Walkathon Maven

The Susan G. Komen 3-Day came to the Boston area last weekend and raised $2.5 million for breast cancer research and programs.  Last month, they announced that the Boston location of the event was being discontinued for 2014 – so I had to swing by the start location and take some photos.  Unfortunately, Mutha Nature rained on most of the setup (thus the dark photos) but the weather got progressively better for their 60-mile trek around the Boston area.

I did a drive-by of the start area on Wednesday, and found a parking lot full of event vans, tractor-trailers, and trucks:

Parking lot full of vehicles for event

Lotsa vans

Lotsa trucks. I hope Budget was a transport sponsor!

The opening ceremony was located at a beautiful park overlooking the water. Sadly, the staging area for the start was being setup in the rain:

setting up the stage

I was surprised to see that they had a large trailer to serve as the command center.  I got out of my car to try and get close to see exactly what happens inside of a large, pink “Command Center” but my kids were afraid that they were going to call the police on me so I only got an exterior shot. As a parent, I feel proud that I have done my job teaching my children the definition of trespassing, and to respect boundaries (when they are with me!)

Command Center!

They even had some motor homes in a coned-off area!  I wonder who got to shack-up in those!!

Big Honkin’ motor homes

On Friday, the break-down began immediately after the walkers left the start area to begin their trek.  This was an efficient crew with forklifts and dozens of workers:

I loved the signage they had instructing folks where they can, and cannot park:

I tried to look for information about how many walkers participated in the event.  Nothing on the official 3-Day website.  I did find info on the City of Boston website that there was approximately 2,500 walkers.  The fundraising minimum for this event was $2,300.  If the 2,500 walkers raised the $2,300 minimum – that equals $5,750,000.  I noted above, based on information from the local CBS news, that they raised $2.5 million.

If the numbers are correct. I have questions. Here are a few:

1. Did they really have 2500 participants?  I hope not, for the numbers sake.

2. Was there really 56% expenses? ($5.7M minus $3.2M = $2.5M)

3. Did they spend more than they raised?

If you read my post last month about the 3-Day, then you know how I feel about the production costs and return on investment. I’m glad they they raised $2.5 million for a disease without a cure, but I think that the logistics may have made it to be less cost-effective to sustain.

Here a link to a good blog about the Boston 3-Day.

One final photo.  You know I cannot refuse a beautifully straight line of potties:

Ooooh La La!  I found a perfect place for a walkathon!  It’s the Vieux Port Marseilles, France!  C’est perfect! Hubby and I visited this gem during a trip to the Western Med last week. The Old Port of Marseilles has all the things needed for a great walk – check it out:

The Route:  Walking around a horseshoe path on the Quai du Port and Quai de Rive Neuve is one mile one way.   It is a beautiful walk around the perimeter of the port on wide sidewalks.  No need to close streets!  Tons of Cafe’s (including a Starbucks!) line both streets.

Parking:  See all the Blue P boxes on the map?  Tons of Parking!

Start/Finish:  Cruise ships dock at a place undergoing a transformation.  It is called Place de la Joliette. A 10 minute walk to the Vieux Port. They have built several museums and created a beautiful flat chunk of real estate that is perfect for putting your event oval with all the tents.  Marseilles has been designated the European Capital of Culture, and they have really built-up the port area to attract visitors. 

Fantastic event space is waiting for your Registration tent!

European Capital of Culture?  Says who?  The Potties! There is a logo that announces the designation!

Zoom into the bottom and you will see the logo for the designation!

Potties – Oh Yeah!  You know I started shaking with excitement when I saw these beautiful pieces of Po(o)p Art lined up and ready for customers!

Are these the most beautiful potties you have ever seen?

A lovely 5K route can be created when starting at the museums and then walking around the perimeter of the Vieux Port, then doubling back to the museum area.  So many modern and historic sites to see – including strange people doing yoga poses near artwork!

camel pose?

Seriously, it really is a perfect location with a perfect route and plenty of parking.  WalkathonMaven is at your service when you are ready! Call me!  Merci!

Lookie! You can walk 4-5 across on the route!

