How to Organize a Color Run Fundraiser to Wow Your Supporters

Are you looking to organize an unforgettable fundraising event for your organization? Look no further than a Color Run fundraiser! Color Runs are a fun choice for nonprofit and school fundraising events alike. Our donor-friendly Color Run fundraising websites with peer-to-peer functionality can help make your event a huge success. So get ready to have a blast and make more money than ever with an exciting and creative color run.

A Color Run is a non-competitive Fun Run where participants and observers throw brightly colored paint powder on the runners. All participants should wear white to make the most of the colorful splashes. Supporters will enjoy this event simply because it’s about having fun and sharing the love.

Kids love color-run fundraisers, and by using paint or powder that is non-toxic, everyone can participate. School fundraising campaigns and PTO fundraising groups especially have great success with Color Run fundraisers because of how universally enjoyable the events are for students from elementary to high school.

As a fundraiser, a color run is planned just like a walkathon fundraiser in which crowdfunding participants and teams collect donations to raise money for your campaign and cause. Top fundraisers are rewarded and everyone joins in the fun.

The After Party and Celebration is a Color Run must! Our fundraising ideas below for the after-party add more ways for you to raise funds.

Let’s review the seven key steps to hosting this colorful fundraising event for your nonprofit or school.

1. Establish a Color Run Planning Committee

While Color Fun Runs can be quite worthwhile to plan, they are a complex fundraiser. Don’t try to go it alone – you’ll need a strong committee of dedicated staff and volunteers to make the event run smoothly and reach fundraising goals. Find committee members with dedication, experience, and time to commit to get your color run off on the right foot.

2. Select the Perfect Color Run Venue

The first step for the Color Run committee is finding the ideal space to host a color run fundraiser. Ideally, a closed space, such as a school football field or track, or a large parking lot would be a great option. Allow for ample room for spectators to cheer on the runners. The venue should also have a dedicated area for warming up with dancing or yoga. Then there is the after-party, where you can provide music, drinks, and food. The after-party is a huge part of a color run fundraiser, as everyone is having so much fun and wants to take pictures and show off their colors. This provides a venue for further fundraising and promoting your cause.

3. Manage Event Logistics and Financials

When organizing a color run, your school or charity is trying to raise as much money as possible. This doesn’t just happen – you need a financial plan to be successful. Use a fundraising budget template and know your numbers throughout the event planning process.

Some logistical items to keep in mind when budgeting include:

• The Color Powder: Participants are given a packet of color powder to have fun as they please. You can also make these available to parents and spectators for a fee to create a fun atmosphere and raise additional funds.
• Water and Snacks for the Racers: Be sure to hydrate your event participants. Energy bars, apples, and healthy snacks are also great to provide after the event.
• Participant Race Bibs: Printing of bibs and items needed to attach the bibs. These are not usually necessary for school fundraisers.
• Runner Accessories: These include t-shirts and headbands, but they can be optional if the budget does not allow for these additional costs. Simply let your walkathon participants know they only need a white t-shirt.
• Winner’s Medals or Certificates: While this run is not competitive, and participants are welcome to walk for a cause at their own pace or race to the finish line, a great souvenir for the first-place runners can be a medal of recognition.
• Prizes for Top Fundraisers: A great way to excite participants is by offering coveted prizes for your run.
• Rentals: These could include speakers, podiums, tables, carnival games, and more.

4. Utilize Color Run Software for Registrations and Donations

It is vital to make it easy for participants to register and raise money for the color run fundraiser. An essential tool for ensuring the registration process is seamless is a trustworthy peer-to-peer fundraising platform. Our software provides easy registration and even participant import options, which many elementary school fundraising groups like to use. You can also collect t-shirt sizes or other information during the registration process.

A crowdfunding website is essential to securely raise money with a color run fundraiser. Crowdfunding websites make it easy for your participants to customize and share their personal pages to get donations for your school or charitable cause. Participants send emails or social media links to their friends and family, who securely donate on their page.

