Running For Charity With Your Own Race Place: How To Get Started

Getting your own race entry, or place, as it's sometimes known, gives you complete freedom over what you do with it. You can simply concentrate on your training and enjoy race day, or you can use that place to raise money for a charity that matters to you. You don't need to have received your entry from a charity to fundraise for one. If you entered the race yourself you can still choose a charity and turn your race into a fundraising challenge.

For many runners, this can be the best of both worlds. You already have your race place, so there is usually no compulsory fundraising minimum attached to it, while you are free to choose the charity you want to support and decide how much you would like to raise.

Whether you have a place in a 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon or another running challenge, getting started is much easier than you might think. A few simple steps can turn the race you were already planning to run into an opportunity to make a real difference.

What Is An Own-Place Charity Runner?

An own-place runner (also known as a DIY runner, especially in the US) is someone who has obtained their race entry independently rather than receiving it from a charity. Depending on the event, that could mean entering through a public ballot, buying a general entry, qualifying through your race time, securing a running club place or obtaining an entry through another official route.

Once you have that place, you can decide to use your run to support a charity of your choice. The important difference is that your race entry and your fundraising are separate, because the charity has not provided your place and your ability to take part is not normally dependent on reaching a particular fundraising total.

This gives you considerably more flexibility than taking a charity place with a minimum fundraising commitment. You might decide that you would like to raise £250 for a small local charity, aim for £1,000 for a cause close to your heart or simply raise as much as possible without putting yourself under unnecessary pressure.

Do You Need To Tell The Charity?

It is usually worth contacting the charity before you start fundraising and telling them that you already have your own race place. Explain which event you are taking part in and that you would like to use your place to raise money for them.

Many charities will be delighted to hear from you and may be able to provide additional support. Depending on the organisation and event, this could include a running vest or T-shirt, fundraising materials, training information, access to a runner community or support around race weekend.

Make it clear that you already have your own entry when you contact them. This prevents any confusion about whether you are applying for one of the charity's allocated race places and allows the charity to register you correctly as an own-place fundraiser if it operates such a programme.

You don't need extensive support from a charity to fundraise successfully, particularly if you already know how you want to approach your campaign. However, making contact means the charity knows who you are and gives you the opportunity to find out what help may be available.

Choosing The Right Charity

One of the biggest advantages of having your own race place is that you can choose the charity yourself. You are not restricted to organisations that have places available in your event, so your decision can be based entirely on the cause you want to support.

For some runners, that choice will be immediate because a particular charity has supported them, a friend or a family member. Others may have a strong connection with a particular cause or simply want to support an organisation doing work they believe is important.

You could also consider supporting a smaller local charity rather than one of the major national organisations. Raising £500 or £1,000 can make a significant contribution to a smaller organisation, and you may find that the charity is able to take a particularly personal interest in your challenge.

Whatever you choose, having a genuine reason for supporting the organisation can make fundraising easier. People are often interested not only in what you are doing, but also why you have decided to do it.

Read more about choosing the right charity here.

How Much Should You Aim To Raise?

Because you already have your race place, there is no fundraising minimum imposed by the charity. That gives you freedom to choose your own target, but it also creates an obvious question about how much you should realistically try to raise.

There isn't a correct figure, and the size of the event does not automatically determine how much you should raise. Your target should reflect the scale of your challenge, the amount of time you have, the fundraising activities you are prepared to organise and the number of people you can realistically reach.

A runner doing a local 10K might be delighted to raise £200, while someone preparing for their first marathon might decide to aim for £500 or £1,000. Another runner with a strong workplace network, employer match funding and several fundraising activities planned could reasonably aim considerably higher.

Don't assume that having your own place means you should set a small target, but don't choose an enormous figure simply because you are running a marathon either. Think about where the money is actually going to come from and build your target around a realistic fundraising plan.

For example, £400 from friends and family, £200 from colleagues, £250 from a fundraising event and £150 through employer match giving would produce £1,000. Breaking the total into several different sources can make a large target feel much more achievable.

You can also increase your target later if your fundraising goes particularly well. Reaching £500 and then announcing that you are aiming for £750 or £1,000 creates another reason to talk about your campaign and can generate a fresh wave of donations.

Set Up Your Fundraising Page

Once you have chosen your charity, the next step is to create your online fundraising page. This will become the centre of your campaign, giving people somewhere to read your story, donate and follow your progress.

Don't rush through the setup simply because you want to start sharing the link. A fundraising page containing nothing more than your name, the race and the charity wastes one of your best opportunities to explain why somebody should support you.

Tell people what you are doing, why you have chosen the charity and why the challenge matters to you. If this is your first marathon, say so, while if you haven't run for years and have decided to take on a half marathon, explain what has prompted you to do it.

If the charity has a personal significance, share that story if you are comfortable doing so. Add a good photograph and make the page feel like the beginning of a journey rather than simply somewhere to collect donations.

Read more about to set up a fundraising page here.

Get Your First Donations Before The Big Launch

It can be tempting to create your fundraising page and immediately post the link across every social media account you have. A better approach can be to secure a few early donations before you make your main announcement.

Ask close family members, friends or colleagues who you know are likely to support you. A page that already shows £50, £100 or more can feel very different from one sitting at £0, while those early donations also give your campaign some momentum.

