Cause-related Sporting Events as a Fundraising Tool for Non-Profit Organisations: Physical Activity Running Events

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 2,0, Leeds Metropolitan University, course: Strategic Financial Management for Events, language: English, abstract: This report investigates physical activity running events as a fundraising tool for organisations in the Third Sector. With circa 50% of non-profit organisations relying on income generated from special events, physical activity fundraising events are becoming more and more popular. Staging fun runs is one of the most employed formats of physical activity fundraising events. By collecting information and evidence from academic literature, the aim of this piece of work is to explore the opportunities and challenges posed by physical activity running events for Third Sector organisations. With an in-depth literature review, this empirical work highlights the three main objectives of this fundraising tool: (a) the aim for revenue generation, (b) the key aspect of raising awareness of the non-profit organisation and its cause, and (c) the goal of attracting as well as cultivating financial contributors. The findings imply that running events are not the most cost-efficient fundraising tool and sometimes initially cost more to raise a dollar; however they have many advantages and offer lots of opportunities to Third Sector organisations. Yet, many organisations fail to exploit the full spectrum of potential benefits offered by physical activity running events.