Where does a runner's entry fee go when putting on a race?
There is a question from organizations that want to host a road race. The question is, “Why do you want to put on a road race?” The obvious answer is usually, “To raise some money for our organization's charities.” There is a growing number of runners that look at the organizations use of the funds and wonder “Where is my entry fee going?” This can get complicated and can be misleading when you read the charity that is receiving the funds. Is the money going to a National Organizations such as the Heart Association or a Cancer Fund, or will the money stay local in the community? Another question about funding a charity with a race is, “Will all the money go to the charity?” or, “Will money left over after 'expenses' go to the charity?”
When I started organizing races I had no clue about how to put a race on. And I was just hoping the entry fees would be enough to cover the cost of the tee shirts, awards, and refreshments. The idea of trying to get a sponsor for a race to help finance it was not even considered. I drew a design for the shirt that had a runner and the words something like, “I love to run weekend 10K’s” and measured off a 10K course out at Country Estates that had a starting line about a quarter of a mile down the road. Any money that was made went to getting the Runner’s Club started. I entered the race and at least got my tee shirt for my efforts.
When ARA sponsored the race, we thought that a good charity would be for cancer research. We were told that the cancer organization has to do a background check on our group before we could use them as a beneficiary. We ended up donating the funds to the Kiwanis Club here in San Marcos. The members of the Kiwanis Club volunteered to help at the race and much of the proceeds would go toward their scholarship fund for local students. All the race organizers and volunteers did not receive any funds – other than a tee shirt for cost if we had any left over. Any leftover shirts were donated to the women’s shelter for their use as some women came to them with only the clothes on their back.
Some of the funds after Kiwanis and other non-profit organizations received some money went to financing the race. A finish arch way costs $1,000. I bought some scaffolding for half that amount and used it for the finish for many years – saving $1,000 each year. The Parks and Recreation Department bought a finish clock that we could use. They used the clock for some of their various activities. That saved another $1,000 in cost of putting on a race. After ARA stopped sponsorship Subway came through with sponsorship for many years. All proceeds stayed local and benefitted area charities. No one who volunteered to help with the race received any compensation.
The reason I mention this is after we stopped hosting the race a group that wanted to take over the race asked our club to help volunteer with the race. I mentioned that the members had been doing the race for a number of years and knew how to put the race on. For their efforts we would want some financial help for the scholarships that we give. The answer we got was, “Well, we do this as a job and have to make a living by putting on this race. We will give any extra proceeds to a charity of our own.” They wanted our members to donate their time and expertise so they could make some money for putting the race on. We turned them down.
When a runner wants to know where their entry money is going it helps to check how much the race organizers are charging to put the race on. How much of the entry fee money is left over and going to a charity? This can be a two way street in some races. When a national organization wants a local group to put on a race for them they have good sponsors and administrators that are getting paid. I was advised early in my career of organizing races that if a large outside organization wanted to put on a race they probably had the necessary funds to pay a race director. He advised that we should not do all the work without some compensation since many of their group were getting paid.
A friend and I tried to form a race directors group and charge for our services in putting on a race. Most of the groups that wanted our services were small, local groups that did not have big sponsors and couldn’t afford any extra charges. We decided to forget that and do services for free.