Instead of announcing that you have just started fundraising, you might be able to tell people that you are already 10% of the way towards your target. That progress can make the campaign feel established from the moment a wider audience first sees it.

Don't Rely Entirely On Social Media

Posting your fundraising page on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn can generate donations, but repeatedly sharing the same link is unlikely to be enough for most runners. Social media should be one part of your fundraising plan rather than the entire strategy.

Friends and family are an obvious starting point, but think about colleagues, your employer, running club, gym, school community, local businesses and other groups you are connected with. You might also organise a fundraising event, hold a raffle where the relevant rules allow it, run a quiz night, organise a sweepstake or choose another activity that suits your circumstances.

This becomes particularly important if you have an ambitious fundraising target. Raising £1,000 doesn't necessarily mean finding 50 people willing to give you £20, because the total can come from several completely different sources.

You might raise £300 through direct sponsorship, £300 from an event, £200 at work and another £200 through employer match giving. The broader your fundraising plan becomes, the less pressure you place on any individual group of supporters.

Car washing is a great way to fundraise

Ask Your Employer

Your workplace can be one of the most valuable parts of your fundraising campaign, yet it is often overlooked. Even if you don't want to repeatedly ask colleagues for sponsorship, there may be other ways your employer can help.

Start by finding out whether your organisation operates a charity matching scheme. Some employers will match money raised by employees up to a specified amount, potentially turning £500 of fundraising into £1,000 without you having to find any additional donors.

Even without formal match funding, your employer may be willing to promote your challenge internally, allow you to organise a fundraising activity at work or make a corporate donation. Your colleagues can also become an important source of support if you find ways of involving them in the challenge rather than simply emailing everyone a donation link.

Find out more about matched giving here.

Give People A Reason To Follow Your Training

One of the advantages of fundraising through a running event is that you have a story that develops over several weeks or months. Your training provides a continuous stream of genuine updates that can keep people interested in what you are trying to achieve.

If you are preparing for a marathon, your supporters don't need to hear from you only when you want another donation. Share your first long run, a difficult training session, a new distance milestone, the wet Sunday morning when you would rather have stayed in bed and the moment when race day suddenly starts to feel very close.

This turns your fundraising into a journey rather than a series of requests for money. It also gives you legitimate reasons to remind people about your fundraising without simply posting the same appeal repeatedly.

Someone who ignored your original announcement might decide to donate after seeing that you have completed your first 15-mile training run. Another person might follow your progress for several months before finally sponsoring you during race week.

Start Earlier Than You Think You Need To

If your race is several months away, you don't need to wait until the final few weeks before starting your fundraising. Beginning early gives you more opportunities to try different ideas without panicking about how much you still need to raise.

Starting early doesn't mean your campaign has to operate at full intensity from day one. You might launch your page, secure some early donations and then gradually increase your fundraising activity as your training progresses.

Major training milestones provide natural opportunities to increase that activity, while race week and the period immediately after the event can also generate significant support. Your fundraising doesn't have to finish when you cross the start line, and there is no reason to close your campaign immediately after the race.

Remember To Ask

One of the biggest fundraising mistakes is assuming that people will donate simply because they know you are running for charity. Some will make a donation without being asked, but many people need a clear reminder or direct request before they take action.

People are busy, social media posts disappear quickly and someone who genuinely intends to sponsor you can easily forget. There is nothing wrong with reminding people what you are doing or politely asking someone whether they would like to support your challenge.

That doesn't mean bombarding friends with messages or making anyone feel guilty if they don't donate. Make the request, give them the opportunity to support you and accept that not everyone will be able or want to contribute.

You don't need every person you know to sponsor you for the campaign to succeed. A combination of individual donations, workplace support, fundraising activities and other sources can add up to considerably more than you might initially expect.

Thank People As You Go

Don't wait until after the race to thank everyone who supports you. Acknowledging donations throughout your campaign shows people that their contribution matters and helps create a positive relationship with your supporters.

Where possible, thank people personally rather than relying entirely on automated messages from the fundraising platform. You can also celebrate milestones publicly, because reaching £250, £500 or 50% of your target gives you an opportunity to thank existing supporters while reminding other people about your challenge.

After the race, update your fundraising page and social channels with the result and tell people how the day went. Share a photograph, thank everyone who helped you get there and remind anyone who intended to donate that the fundraising page is still open.

You may find that a significant number of donations arrive after the event. Some people prefer to sponsor runners once they have completed the challenge, while others simply needed one final reminder.

Read more about thanking people here.

Final Thoughts On Running For Charity With Your Own Race Place

Securing your own race place means you have already taken care of one of the biggest parts of the challenge, and what you do with that place is entirely up to you. Choosing to support a charity gives you the opportunity to make the race about something more than your finishing time or the medal waiting at the end.

Fundraising doesn't have to mean accepting a huge minimum target or turning every conversation into a request for money. You can choose a charity you genuinely care about, set a target that works for you and build your fundraising alongside your training.

You might raise £200 or you might raise £2,000, while some runners will start with a modest target and discover that their friends, colleagues and wider community take the campaign much further than they expected. Whatever the final figure, it is money the charity would not otherwise have received.

Most importantly, you don't need a charity place to become a charity runner. If you already have your own race entry, you already have the challenge, and adding a cause you care about can give that challenge an entirely new purpose.