“Pick ya’ up Friday at 8?”- Choose a time and date for your run:
First comes first. You can’t organize a successful event without first selecting the right time and date. Check around with your friends and neighbors to see what date and time works best for the most people. You want as many people to be able to make your run as possible, so asking around for the right date is key.

“The grass is always greener…”- Find that perfect location and course:

Before you can do anything, you must first find a place to hold your run. Holding your event on a public road or park requires a permit for the area. Contact your local town hall for info on how to obtain one. Also, if you have a local college campus nearby, try making a call to the administration and see if they will allow you to use their grounds. Once you decide on a location, you may want to name the race and then be sure to plan a specific 5K (3.1 miles) course for your runners.

“Extra, extra, read all about it!”- Posters and advertising:

No event is successful without people knowing about it, so make sure to get the word out with flyers, e-mails (think Myspace or Facebook), or just good ole’ word-of-mouth. Check with your school administration to make sure hanging up signs and handing out flyers is allowed, and then get out there and spread the word. Also, asking local groups such as places of worship, boys’ and girls’ clubs, YMCA’s, and other community organizations to make announcements/ hang up signs can be a big help at reaching people you don’t directly know. Also, you may want to ask PE teachers to help out on the day of the race to lead everyone in pre-run stretches or aerobic workouts. The more people involved, the better!

"Pretty Please..."- Finding sponsors for your runners:

People who want to participate in the run should find people, organizations, or companies to sponsor them in order to raise money for your cause. Asking family members to donate as your sponsor in place of birthday or holiday presents is one option, and you can make the rounds to local shopkeepers and businesses for contributions as well. You could think about maybe setting up a specific committee to work at getting sponsorship and funding. Suggesting also to businesses that you can wear the business’s name on your shirt while you run as incentive for them to donate- advertising yourself as “moving marketing” never hurts.

"Little Extras"- Some other little details you may want to look into:

Make sure that you have someone design an application for the race and that you have people register for the event so that you know how many people will be participating in your event. Order medals or ribbons for all those that enter the fun run and make sure to have trophies for the top three winners of the course. No matter what the cause they are running for, everyone loves a little reward.

"Ready, Set, Go!"- Day of the race preparation:

The day of the run you are going to want to check up on weather conditions and permits so that there are no last minute surprises. Eat a good breakfast, and suggest that others running do the same. Get to your site early, and make sure to check that your signs and directions are clearly marked for the runners (obviously make sure that you have 5K designated out to run), and flag down people as they arrive. Last but not least, you will be sure to collect everyone’s donations. Be sure to let everyone know where the money is going, and to thank the people involved in the event for participating. Then, go have fun!

Want more ideas on how to fundraise?