How do we find a sponsor?

Question

My friends and I want to organize a charity walk, but how do we find a sponsor? Also, how long would it take to organize the charity walk, approximately?

Answer 1

You will need to pay all costs associated with this charitable walk: liability insurance, rental of the location, city permits, etc.

To find a sponsor to pay for all of this, you would need to be an established organization with lots of experience organizing charity walks and a long, strong relationship with the charity that would benefit from your efforts. As I suspect you don't have any of this, a better idea is that you and your friends volunteer with existing nonprofits and learn more about the realities of fundraising events. Look into when the Relay for Life (cancer awareness) is happening, and get involved with that for a good idea of just how much work is put into a walk for charity.

If you are in the USA, these web sites can help you find volunteering opportunities in your area:

VolunteerMatch, http://www.volunteermatch.org

Idealist, http://www.idealist.org

Change.org, http://www.change.org

CraigsList, http://www.craigslist.com

Network for Good, http://www.networkforgood.org

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/

ServeNet, http://servenet.org/

Also, contact your local volunteer center; you can find this via the Points of Light Foundation web site,

http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/

There's also this government sponsored site, http://volunteer.gov/gov/ which provides volunteer positions through USA federal land agencies like Fish & Wildlife, Forest Service, National Parks, etc.