The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is celebrating 40 years of playing for the Esplanade crowd on July 4th.  You may have seen this celebration on TV, as it used to be nationally televised.  It has been reported that the July 4th crowd exceeded several hundred thousand for the concert and fireworks show.  Aerial shots of the event shows wall-to-wall people.  Several Hundred Thousand! Whoosh!

The Esplanade (field) and the Hatch Shell (stage) is a popular site for many of the walkathons in Boston.  Once upon a time, I was the Walk Manager for an event at the same location that had 40,000 people. I thought THAT was crowded. Multiply THAT by 10 for the Pops concert – then add adult beverages, summer humidity, projectile bodily fluids and inevitable poor hygiene.  Pops Soup.  No thank you.

To claim a piece of Esplanade real estate on July 4, Pops Peeps gather up to a day before the concert to line up for the gate opening around 8am.  Then the initial mayhem begins as those in line are allowed onto the property to claim a piece of grass to babysit for the next 16 hours.  If you are a sponsor, then you are allowed to be civilized and sit in an actual chair in front of the stage.

Sixteen hours.  What to do before the concert starts?  Most people bring a tarp to sit on for sunning, eating, reading and other things outside.  And so, as a result of the Jackholes on Marathon Monday, there are many new security measures in place for the July 4th concert and fireworks.   Do not bother bringing the following:  coolers, glass containers, cans, pre-mixed beverages, and backpacks.  After 4pm, no items will be allowed to be brought in. Period.  Good news for the folks that have permits to sell food on-site.  Bad news for those who were hoping to bring sustenance with them.

Boston Magazine has a fun article every month called “by the numbers.”  This month, they focused on the 4th of July for the Pops Concert.  Since I’m a logistics luva, I found the following tidbits interesting:

4.7  Approximate amount of personal space, in square feet, each attendee will get if the Oval reaches full capacity.

400  Number of people per available portable restroom. 

I wonder if they will carry-over these security rules to all of the walkathons happening on the property.  Luckily, most of the participants are moving and not standing targets for Jackholes.

I prefer to watch the fireworks from an air-conditioned room, in a recliner with my adult beverage and 10 steps from a private potty 😉

Good reads this Wednesday in the Philanthropy world!  Coincidentally, both are about money.

Several charity groups have asked that we stop worrying so much about their overhead expenses when choosing organizations to support.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy outlines both sides of the debate and suggests that we still need these data points to keep everyone honest.  I feel that there will always be a few bad apples when money is involved and we need some watchdog groups to tell us who is not being a good steward of the donor dollar.  I especially get annoyed with the pu-pu-platter of cancer charity organizations that have a name similar to the larger, more well-known organizations and use that similarity to skim donations from the intended recipients.  Call them out!

In other news, it appears that Komen has ‘replaced’ Nancy Brinker with a new CEO.  According to the Dallas Morning News: Judith Salerno, 61, is executive director and chief operating officer of the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious independent group that advises the government and private sector about health and science.

The NPQ announced the new hire with a snarky headline: Komen Finally Chooses a Successor to Brinker or So They Say 

Apparently, the NPQ does not believe that Nancy Brinker was really replaced, since her new title is Chair of Global Strategy and will be responsible for “revenue creation, strategy and global growth as chair of the Komen Board Executive Committee.”  She will report to the new CEO.

Komen clearly needed to do something bold, since they have been criticized for some bad decisions in the past year – like the Planned Parenthood debacle, the “resignation” but not departure of the CEO, and the dialing-back of their signature events.  I hope this new ‘leader’ can use her health policy experience to get the fundraising back to where it should be so that we can get rid of this nasty disease. 

We will miss you, Kris

Last week I shared some top ten lists from the NPQ site.  This week I will share a WalkathonMaven original Top Ten list!

Most walkathons usually happen in the Spring or in the Fall.  The weather is usually more cooperative and your constituents are not crazed trying to entertain their kids during school vacation. If you were lucky enough to have your event in the Spring – then congratulations – it’s Miller Time!  If your event is happening in the Fall, then I hope you find helpful the following 10 logistical items that you should have on your radar this Summer:

1.  Route –  I like all right turns.  That way my walkers are more safe and I can hopefully reduce the number of police needed if my streets need to be shut down. I also like to take a ride around the route on my bike to check for locations that I may need to place a cautionary orange cone.  I wrote about this a few months ago.

