Walk+Run To Go Guidebook
Be The Match ● Walk+Run To Go Guidebook
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
3
3
COMMITTEE
VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND JOB DESCRIPTIONS
4
4
PLANNING
EVENT PLANNING TIMELINE
BUDGET TEMPLATE
DAY OF EVENT CHECKLIST
6
8
9
TEAM RECRUITMENT
TEAM RECRUITMENT – THE KEY TO SUCCESS
RECRUIT AND EDUCATING TEAM CAPTAINS
TEAM RECRUITMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
10
11
12
SPONSORSHIP
SPONSORSHIP
SPONSORSHIP- GETTING IN THE DOOR TO MAKE AN ASK
13
14
RESOURCES
RESOURCES FROM BE THE MATCH
MATERIALS PROVIDED TO BRAND YOUR EVENT
ABOUT BE THE MATCH
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Introduction
Walk+Run To Go gives communities, organizations, and corporations across the country the opportunity
to support Be The Match by hosting an event in their own community. Customize your event to match
your organization or company. A 1k, 5k, or fun run. Pick a theme, location, and gather your friends to
unite in transplanting hope.
Determine Your Goals and Objectives
1. Is there a specific theme, date, or location that connects with your passion for Be The Match?
2. What is the main objective you would like to accomplish by holding this event?
 Team building for employees or friends
 In honor or memory of someone touched by blood cancer
 To promote health and wellness
 In conjunction with celebrating something in the business or community
3. What format do you see for your event?
 Most common is a 5k (3.1miles) or a one mile fun run/walk
 If you want to include a kid’s event, those are usually 200 yards to ¼ mile.
4. What location do you envision for the event?
 A park with trails or paved paths is recommended
 Sidewalk routes work well
 Shutting down roads often includes permits and additional fees which is not
recommended because of the added time and cost
5. What will be your fundraising goal and budget for the event?
 Check out page 8 to help you think through this
 This will help you think what you want to charge as participant fees (suggest $15-$30
per participants) and how many sponsors you should seek
 Walk+Run To Go events should net a minimum of $5,000 to Be The Match after all
expenses are paid
6. Who will be your 3-5 people that can take the lead in planning and marketing the event?
7. Why should your participants want to get involved and support Be The Match?
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Volunteer Committee
A Walk+Run To Go event should have a volunteer led committee that is dedicated and willing to
coordinate a successful fundraiser. Committee size may vary, depending on the size of your event. The
following pages list committee positions. Familiarize yourself with all positions, as successful volunteer
recruitment involves matching a person’s interest and skills with a certain task or responsibility.
Note: All committee members should work on recruitment, as they all have different contacts within
the community.
Cultivate new committee members each year to help grow the event. New committee members will
bring new contacts for teams and sponsorships. This will keep ideas fresh and your event new and
exciting each year.
Events may vary in size and location, the basic elements of Walk+Run events should be the same. Those
elements are:
 Team recruitment
 Publicity
 Sponsorship
 Fundraising
 Volunteer recruitment
 Logistics
Committee Structure and Job Descriptions
Committee Chair(s)
1. Develop event budget, timeline, and monitor progress of all event planning
2. Establish plan to meet fundraising and participant recruitment goals
3. Coordinate and oversee the workings of the committee
4. Set meeting schedule and lead meetings for committee
5. Recruit members to the committee, day of volunteers, and teams/participants
Sponsorship
1. Establish a sponsorship plan and identify prospects
2. Develop sponsorship levels and materials
3. Solicit sponsors face to face and through letters and emails
4. Secure in-kind donations that can enhance the event or reduce expenses (e.g., venue, sound
system, advertising, printing, tents, tables, chairs)
5. Solicit in kind donations as needed: refreshments (e.g., bottled water, fruit, healthy snacks),
awards (e.g., gift certificates)
6. Appropriately thank all sponsors
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Recruitment and Marketing
1. Create and execute a plan to recruit individuals, groups, civic organizations, and corporations to
register for event
2. Develop materials to publicize the event
3. Distribute promotion materials to local business (e.g., running stores, gyms, coffee shops, other
running or community events)
4. Post event information on calendars (e.g., running clubs, community calendars, media outlets)
5. Seek out in-kind advertising opportunities (e.g., church bulletins, local newspapers, company
newsletters, neighborhood newsletters)
6. Serve as primary contact for any local media attention
Logistics
1. Confirm date and location of event with appropriate parties (Note: All contracts must be
approved by Be The Match before signed)
2. Plan out course route and determine where water/cheer stations and course marshals will need
to be
3. Arrange for equipment that is needed (e.g., tables, tents, sound system, portable restrooms,
trash receptacles, etc.)
