How to Participate in an Autism Fundraising Walk

There are fundraising walks to raise support and awareness of autism throughout the country. These walks benefit sufferers of autism, but a surprising side benefit is that they also lift the confidence and spirits of family members of autistic people, allowing those family members to contribute toward a cure. Read on to learn more about how to participate in an autism fundraising walk.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Contact info for a local walk
• Willingness to raise funds
• Ability to walk a 5k at a non-competitive pace

Contact the Walk Organizers

1. Take the first step in your decision to participate in an autism fundraising walk by choosing your local Autism Speaks awareness walk (see Resources below).
2. Register to participate as an individual, team or group. Consider asking friends to walk with you. The more friends you get to participate with you, the more involved they will be in your cause.
3. Gain an understanding of how to best raise funds by reading the Autism Speaks fundraising tips on the site's "Walkers' Tools" tab.

Find Funds

4. Talk to coworkers, family members and friends about the event. Tell them you are doing this to raise funds for a cure for autism. People who know your autistic family member may be the most likely to make a donation.
5. Offer pictures of your family to help people gain a stronger connection to your cause.
6. Give people donation choices to help them donate. Many people have no idea how to donate to a fundraising walk. Since you will be walking 5 km, you can suggest everything from $5 to $100 per kilometer (or more).
7. Tell a local business you will wear a cap with the company's logo on it, and have a picture taken of you wearing the hat at the walk. Do this if the company will make a sizeable donation. Many local businesses are eager to be associated with charities.

Tips & Warnings

• The fundraising walk is an ideal place to learn about autism support resources. After all, it's a large group of people dealing with the same issues. If you have questions about anything dealing with autism, take a piece of paper and a pen with you to the walk. Once there, get answers from the people you are walking near, as well as at the resource booths that are set up at the finish line.