2. Registration – this is the most important area of the event because you are collecting donations and information from your walkers.  Locate and train the volunteers so that you have a smooth operation on event day.

3. Banking – you need to think about how you will locate this in a secure area and train your volunteers on accountability processes.

4. Water – a sponsor would be nice.  I prefer donations of gallon jugs and cups instead of bottles.  Determine your hydration locations around your route.

5. Snacks – donations of individually packaged snacks are preferred. Beware of the big, ugly precedent door.

6. Volunteers – you will need allotta peeps to donate their time and talent to keep the day safe and fun for everyone.  Think about contacting past volunteers and ask them to bring a pal.

7. Transportation – how will all of your supplies, signs, tables and chairs get to the site?  Who will be driving?

8. Emergency services – work with the owner of your event site to update your crisis plan.

9. Setup / breakdown – when can you load-in and what time do you need to be off the site?  What is your site plan?

10. Patient/survivor recognition/activity – keep your cause ‘top of mind’ for your participants by providing a memorable activity.

I think the most important item from above is to find your operation volunteers, train them for their task and make sure they have all the information and materials needed to do a great job.  Then ten items above are just a few(of dozens!) of items for your radar as you enter the final few months before your walk.  I have linked several past posts that drill down into the dizzy details.  Enjoy!

Here is Mr. Wonderful demonstrating his yoga position on a potty

I’m a useless trivia lover, and am fascinated with statistics, rankings and lists.  Especially Top Ten lists. David Letterman, the King of the Top Ten list, has the same birthday as me.  Coincidence?

This love of numbers would be surprising to my high school math teachers and college accounting professors, since my grades in their classes did not reflect my adoration of ‘the digits’.

The website Charity Navigator, has oodles of top ten lists. According to their site, Charity Navigator is America’s leading independent charity evaluator, works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability and Transparency of  6,000 of America’s largest charities

Below are a few of my faves. Click on the links if you want to read about the deets.

10 Highly-Rated Charities with Low Paid CEOs.  

10 Highly Paid CEOs at Low-Rated Charities.  Lots of 6-figure salaries.

10 Inefficient Fundraisers – These folks spend more than 50 cents of each dollar raised on expenses.  Ick.  Sad to see several Veterans charities on this list.

10 Top-Notch Charities.  Lots of Food Banks on the list.

There are oodles to choose and read about on the CN site.  I was surprised to see that so many low-rated charities were from Veterans and Public Service (fire, police) groups.  I did a search on getting a non-profit 501c3 status – and found that there are websites that will help you apply for the designation for the low-low price of $359.    No wonder there is so much fraud.  I think there needs to be more oversight to have a tax-exempt status and the state AG office should more closely scrutinize the required yearly filings to their office.  It’s sad that a non-profit organization can submit their yearly forms and there is no discipline for having less that 50, or 70 percent of the donations actually make it to the intended recipients.  Boooooooo!

I love the name of this walk!

Memorial Day weekend coming up!  I hope you and your family have a good one!

The fallout continues from the actions of the two JackHoles that ruined the Boston Marathon for thousands on April 15.

There are things you can control, and things you cannot – like Mother Nature and JackHoles who have the will and find a way to be selfish.  The Boston Globe had an article that fundraising events with large gatherings, like walkathons, are suffering financially since people are shy about being in a crowd of people.  And, these participants may raise less money since they may have already given to another, more trendy, cause. Our 24/7 news cycles have helped contribute to Charity Fatigue.

I had a similar experience happen when I was a Walk Manager for an event happening 3 weeks after the September 11 tragedy in 2001.  Many teams cancelled their participation and many calls were coming in asking how we were going to make sure that 40,000 people would be safe at our event.   We were concerned about making our fundraising goal by thinking that our participants would instead give their charitable dollars to The Red Cross to support the 9/11 victims.

We worked with the City and State to make sure we had a beefed-up emergency plan.  It did not change much from our previous emergency plan, except it cost us several thousand more in police detail.

