Fundraiser in the Spotlight – Boonah LCC are up to the Chappy Challenge

‘Schedule it and they will come’ is just one of many lessons Tony, and Boonah LCC’s Chappy Challenge organisational team, has learnt in the 7 years of growth that they have experienced with the Chappy Challenge event.

Boonah LCC’s Chappy Challenge is a fun run and cycle fundraiser developed by the committee many years ago, and has become their main fundraising event each year.

“It’s a combination of events. We’ve got cycles ranging from 5 kilometres right through to 95 kilometres. We’ve got runs of 5 kms and 10 kms. They start from 6am in the morning and the program finishes about 10:30/11am,” says Chappy Challenge event organiser, Tony Ickiewicz.

Tony says that while the event had been running prior to 2011, they’d never settled on a fixed date to host it, and as such the numbers fluctuated from year to year.

With the view to grow the event going forward, the organisers settled on a regular date so participants could mark it in their calendars ahead of time.

“They decided that it would always be on the first Saturday in March, and it’s been that since 2011,” Tony explains.

The move (or lack thereof) has seen the event steadily grow from year to year.

“It was pretty steady at a particular level for a while. The first few years I was involved, it rained so that didn’t help… But people still came along and got involved… In the last couple years, it certainly has grown and it’s growing steadily. And this year was our best year so far.”

A number of other components were responsible for this healthy growth in numbers this year, including promoting the event on Facebook, organising a strong group of local volunteers, and setting a very clear direction for the type of event they wanted to run.

“We’re trying to keep it very family friendly and local friendly so that we don’t lose our base here. We’re trying to draw people in from other places, but we’re trying to hold on to the folk here. And that’s working really well too.”

“One of the big things that we changed this year was that we are using Facebook a lot more. We had a volunteer come on board as the event manager. He and his wife got onto it and they did a brilliant job getting it out there… We increased our number [of participants] this year to over a hundred as a result [of Facebook] so it’s really continuing to grow.”

But their promotions don’t stop with Facebook. More traditional forms of promotion are definitely still a great way to broadcast your event details.

“We advertise through the local radio. We have a banner that goes up outside the school about a month before the event so that everyone knows Chappy Challenge is coming up. The local newspaper’s been good… giving us spreads in the paper previously, with photos of everything that went on during the day. It’s just been fabulous.”

TIPS

  • Set a fixed date for annual events so loyal participants and attendees can plan in advance.
    • It doesn’t have to be the same date each year because the dates change but maintaining the same weekend every year, for example, would be perfect.
    • Not only does this allow attendees to plan, but it also means you can secure venues, services, etc. a year or years in advance.
  • If you have the resources, use a wide range of mediums to promote your event and don’t limit yourself to any particular ones
    • Social media and digital promotional tools are great, but traditional forms work well too
    • Billboards, radio advertising, and flyers are all useful methods of promotion
  • Utilise digital advertising and promotional tools
    • Facebook is an obvious choice due to capabilities and something which has been highlighted previously, however that’s because it is very effective when produced well.
  • Make the most of the volunteers in your local churches
    • Often LCC’s and school chaplains will have fantastic relationships with local churches, which can help recruit volunteers
    • Treat your volunteers well, communicate with them, and thank them often, and show them how their time and effort is contributing to the cause.