While we do lots of virtual races and challenges for companies promoting employee fitness or bigger charities seeking donations and publicity, our favorite customers are small fundraisers for very important, very local causes.
Racery tranforms what would normally just a request for a check into a more meaningful event that helps rally a community.
A recent example is the Kilometers for Caleb, which raised $3,556 with 60 participants for the family of a child with leukemia. 76 people made contributions. (Good news: Caleb is in remission!)
“Once I found you guys it took me 30-45 minutes to get things set up. You guys really made it easy!!” wrote Paul Yerkes, the race organizer, in an email interview.
“Our company was deeply saddened by [Caleb’s leukemia] and I knew everyone wanted to do something,” wrote Yerkes. “While Go Fund Me is great to raise cash I wanted people to feel tied to the cause through a race. A local 5k or half marathon appeared to be difficult to set up due to permits and safety concerns. In addition, with our crazy schedules, it was difficult to schedule a race on a specific day that everyone could attend.”
The virtual race route was a half marathon in Wilmington, PA. Some ambitious racers looped the course multiple times.
Participants in the virtual race got:
- digital bibs and finish placards to share on social media
- an online hub that displayed the race route and participants’ avatars
- leaderboards for miles and dollars raised
- a real-time stream of activities and donations
- unique links to could use to raise additional funds from friends, colleagues and family
After doing a test race, Yerkes selected Racery because it offered one platform uniting both competition and fundraising. “I wanted something that was all encompassing; donations and the race all in one (which is what you guys provide).”
Because Yerkes used Racery’s standard DIY model, there was no upfront fee to set up the race. As in all races, Racery charged zero on donations, covering customer support, servers programming costs with a per racer entry fee.
If you’d like to create your own virtual challenge to raise money for a child or pet or colleague’s medical expenses, we’d suggest a free test virtual fundraising challenge first to make sure Racery is right for your needs! Or we’d be happy to talk with you either through the chat function (bottom right) or this form.
