Host A Fun And Successful Move-a-Thon Fundraiser

Organizing a fun and engaging move-a-thon fundraiser is a great way to raise funds and build awareness for your school or cause. It’s time to start moving and encourage people to get outside in the fresh air this summer. Read our simple guide on how to host a successful move-a-thon, and check out our free crowdfunding websites to get you started. 

What Is a Move-a-Thon?

A move-a-thon fundraiser is a celebration of movement, giving participants the opportunity to have fun moving by means of walking, running, dancing, rolling, and playing to raise money for a worthy cause.  Similar to a walk-a-thon fundraiser, anyone can organize a successful move-a-thon and people of all ages and abilities can take part. They can be outdoor events with friends, family, coworkers, and classmates or virtual and hybrid campaigns, where individuals complete their chosen movement at their own convenience, wherever they are. Move-a-thon participants commit to raising money for your organization.

How Do You Organize a Move-a-Thon Fundraiser?

Typically, all move-a-thon activities follow similar steps to organize. Here are some simple guidelines to make your fundraiser a hit and stress-free. 

Assemble Your Fundraising Leadership Team

First, establish a move-a-thon planning committee. Successful fundraisers rely on the recruitment and action of a strong leadership team. Don’t try to go it alone—establish a committee early to help with all of the event logistics. 

Determine Move-a-thon Logistics and Financial Goals

This step includes determining the date and time of your fundraising move-a-thon, fundraising budget and goals, move-a-thon location, and such. You’ll need to recruit plenty of volunteers to help on the day of the event as well.

Implement Great Move-A-Thon Software

Peer-to-peer crowdfunding software is a must for organizing successful move-a-thon events. Move-a-thon software must be easy and fun to use and have personal and team fundraising pages with fundraising thermometers, social media share, and personal goals.

This is where DoJiggy comes in! We offer the best, free fundraiser software in the industry. 

Recruit Move-a-thon Participants And Sponsors

Recruit event sponsors and attendees by working within your network of supporters, as well as by outreach and marketing efforts. Social media and traditional marketing and promotion efforts will serve an important purpose in raising awareness and drawing participants and donors for the event.

Manage Move-a-thon Donations and Pledges Online

One of the most important considerations when planning a move-a-thon is how to successfully and securely manage donations and pledges. Our crowdfunding software has you covered again. Paper pledge forms can still be used, but most donors will prefer to pay securely online. Our mobile giving features allow donors to pay on their phones with Google Pay and Apple Pay. 

Create a free account and see how we can help your organization smash your fundraising goals!

Start Fundraising

Add a Fun Theme to Your Move-a-Thon

Why not add a theme to your move-a-thon fundraising event to get everyone having even more fun whilst completing their activity? Move-a-thon themes often center around the holiday or season of the fundraiser – such as Turkey Trots and Halloween Costume-a-thons. If you have a team or school mascot, participants could dress up as it, and the best dressed could win a small prize at the end of the fundraiser. Movie stars, music artists, or themed era parties are all fun ways to engage and bring in more participants, so what are you waiting for? Adding a move-a-thon theme will encourage your participants to get involved and fundraise.

Move-a-Thon Fundraising Ideas and Alternatives

Move-a-thons can be broken down into different Athon campaigns or can be run by just allowing participants to select what they want to do. Check out our top move-a-thon ideas below to help you start fundraising. 

Walk-a-Thons

A fantastic way to raise money for a good cause is by organizing a walk-a-thon fundraiser. Walk-a-thons include people of all ages, shapes, and sizes and gets them moving at their pace, which is why it is always a popular fundraising event. Follow our guide to help you put together a successful walk-a-thon fundraiser.

If it’s not possible for you to partake in an outdoor walk-a-thon, we have some great tips on organizing a virtual walk-a-thon. 

Bike-a-Thons And Spin-a-Thons

Whether you have an exercise bike at home or you prefer to get out and cycle in the fresh air, why not organize a charity bike-a-thon or a spin-a-thon to get those stiff lockdown joints moving again? You can even add a twist to the usual bike-a-thon and visit famous landmarks along the route and post pictures on social media to show your supporters. 

Dance-a-Thons

Get into the party spirit by hosting a dance-a-thon and get your boogie on! Line-dance-a-thons and Flash mobs fundraisers are just a couple of ideas.  Whether it be individually, or as part of a team, with schools, businesses, or clubs online anyone can join in the fun and raise money for your cause. Take a look at our dance-a-thon ideas to learn more about them. 

Swim-a-Thons

Dive into summer by hosting a swim-a-thon and raise money for deserving causes. You can either participate as a team or individually. It’s a challenge that’s open to everyone, regardless of age and ability. So, if you can swim, you can take part! 

Hike-a-Thons

Assemble a team this summer and challenge them to a hike-a-thon in the beautiful countryside or natural setting near you. Similar to a walk-a-thon but with more challenging terrain, this could be a great opportunity for those looking for a little adventure and wanting to raise money for a worthy charity. 

Jog-a-Thons

Something in between a walk-a-thon and a fun run, a jog-a-thon encourages people of all abilities to take part in raising money and awareness for charity. School jog-a-thons are great fall events!

Roller Blading, Skating, and Skateboarding Fundraisers

How about a skating move-a-thon? Whether you like rollerblading, ice-skating or skateboarding, get your knee pads and helmet on and start moving to raise money for a good cause. You could add a fun theme to the skate-a-thon, maybe 80’s popstars, and skate as many laps as you can for a chosen amount of time. Sell custom-printed merchandise, like t-shirts and caps to maximize the success of your campaigns.

Virtual Move-a-Thons

Any of the move-a-thon ideas above can also be enjoyed virtually. Simply encourage move-a-thon participants to decide on a fundraising activity, do it at their own pace, in their own time, and get family and friends involved. Participants record their movement and send in videos or upload images to the fundraising campaign so everyone can share their team efforts. 

Hybrid Move-a-Thons

A hybrid move-a-thon is an event that is hosted both in person and virtually. As we are all starting to relax Covid restrictions and taking advantage of the digital age we live in, hybrid fundraisers are a great way to combine the two. Hybrid move-a-thons are not only a present solution to the pandemic, they are here to stay. They are less expensive to organize and their reach can far exceed that of an in-person event, as participants can attend from anywhere. Hybrid move-a-thons can be attended in person or live-streamed at home, where people follow along at their own pace. 

P2P Crowdfunding

Auctions

Golf Tournaments

Online Stores

Ticketing

Sweepstakes

Donations

Raffle Fundraising