Feature Highlight | Estimated Read time – 4:19
Since 2012, organizations have collectively raised millions of dollars through the Race Roster™ platform. At Race Roster, we’re not only dedicated to helping organizers manage great events – our passion for making a difference has driven us to help fundraising organizations across the globe raise more for meaningful causes.
By working closely with fundraisers over the past nine years, we’ve gained valuable insight that we’d love to share with you. In this article, we are exploring ways to raise more for the causes you care about through the Race Roster platform. We’re also diving into some fundraising success stories shared by our customers!
1 – Define the meaning behind each raised amount
People are much more likely to contribute to a cause when they know exactly what their donation will be used for. When you create digital badges to reward fundraisers for reaching a particular milestone, you can include a description for each badge. This is a great opportunity to highlight the impact of their raised amount. For example, instead of just having a description of “Raised $250”, you could include “You provided a manatee with food for one month!”.
2 – Encourage fundraisers to reach the next milestone
After a fundraiser has earned a badge, you can celebrate the accomplishment by sending an automated email message. Encouraging fundraisers to reach their next milestone and outlining what it would accomplish for the organization is a great way to keep them motivated. Additionally, you can highlight exactly how they could reach their next milestone to show them just how easily their efforts can make a difference. See below for an example!
3 – Utilize donor top-ups
You can offset the costs of processing fees by giving donors the choice to increase their donation, covering the fees typically absorbed by the fundraising organization.
For tax receipts, the donor is eligible for the full amount as they have simply increased their donation amount to support your fundraising expenses.
Check out our knowledge base to learn more about the donor top-up feature.
Fundraising stats you may find interesting…
We’ve been keeping up with fundraising trends and want to keep you in the loop! Last year, after the onset of COVID-19, we saw an increase of approximately 27% in total donations towards fundraising organizations across the Race Roster platform.
Between April 2020 and April 2021:
How Race Roster fundraising tools have been used for success
The Butterfly Run Quinte and HoHoHoliday 5K share their stories on how they found success fundraising on Race Roster:
The Butterfly Run Quinte
They couldn’t be together in-person, however, the Butterfly Run Quinte sought out to bring families together virtually and continue raising awareness for pregnancy and infant loss. The event is still ongoing, with over CA$26,000 raised for the cause!
Event date: May 1 – 16, 2021
Location: Virtual
The cause
Pediatric Bereavement Fund at Quinte Health Care & Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network at Sunnybrook Hospital
The challenge
“Our run was created to increase awareness and support families who have experienced a pregnancy and/or infant loss. A major part of our event is to provide a safe space where families can come together, talk about the babies they have lost, and support each other. Since we are not able to meet in person, many families have decided not to join our run this year.”
The solution
“Even though we are not able to meet in person, we are encouraging families to post pictures online when they finish their run. We also had a memorial created locally and we are encouraging families to take a picture with our butterfly memorial. Race Roster was a great platform for us to use for registration. It’s easy for families to use and also allows us to track and monitor everything on the back end. We also appreciate the ability for families to create teams and fundraise.”
Outcome/achievements
- Over 200 people registered!
- Over $25,000 already raised!
“Since this was our first virtual run, we didn’t really know how to expect. We definitely didn’t think we would get over 200 people registered!”
HoHoHoliday 5K
A smooth road to success – The HoHoHoliday 5k exceeded their fundraising goal by 5X without a single obstacle encountered
Event date: November 25 – December 31, 2020
Location: Virtual
The cause
Make-A-Wish Canada
The challenge
“We were very surprised with the success of this campaign and didn’t encounter any challenges.”
The solution
“Race Roster provides a streamlined ticket and fundraising system. The donate button is very accessible and if you want to sign up to be a fundraiser it’s very easy. This allows people to commit to fundraising before they buy their ticket so we don’t have to reach back out to sign them up to fundraise afterward.”
Outcome/achievements
- Exceeded fundraising goal by 5X!
“We love Race Roster, it provides a great user experience for both participants and race directors. Since moving to the platform we have been impressed with the fundraising integration, waiver functionality, and reporting. We would recommend RR to any event director.”
– Mike Lambert, 365 Sports
Questions?
We’re here to help! Contact us at organizer@raceroster.com.
Not currently using Race Roster?
We’d love to learn more about your event. Book a demo with us for a deep dive into our platform and what you can accomplish with it!
What’s new at Race Roster?
See all of our releases or visit our what’s new page for the most noteworthy Race Roster updates!
