How to Organize a Charity Walk for Asthma

Organizing a charity walk is a great way to sponsor a fundraiser. Asthma is an important cause you can advocate for during Asthma Awareness Month in May or anytime of year. You can successfully organize a charity walk by finding an appropriate venue, providing the necessary resources and advertising your event.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Find a venue for your walk. You'll want to designate a specific course and length for the walk.
2. Ask schools, colleges and community centers about venues first before looking to a street route in urban or suburban areas, because tracks or trails that are already established are safer and require less traffic monitoring. No matter what venue you choose, check with law enforcement officials about any precautions or regulations.
3. Advertise your event with potential sponsors. You can get a lot of sponsor support simply by offering to place sponsor logos on event signs and t-shirts. Even if sponsors don't donate money, they may still be able to provide products or services that you can then use as prizes and giveaways.
4. Promote your walk among potential participants. An asthma walk holds great interest for those working in, or involved with hospitals, pharmacies and other healthcare organizations, community centers and schools. Target individuals diagnosed with asthma and families of people who have asthma.
5. Hold several organizational meetings for both sponsors and participants to obtain any information they need, and have information readily available at any time if people are unable to come to meetings.
6. Decide whether you want participants to pay a flat registration fee or obtain sponsorship by the mile (or fraction of a mile). Both ways have their advantages, but flat registration fees with additional donations accepted is probably the easiest way to encourage participation and accept last-minute participants.
7. Provide asthma awareness information at the event and in your advertising. Provide one fact about asthma on every sign or flyer that you make to advertise the event. On the walk course itself place periodic signs showing both the distance walked and some facts about asthma.
8. Enlist healthcare personnel to provide emergency support and medical care. They can also answer questions about asthma.
9. Host fun events at the end of the walk to incorporate refreshments, asthma awareness and prizes or giveaways. At a minimum, have a participant's packet for participants with a t-shirt and information about asthma. With sponsorship assistance you can also consider having a raffle for prizes and sell tickets to the raffle.