Because we had good relationships with our team leaders in the months prior to September 11, most of the team fundraising was done.  If the walkers did not want to attend the actual event, they could still send in the donations.  Remember, people will attend your walk because they have an interest in your issue and want to support your organization.  These are the folks that support you before and after a tragedy.   They may give a little less one year and a lot more the next.  I write a lot about the relationship you need to have with your walkers and donors, because you need the relationship to keep your organization afloat when a trendy cause temporarily receives some of their charitable giving budget.

In 2001, we took a small hit financially at the event.  Not as big as we thought. Thankfully.  The frequent communication with our team leaders helped to keep us “top of mind” despite all the other fundraisers happening to support the 9/11 victims.  The following year, we had an increase in participants.  I think many of them missed being part of the event community at the 2001 Walk.  They missed being part of the thousands who came together to support the cause they believed in.  It seemed like they were tired of “The Fatigue” and wanted to get back to their normal.

I look forward to everyone getting back to their normal.

why should donors choose you?

Mother’s Day is this Sunday and my fave gift each year is to simply have the day off.  My wonderful hubby takes care of all the kid taxi duties, cooking (meal arrangement) and child drama for the day so I can go do whatever I want.  In past years, I have leisurely strolled an IKEA store, perused an outdoor artisan market and visited a local museum.  On Sunday, I may go for a bike ride around Boston or see a chick flick if it rains.   Best Day Evah!

Many organizations are also taking advantage of “the day” by marketing their products to raise money for charities.  Major League Baseball is allowing players to use pink Louisville Slugger bats for the day.  According to Louisville’s WDRB: MLB will authenticate and collect the game-used bats and auction them on MLB.com. Louisville Slugger has donated over 250-thousand dollars worth of bats to raise awareness and money for charities.  Proceeds will benefit breast cancer charities

I have visited the Louisville Slugger website several times and cannot find the specific breast cancer charities that will be receiving these funds.  The MLB has a whole pink breast cancer awareness shop. They have a lovely MLBcommunity page that says the monies raised will go to Komen and Stand Up to Cancer.

Speaking of Komen, here is an NPQ article about Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen.  She supposedly resigned last year as CEO but just received a 64% raise.  Things that make you go Hmmmmmm.

Most of the breast cancer walks and runs happen in either October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month or May – to commemorate Mom’s Day.  May Mutha Nature smile upon you and your participants!

I hope all the mommies out there have a great Sunday!  Happy Mother’s Day!

The Walk for Hunger in Boston is happening this Sunday, May 5!  Always the first Sunday in May. Once upon a time, I worked at Project Bread – the Walk for Hunger.  True Bostonians pronounce it Wok Fa Hunga. Our alumni association is called the Bread Crumbs.  Project Bread was my virgin excursion into the walkathon world.  I was responsible for finding and training 2,000 walk day volunteers, some of the recruitment and much of the logistics for the main event oval and the 20-mile route.  I had never worked so hard in my young, spry life.

We worked all year round for one day.  We planted the seeds of preparation in the months then days leading up to the walk, with hopes for a beautiful bloom of smooth sailing on event day.

My time at Project Bread in the mid-90s was before online giving, internet email and mobile phones that were smaller than a brick.  We recruited 50,000 walkers who raised over $3 million each year by actually talking to team leaders in person or on the phone.   Old school.

According to the Project Bread website, money raised at this event will help fund hunger relief and prevention through over 430 emergency programs, schools, community health centers, farmers’ markets, community suppers, home care organizations, and other programs that protect the individual and strengthen our community’s food security throughout the state.

I learned a lot when I worked there. Not just the event operations stuff, but also about the issue of hunger. Hunger is not as visible an issue like cancer or AIDS or autism or diabetes.  Why?  We all know people or relatives of people that have or had cancer or AIDS or autism or diabetes. How many people do you know that are hungry?  They need you.

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend.  Visit Boston.  Boston needs some lovin’. The tulips in the Boston Garden are in full bloom.

Take a walk with several thousand other people who care. Raise some money and think about how lucky you are to have an occasional full belly.  Walk for Hunger.