4. Identify signage needs for the course, registration, and sponsors
5. Work with volunteer chair to have course marshals monitor and assist along the route to make
sure participants are staying on course
6. Create a plan if there is bad weather or a medical emergency on the day of your event
Volunteers
1. Play a lead role on event day
2. Execute promotional tactics to recruit and coordinate day of volunteers before event
3. Coordinate the volunteer schedule and communicate assignments to volunteers (e.g., arrival
time, parking information, tasks, where to check-in)
4. Explain tasks to volunteers (e.g., set-up, teardown, registration, water/cheer stations, course
marshals)
5. Coordinate participant check in the day of event
6. Appropriately thank all volunteers
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Event Planning Timeline
6 Months Before Event
 Register event with Be The Match – fill out fundraising application & website worksheet
 Set date, time, and location of event ______________________________
 Determine event budget and set event goal $ _________________
 Recruit committee
 Secure site
5 Months Before Event
 Develop sponsorship prospect list and materials needed
 Start soliciting sponsorship and in-kind donations
 Confirm event website is up to date and has all the information you need
 Create recruitment plan and promotional materials
 Fill out all permits and paperwork needed for event
 Set up a schedule for committee meetings
4 Months Before Event
 Continue soliciting sponsors and in-kind donations, sponsors can be added to website
 Start recruiting participants and teams
 Distribute promotional materials to local businesses
 Post event information on local calendars
 Plan out course route and determine where water/cheer stations and course marshals will be
 Arrange for equipment that is needed (e.g., tables, tents, sound system, portable restrooms,
trash receptacles, etc.)
3 Months Before Event
 Promote need for day of volunteers
 Seek out in-kind advertising opportunities (e.g., church bulletins, local newspapers, company
newsletters, neighborhood newsletters)
 Continue soliciting sponsors and in-kind donations
 Continue recruiting participants and teams
2 Months Before Event
 Call team captains to encourage them to keep recruiting and fundraising
 Plan out what even signage you will need
 Create a plan for bad weather or an emergency
 Continue soliciting sponsors and in-kind donations
 Continue recruiting participants and teams
 Continue promoting the event and need for volunteers to local outlets
 Create a plan for the schedule of the event day
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1 Month Before Event
 Order t-shirts
 Order event signage, awards, or any other materials you will need
 Finalize schedule of event
 Notify neighbors if you need to
 Continue local media outreach and recruitment
2 weeks Before Event
 Review number of day of volunteers, create a plan and send out assignments
 Review number of participants registered and plan accordingly
 Walk the course to plan out how everything will be marked
 Confirm all commitments i.e. logistics, food, speakers, media
1 week Before Event
 Email all participants about fundraising and day of things they need to know
 Finalize event day checklist
 Organize your day of materials needed and pack into vehicles
2 days Before Event
 Shut down online registration
 Print out registration list and organize t-shirts and race numbers (if using them)
EVENT DAY
 Set up event (set up basics the night before if possible)
o Registration/check-in, water/cheer stations, course directions, sponsor signs, etc.
 Have volunteers get there early and into their roles
 HAVE FUN!
1 week After Event
 Pay any outstanding bills
 Send thank you’s to sponsors, businesses that donated to the event, team captains and
participants
 Prepare final budget and submit funds to Be The Match
 Hold a post-event committee meeting to discuss what went well, do an analysis of event, and
start thinking about next year’s event.
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Budget Template
Walk+Run To Go events should have net proceeds of $5,000 or greater for Be The Match. Expenses
should be kept to a minimum and not exceed 25% of your revenue. Net income is calculated by taking
Revenue – Expenses = Net Proceeds to Be The Match. Use this template to help you plan and set goals.
REVENUE
DESCRIPTION
GOAL
ACTUAL
Example or Notes
(Ex: 100 participants @ $25 = $2500)
Participant Registration
(Ex: 10 participants @ $100 = $1000)
Participant Fundraising
(Ex: 1 @ $1000 + 2 @ $500 + 2 @250 = $2500)
Sponsorship
(Ex: silent auction, raffle, food sales, etc)
Other Income
Other Income
Other Income
TOTAL REVENUE
EXPENSES
DESCRIPTION
GOAL
ACTUAL
Example or Notes
Table, Chairs, Tents
Food
Printing
Sound Equipment
Awards and Prizes
T-shirts
(Ex: supplies, permits, entertainment, decorations, media)
Other
Other
Other
TOTAL EXPENSES
TOTAL REVENUE
Be The Match ● Walk+Run To Go Guidebook
(Expenses should not exceed 25% of net revenue.)
– TOTAL EXPENSES
= GOAL
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Day of Event Checklist
A sample list of items that may be needed at your Walk+Run To Go event.
