Fundraising Efforts Hit The Ground Running And Biking.

Runners who train frequently sometimes suffer from what is known as "runner's guilt" if they don't maintain their training schedule. If the efforts of some health organizations progress forward, maybe some of these same runners will work hard to keep from "fundraiser's guilt."

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the Arthritis Foundation are finding strong revenue streams through training athletes to run marathons, with coaches often volunteering their time. While the organizations cover the transport, housing, and race registration fees, the athletes can raise four times those costs.

The granddaddy of all charity marathon training programs is at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), headquartered in White Plains, N.Y. Greg Elfers, who heads LLS's Team In Training out of Cincinnati, said the program started with a few dozen friends running the New York City marathon together during the mid-1980s to benefit the organization.

It was after LLS realized the benefits of training other runners and traveling to different marathons that the program began to expand. "Those were the two elements that took it from a 'mom and pop' event (to LLS's single largest fundraising program)."

LLS now has 800 elite-level coaches training approximately 35,000 runners around the country for races all over the world. The program became so large that it instituted a mentor program, wherein past participants help the novices.

The organization would not cite annual fundraising levels, considering it proprietary information, though it acknowledged it was the single largest fundraiser in a system that raised more than $107 million in fiscal 1999. Since Team In Training's inception, it has raised more than $300 million. "It's one of the few that all the chapters in the country do," Elfers said.

LLS now has five different sport opportunities in addition to marathon running, which attracts the most participants. Walking a marathon is another large program. For six years LLS has also had a century bike training program, in which bikers cycle 100 miles. There's also a mountain bike component and a triathlon. The smallest program is inline skating, which has one event.

Elfers said the national provides the umbrella for the chapter-based programs. "They select the marathons, they're responsible for the training," he said. "We provide support of the materials (and at) the marathons.... It is conducted in the chapters and by the chapters. They're pretty much responsible from beginning to end."

Rick Geswell, LLS's senior vice president for revenue development, said the national regards the participants as volunteers, and it is not uncommon for participants to become active in other elements of the organization, even joining boards. "They join on for the cause," he said. "We have a high degree of organizational loyalty."

Elfers said LLS's goal is to keep the amount of money going to the organization at 75 percent. "The chapters determine the price for the marathon," he said. "(They) determine all the costs from beginning to end and multiply that by four."

So, if it cost $500 to get a marathoner from New Jersey to Chicago, with the training, race registration, hotel, airfare, and the running uniform included, that person would need to raise at least $2,000.

For LIS, its long-term experience helps it control costs. Geswell said it primarily used direct mail to recruit in the beginning, focusing on running or health magazine lists. "(Now) 70 percent is word of mouth."

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) piloted its Team Diabetes in 1998 before rolling it out nationally in 1999. Mike Van Abel, regional executive vice president for ADA's Mountain Pacific region, runs the national program from Denver.

"In our current fiscal year, which ends June 30, we are expecting to raise about $10.7 million in gross income," said Van Abel, who added that ADA has approximately 2,300 participants. "That's about a 50 percent increase over last year."

Van Abel said that some marathons are placing limitations on the number of participants from particular groups. He said some races may start to place a surcharge on charities as well as limit participation. "This is becoming more of an issue in some marathons as more charities are getting involved," he said.

Van Abel's knowledge of Team Diabetes came not only as a manager but also as a participant, having run the Dublin marathon. He knows from first-hand experience that raising $4,000 in four or five months can be at least as challenging as training to run 26.2 miles. After the first $1,000, he said, the balance was a big challenge. Runners often give the organization a credit card to donate the balance if they're short on the fundraising goal; they have some time after the run to finalize collections.

ADA has recruited more coaches and trains them to work with novice runners. And, better training can mean fewer injuries. "We'll certify them as a Team Diabetes coach," Van Abel said. "This year we've really come of age. ... Coaches are seeing us as serious about this endeavor."

The health organization also uses resources already at its disposal, particularly its nutritionists and dieticians. While the in-house information can keep costs down, they still run toward 40 to 42 percent of what the athletes raise, according to Van Abel. "We're still learning our lessons there, to be honest," he said, noting that predicting how many runners will meet their fundraising can be difficult. "Frankly, we're still young enough in this campaign that we have not optimized our resources."

Mike Gault, group vice president of campaign development at the Arthritis Foundation's (AF) national office in Atlanta, said the organization has been able to drop its cost-to-raise ratio a bit each of the four years of Joints In Motion." Our goal is to get the cost-to-raise ratio to about 30 percent," Gault said. "It's not going to happen this year, but it's going to happen."

The organization hopes to raise more than $15 million this year through the program. He said surveys have found the runners tend to consider the fundraising component the bigger challenge. "It's easier when you're asking people to pledge $20-$25 when you know you only need $100," he said. "When you have to raise $4,000 or $4,500, you have to go much deeper down the Christmas card list."

The program pays dividends to the organization outside of the event, Gault emphasized. "This has been a very good program for generating board development and annual giving," he said. "We're finding the people get wonderfully dedicated when they're with you for 18 to 22 weeks (training)."

Maura Krah, vice president of campaign development at AF's Los Angeles-based Southern California chapter, said it raised $1.4 million through Joints In Motion last year, and it is targeting $2 million this year. The organization was recruiting for the fall Dublin marathon, and she expects 400 participants by the end of April. It is also piloting a new bike race program for the fall.

Krah said the chapter tries to keep expenses between 30 and 40 percent of the amount the runners raise. "The international marathons are more like 40."

Krah said there's probably an even split between whether runners consider the training or fundraising more difficult. "We would say the fundraising is the make-or-break component," she said. "We'll tailor the training to their fitness level. There's no way to tailor the fundraising."

The fundraising, "was the best and worst experience of my life," said Regina Turney, a Los Angeles-based runner who ran the Dublin marathon with AF's Joints in Motion team last fall. "Like the running, it was a goal that I set out to achieve. I tried to contact as many people as I could. ... Some people I didn't really know were extremely generous, some close friends and family were not."

Alternative methods

An athletic fundraising program doesn't need trainers to be successful, of course. The Jimmy Fund in Boston is the sole beneficiary of the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, a separate 501(c)(3) that runs a two-day bike event. The Jimmy Fund helps train new riders to fundraise, said Suzanne Fountain, the organization's director.

Fountain said the athletic events can be a great vehicle for putting the organization's name in front of people. Two sisters who run for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (related to the Jimmy Fund) in the Boston marathon, for example, are also musicians in the Boston Symphony and use performances to raise money. "We tend to get people committed to our mission," Fountain said. "The passion drives the fundraising."

Joseph King, the chair and CEO of the Grapevine, Texas-based Narragansett Group, used to fundraise for the United States Olympic Committee. He said the training programs and running fundraisers have broad impact -- helping not only the charities but runners and donors as well." It has more benefits than (just) fundraising. You're talking about healthy people," he said. "And the donor wins. Their money is in action."

King predicted that using runs and other athletic fundraisers -- with training or without -- could replace the selling of candy bars for organizations. With a growing number of Americans being defined as obese, health organizations and youth organizations will see the value of such fundraisers.

Of course, such training and events can also help cultivate philanthropy among the young. Youths training and participating for the runs and bike races are likely to get their relatives, neighbors and friends involved, even if it's just to cheer them on or make a donation. "I think it's a great way for kids to learn philanthropy and the art of giving," King said. "People like to join a team. That's what it becomes."