Question about “charity” races...🤔

[mountaindreamer]

I’m just wondering what other people’s experiences of charity races are, and whether we’re just expecting too much or not.

We did a small local 10k at Hoylake in September, apparently run by volunteers, where we envisaged most of the entry fees (minus medal costs) would go to the local charity organising it.

We’d planned to next run the “Alder Hey 10k” in October, as it had been recommended to us as a good course and a fun event by a friend from Parkrun. It doesn’t seem unusual for prices to increase nearer the date, so the original £17 fee was now £22, with a further price hike due next week. No surprises there. (Though a bit surprising to find a different website charging higher prices already.) The extra compulsory £1 each to post you your details seemed fair, though we were a bit unsure who the approx £4 additional “processing fee” was for. What we did find surprising, however, was that out of approx £50 for the 2 of us to enter, only £2 of that was stated as going to the Alder Hey charity!

Do these events really cost so much to put on that charities are only left with such low amounts from the entry fees? Or, as my husband suspects - especially after we’d finished reading tonnes of waivers, including the fact that if the race is cancelled no refunds are due - is someone other than any charity making money out of them?

At the moment we’ve decided not to bother entering, as so little money seems set to really reach the named charity...

[pinkaardvark Graduate10]

They all vary. Some are specifically setup to raise money solely for one thing and to that end all of the profits go to that end, whether it is a school or a local scout troop or a cancer hospice or so on. It's good to cast a critical eye over these things as charities can and are set up as a means to elicit monies for not the most ethical ends.

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to pinkaardvark]

Thanks for your reply Pink - I think we’ll be looking through the small print carefully before selecting races to run in that specifically state they are for charities. I guess we naively thought that a big charity name on the event meant most proceeds would go to that charity.

[Hidden]

I’m a newbie to the world of races but I do find the entrance fees very expensive. Even when the marshals are volunteers and some of the proceeds go to a charity, I have heard they are big business and make a lot of money, Notwithstanding the organising expenses. Like you, I will choose my next race with care. E.g. the 8km race that I did was run by a local running club and I don’t mind my cash going to them. However, looking at the fine print on my 10km race, the profits seem to be going to a sports company 😳

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I’ve just been looking through a few different local races, as prices do seem to vary a lot. We’d originally been looking at this particular one with the mindset of “Alder Hey Hospital is a good charity, so even if it’s dear then the money is going to a good cause”. Clearly that’s not the case at all...

I don’t think it will stop us wanting to enter ANY races. I just think we’ll be reading the small print if races claim to be being held for a big charity.

[Maybe58 Graduate10]

I will certainly be looking closer at the small print!

[Madge50 Graduate10]

Hi there, this is a good discussion, you could also include one’s own motivators for wanting to do an event, e.g reaching an ‘official’ milestone, supporting a cause that means something to you, or just being part of and experiencing a major event. All have costs to put on, bigger ones include road closures, involvement of other organisations (councils, police for example), timing companies - if you want official timing, insurance etc.,

Most of the ones we do, support local schools, small charities and local running clubs, there is only one we have found a bit ‘light’ on the charitable support - we were suspicious when the organiser kept saying “my race” , and found out afterwards only 10% of the PROFIT went to the charity, the rest pocketed by the organiser - we’re unlikely to do any more of their events...

Entry fees vary from £5 to £39 (depends on the size of the event) we’ve found it sits around £20-£25 for a good local one and £35-£40 for bigger ‘city/town’ events, those that need road closures - which seem reasonable.....

Some expect additional fund raising but it’s rarely a condition of entering, so you have a choice, except actual ‘charityplaces’ like in the London Marathon

It’s a real personal thing isn’t it, on what ‘charity’ actually means to you and what you would expect to be available at a participation event.

Mx

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to Madge50]

Thanks Madge - I think we were just a bit naive and assumed big named charities were getting most of the proceeds. We’ll read more closely now.

To be honest, I’m looking at other races that just look to be good races now, with no named charity at all. Apart from small local events that do mainly make money for local charities, I’m thinking it’s better to do one off donations to support charities you wish to rather than to enter races associated with them!

[Madge50 Graduate10]

Sorry just to add, the charities (including many of the big ones) don’t always behave well, one race I did, I bought stuff from the charity, donated etc., then they wouldn’t leave me alone, their continuous emails became intrusive, so I had to ‘unsubscribe’, plus, we were getting door knockers with such regularity, I’ve now had to put a notice on our front door telling them not to call.....

Mx

[theoldfellow]

It's very good that you have brought this into the open.

The warning is good. We all have to be so careful with organisations that have 'charity' in their title, but not in their heart.

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Hello MD, since reading your post I have checked on the website for the ‘RNLI ‘ Santa run we are doing in December. It is organised by Believe and Achieve and nowhere does it say how much is going to the RNLI. When signing up you have the opportunity to provide a donation on top of the entry fee and I’m just thinking that may be all they get. Thank you for raising this. I do want to run this as it was watching it last year that kicked me into action, but it does raise a valid question on charity races. 🎅🏻🏃‍♂️🤶🏃‍♀️

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

If it’s a race you want to do then you should still go ahead and do it, Eileen. I’m just not being swayed too much by seeing charity names on races since noticing this - and will check the small print if that’s what’s drawing me to a particular race. Instead of the “Alder Hey” 10k, we are eyeing up a Tatton Park 10k in November for the same price, which looks a nicer route, and makes no pretence of being held for a specific charity...

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to mountaindreamer]

Yes we will still do it and it’s a charity we always donate to anyway. Tatton Park sounds nice. Is Mr MD enjoying this new joint pastime? 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

It’s something we never dreamt my neck would ever do, so he’s pretty chuffed that we can do it together. Easier to fit around my Dad than climbing and mountains for now too...😊❤️

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

I've not done a real life race, just the 'virtual' ones which often involve a stated portion of the fee going to charity but I have the opposite problem - that some of the medals/challenges I fancy put me off because I am not happy with the charity.

To be fair, real events probably often cost a good deal more to put on than us punters realise depending on what they involve, all kinds of fees for permissions, insurance, blah, blah, blah... but yes, worth checking out what it actually means when organisers are using a charity to sell their product (bit like the supermarket I suppose)

Good post!