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Schedule of events
Volunteer roster
Volunteer name tags
Multiple printed participant lists
Blank registration forms
Lots of pens
Lots of markers
T-shirts
Runner numbers
Safety pins
Money bags/boxes
Calculators
Tape- duct, masking, scotch
Rubber bands
Paper clips
Legal note pads for notes
Envelopes to collect team money
Staplers
Plastic tablecloths
Cups (water stops)
Napkins
Garbage bags
Bull horn to start race
Stop watches for those timing race
Cones/Barricades
First aid kits
Prizes/medals
Signs
o Parking and No Parking
o Registration/Check-in
o Start
o Mile markers
o Course directional signs
o Sponsor signs
o Volunteers
o Finish
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Team Recruitment – The Key to Success
Imagine having a great band at your event, the best refreshments for your participants, great looking tshirts, a beautiful route … and only a few people show up. Not only have you just thrown a great party
that no one attended, but you have just lost an opportunity to raise funds to be someone’s cure.
To ensure this does not happen at your event, this section will have some details for you. All successful
events have one thing in common: teams! Simply put, teams consist of people getting together to
represent their place of employment, neighborhood, church, family, or community organizations.
These teams are lead by an extremely important person- the team captain. This individual is responsible
for actively recruiting people to be on his/her team and encouraging them to raise funds. An
enthusiastic and dedicated team captain is vital.
Before your committee begins team recruitment, they should understand the time frame they work in,
from making the initial contact and up until the event. Special events are “played just in time,” which
means you don’t want to start too early, but you definitely don’t want to start too late.
We recommend a deadline for reaching your goals of teams be set approximately three to four weeks
before the event to help you estimate participant numbers and effectively order event t-shirts.
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Recruiting and Educating Team Captains
Team captains are critical to the success of your Walk+Run To Go event. They are your link to all the
participants who will be doing the fundraising for the event.
Before starting to recruit team captains, know what you’re looking for in a team captain. Here are some
of those qualities.
 Someone who believes in Be The Match and its mission.
 Someone touched by a blood cancer or disease.
 Someone who is enthusiastic and dedicated.
 Someone who is respected or connected in their company.
 Someone who is willing to raise funds and who understands its importance.
Once you understand the type of person you need to lead a team, you must understand the team
captain’s responsibilities. When recruiting a team captain, be certain they understand what their job is:
1. Actively recruit people to be on their team (not just post information and wait for people to sign
up).
2. Stay in communication with their teammates to offer encouragement, answer questions, and
encourage them to raise funds.
3. Display posters and registration information throughout their workplace.
4. Seek matching funds and/or sponsorship dollars from their employers and places they frequent.
5. Be motivating and enthusiastic.
Recruiting team captains is a game of networking. Personal contact is a must and face to face is best.
The typical process involves getting committee members together and compiling a list of places to go to
recruit teams. The next step is to go through each of those places individually and divide them up
among committee members who have contacts or relationships already established with people at
those places.
When making initial contact, committee members need to know what they are asking for. The
committee member is looking for someone who has an interest in curing blood cancers and getting
involved with a fun walk+run event.
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Team Recruitment and Development
Tips to Success
 All committee members should work on team recruitment. Since all people have different
contacts, and because team recruitment is the most important aspect of the event, everyone’s
assistance is pivotal.
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Put a strong emphasis on recruiting teams from the larger employers in your community.
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Walk+Run To Go should be a family event. Encourage people on company teams to include
their families as part of their team. This will increase the amount of participants you have, thus
more people raising funds.
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When recruiting teams, you should not go top down! You are not looking for approval; you are
looking for someone who has an interest and would make a good team captain. Obviously, if an
executive is interested, that can be an added benefit.
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Don’t let one person say “no” for everyone else at a company. Try someone else within the
company who will say “yes.” Blood cancer and diseases touch many people and someone will
want to be the cure!
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Committee members should stay in communication with team captains, from the initial contact
until the event is held.
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Set a committee goal for teams and participants. Example: we want to have 30 teams and 200
participants.
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Establish a team registration deadline three to four weeks before your event. This will give you
firm registration numbers to expect and will allow you to communicate about fundraising to all
participants before the event.
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Sponsorship
A prime way to generate money for your Walk+Run To Go event is to secure sponsorships. A
community event will do better with community sponsors. Think about locally owned businesses that
care about your community. Businesses that have connections to health care or blood cancer can make
a connection with Be The Match. Businesses that are mid-size are often not asked as much as large
corporations and usually have less restrictions in the decision making process. Ask businesses for
sponsorship and employee teams to fully engage the company with your event.
Be The Match recommends community event sponsorship levels of $250-$5,000 to allow for a fit to
most company budgets. Concentrating on getting multiple $500 and $1,000 sponsors may be easier
than getting one $5,000. More sponsors at lower levels also increases the number of companies
involved with your event, so remember to ask for teams with every sponsor to grow your event quickly.