DoJiggy is the Leader in Walk-a-thon and Color Run Fundraising Websites

Get FREE Color Run Software

Use our Color Run websites for free with optional tips from your donors to cover the platform fees. Some key features of our Color Fun Run platform include:

• Simplified registration for Check-In and race bib assignment. Checking in participants is a breeze with our platform.
• Leaderboards, fundraising thermometers, and gamification elements help to motivate your fundraising participants.
• Prize management functionality. Track multiple award levels and print reports to easily distribute prizes. When participants reach a certain fundraising level, they get a prize widget on their personal crowdfunding page.
• Team and individual registration. All participants can easily create or join teams. Team fundraising (usually classrooms for schools) can boost your fundraising success! Find out how to handle different registration types to maximize your funds.

5. Give a Boost to Fundraising Efforts

Add additional fundraising ideas that serve as an opportunity to generate extra funds. These ideas can be incorporated before the event, at the after-party, or online. Here are some fundraising tips to consider for earning extra revenue.

• Sell Color Run Merchandise: Consider selling themed costume accessories such as glow sticks, unicorn headbands, t-shirts, sunglasses, and even tutus. Merchandise sales can even be made online with your eCommerce store.
• Host a Fundraising Raffle: Acquire local sponsors to donate prizes and sell raffle tickets to your supporters.
• Sell Food and Drinks: You can choose the option of having food trucks on-site (who donate a percentage of sales), or you can solicit in-kind donations of food and drinks and sell them for additional funds. Another of the best party fundraising ideas is to host a tailgate/BBQ party after the run. Will this be feasible based on the number of hungry runners participating?
• Sell Tickets to the After-Party: School fundraisers can include bouncy houses and carnival-like games at the after-party. Change a fee for those who did not fundraise.

6. Focus on Event Sponsorships

Sponsors are a pivotal factor in making an ordinary walk for a cause event into an extraordinary one. One of the ways to boost your walkathon fundraising is to offer sponsorship packages that local businesses can consider to gain exposure and build brand reputation by supporting your charity or school. A significant source of color-run funds often comes from event sponsors. Here are some incentives to offer when building your sponsorship package:

• Brand Exposure: An initial level of brand exposure can include sponsor logos on marketing collateral, social media posts, and banners. A mid-level tier incentive can add the opportunity for sponsors to hang their banners at the event. A higher level of brand exposure can include the opportunity to exclusively brand their logo on widely distributed merchandise, like headbands or t-shirts. Also, special mentions or a brief speaking slot during announcements are other great perks for high-level sponsors.
• Hosting Tables: Within the after-party area, another sponsorship perk can include hosting a table for sponsors to interact with participants and potential customers/clients. This is especially a great benefit for parallel industries to events related to health and wellness.
• In-Kind Donations: While monetary donations are fantastic, in-kind donations can significantly minimize event costs. These can include bottled water, printing services for race bibs, donated food or beverages, t-shirts, or other items to run a color run successfully. If you’re hosting a raffle or silent auction, attractive prizes are key.

7. Promote the Color Run Fundraiser 

Promoting your event is the first and last most important step in organizing a successful color run. Here are some helpful tips:

• Collaborate: Reach out to other organizations to combine efforts and work on the event together, especially if the organizations share similar audiences without overlapping services.
• Social Media: Social media is a powerful method of promoting your color run, especially as people like to share fun events. Plan out the social media calendar to keep the momentum of your crowdfunding event going. Posts can include promoting a color run sponsor each week, statistics relevant to your cause, campaign goals and achievements, supporter or volunteer of the week for recognition, and more.
• Flyers: Get a group of volunteers and hit the streets to post flyers at local businesses and community centers, including coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and more.
• Local Media: Color run fundraisers are unique events that can provide a great topic for local media. Contact local TV and radio stations to inquire about PSAs and coverage of your event.

Start Fundraising Now

Organizing and planning a color run fundraiser from start to finish is seamless when powered by our software for crowdfunding events.

Walkathons and runs with a theme make the event fun and memorable for participants. Many people have participated in Color Runs as participants, spectators, or supporters. Since thousands of people worldwide are signing up to participate in color-run fundraisers, imagine how successful your organization could be with so many advocates to raise money for your cause. Holding such a popular event is a way to brand your organization by putting it in the limelight and attracting more donors.