solutions for volunteer management and registration/online fundraising for your charity walks, go to the charity walk resource page at http://www.CharityWalksBlog.com/walk-resource.

Thanks,

Technorati Tags: charity walk, charity walks, Conference Call, Implementing Technology, New Technology, Scheduling Service, Skype, Spam Filter, Technology Solution, Technology Support, Telephone Conference, User Friendliness

Maps are important to most charity walks. Unless the route is on something like a race track, maps will be required. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an online tool that could help map out your charity walks?

The benefits would include:

• Automatically calculation of  the distance of the charity walk
• Printed map with an accurate route description would be available for route approvals
• Committee knows the route in advance for planning (signs, water stations, etc.)
• Safety crews know the route in advance for planning (radios, etc.)
• Walkers know the route in advance
• The map could be used to help promote the charity walk

Online mapping programs have been primarily developed and used for street maps. But there are a few available that create maps to support walking tours and training for runners. Why not use these online tools for charity walks?

Check out the following websites to map out your next charity walk:

• Gmaps Pedometer (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com)
• bluewalks (http://www.bluewalks.com)
• CommunityWalk (http://www.communitywalk.com)
• MapMyWalk (http://www.mapmywalk.com)

Be sure to leave a comment if you know of other online mapping programs that could support charity walks or to add your personal experience from using any of these tools.

Thanks,

p.s. Be sure to get your copy of The Walkathon Guide at http://TheWalkathonGuide.com for an inexpensive ebook with additional charity walk tips and resources.

Technorati Tags: charity walk, charity walks, Create Map, Create Maps, Distance Map, Mapping Programs, Online Mapping, Route Description, walk map, Walkers

Themes can be a great way to bring an additional element of fun to your charity walks. It can also help bring the attention of the local media to your charity event.

Be creative when considering a theme for your walk. The theme should instill excitement in your community. The theme should support contests (like costume contests) and entertainment.

Most charity walks don’t have a theme beyond the cause they are supporting. However, there are some that do. Themes focused around holidays are popular. Here are examples of walks using a holiday theme:

• Halloween – Richmond Zombie Walk
• Winter Holidays – Jingle Bell Run/Walk
• St. Patricks Day – Shamrock Run & Walk

There are many possibilities for a theme. Have the charity walk planning committee brainstorm some ideas. Use the following list of potential themes to get you started:

Can you think of other themes that could be used for charity walks? What themes have you used for charity walks in the past that have been successful? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Thanks,

Technorati Tags: charity events, charity fund raising, charity fundraising, charity walk, Walkathon