Note: if someone on the committee has a relationship with a larger company that can contribute at
$5,000 start with asking at that level. It would be great to have a presenting sponsor!
1. Sponsorships do not typically come from a company’s contributions budget, but rather from the
marketing or public relations budget.
2. View sponsorship as a relationship between the company and Be The Match, not only as a
donation from the company to Be The Match. The relationship needs to be mutually beneficial.
Event Sponsorship
The following is a sample list of sponsorship opportunities with possible benefits for a company.
Presenting
Sponsor
$5,000
Logo on Start and
Finish banner
Logo at Marrow
Drive Tent
Free Registration
codes
Logo/Name on
Event Signage
Logo/Name on
Participant T-shirt
Logo/Name on
Event Website
Marrow
Sponsor
$2,500
Gold Level
Sponsor
$1,000
Silver Level
Sponsor
$500
Community
Sponsor
$250
x
x
20 free
registrations
10 free
registrations
5 free
registrations
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
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Name
Name
Name
Name
Name
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Sponsorship
Getting in the Door to Make an Ask
1. First of all, your committee must brainstorm and think of contacts they may have. Ideally, you
will want to have some high profile people on your committee who have contacts in decisionmaking positions within a company. The committee should work together to decide who is the
best person to make the contact and how.
2. Another effective strategy is to have a personal friend, customer, or supplier make the contact
to a potential sponsor. These individuals can serve as a door opener to that company or an
individual within the company. Most business people will listen to people with whom they do
business. It is very important that the person making the contact is well informed about the
sponsorship ask, is confident and enthusiastic. They need to promote the event as a great
opportunity for the company to become involved.
3. Before calling or meeting, find out all you can about the company, what it does, how it
advertises, number of employees, who are the executives, what they are currently involved in,
etc. Use the internet to assist with this information search.
4. When you get the appointment, explain the event, its purpose and how important their
involvement is, and how the business can become involved. At the meeting, the information
should be presented in a clear, concise, and enthusiastic manner. Once you have finished your
presentation, ask if they have any questions.
5. When asking for sponsorship or in-kind donations from local companies and businesses, the
request should always be done face to face! If you do not get an answer during your meeting,
remember to set a date for you to follow up with a personal call.
Be confident and enthusiastic; believe in the opportunity you are presenting. You represent an
incredible cause and organization.
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Resources From Be The Match
Below is a list of tools, templates and other resources created by Be The Match to be utilized during the
event planning process and at the event.
Brand Standards
 Be The Match logo request instructions
 Be The Match Walk+Run To Go Style Guidelines
Collateral Resources
 Guidebook
 Fundraising Ideas
 Team Captain Guide
 Sponsorship Packet
 Contribution Form
 Walk-up Registration Form
Marketing Resources
 Flyer Template 8.5” x11”
 Poster Template 11” x 17”
 Large Sign Template 24” x 36”
 Postcard Template 4” x 6”
 Start and Finish Banners
 Race Number Bibs
 Be The Match t-shirts
 Registration website
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Materials Provided to Brand Your Event
Be The Match will supply a few basic materials to help brand your event.
Event Website
Your website can be customized for your event by filling out a worksheet. You pick the registration fee
and there can be different prices for different age groups. You can highlight local stories on your
webpage and list sponsors. Share all the event day details and have volunteer and sponsor information
and sign up. The website takes event registration, including t-shirt sizes, and processes all money to
Be The Match and distributes timely thank you acknowledgements for contributions.
Each participant gets their own participant page to fundraise additionally for Be The Match. A
participant can customize their page with a photo and their story, then create a custom url and send out
emails to ask for support. All dollars raised on the website go directly to your event. The website can be
updated as needed throughout your event timeline. For examples of the webpage you can customize
look at: www.michiganmarrowwalk.com and www.BeTheMatchFoundation.org/MrsNMMarrowthon
Start and Finish Banners
One start and one finish banner can be made for your event. These banners are vinyl with grommets all
around for easy hanging and work for inside or outside venues. The banners measure 24” x 48” and can
be co-branded with sponsor logos or your event name.
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White T-Shirts for Participants
The first 200 t-shirts are free to your event. The shirts can be customized on the back with event and
sponsor information free of charge. If your event needs more than 200 t-shirts, the additional shirts,
above and beyond the first 200, will be charged to your event at $4 per shirt. You will need to order
shirts from Be The Match three to four weeks before your event.
Number Bibs
Number bibs keep track of your runners and are a good memento for participants. Be The Match can
supply as many bibs as you need for your event. Non-competitive walks or fun runs usually do not need
number bibs as they are meant to help event organizers know who are the quickest runners and cross
the finish line first.
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About Be The Match
Below is what Be The Match is accomplishing nationwide.
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