Walkathon Maven

Thanks to the folks at NPTech for Good, here are the 2020 dates of note:

January

19: World Religion Day — #WorldReligionDay
20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service — #MLKDay
28: Data Privacy Day —  #DataPrivacyDay

February

2: World Wetlands Day — #WorldWetlandsDay4: World Cancer Day — #WorldCancerDay
11: Safer Internet Day — #SID2013: World Radio Day — #WorldRadioDay14: World Bonobo Day — #World Bonobo Day14: V-Day — #1BillionRising
15: World Whale Day — #WorldWhaleDay20: World Day of Social Justice — #SocialJusticeDay
25: World Spay Day — #WorldSpayDay
27: Digital Learning Day — #DLDay
27: International Polar Bear Day — #PolarBearDay28: Rare Disease Day — #RareDiseaseDay

March

3: World Wildlife Day — #WorldWildlifeDay
8: International Women’s Day — #IWD20
12: World Kidney Day — #WorldKidneyDay
20: Global Recycling Day — #GRD2020
21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — #EndRacism
21: International Day of Forests — #ForestsDay
21: World Down Syndrome Day — #WDSD2021: World Poetry Day — #WorldPoetryDay
22: World Water Day — #WorldWaterDay24: World Tuberculosis Day — #WorldTBDay
28: Earth Hour — #EarthHour

April

2: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAustismDay
7: World Health Day — #WorldHealthDay12: International Day for Street Children — #StreetChildrenDay
14: World Dolphin Day — #WorldDolphinDay
15: World Art Day — #WorldArtDay22: Earth Day — #EarthDay23: World Book Day — #WorldBookDay25: International Sculpture Day — #ISDay
25: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay
25: World Penguin Day — #WorldPenguinDay
30: International Jazz Day — #JazzDay

May

3: World Press Freedom Day — #WorldPressFreedomDay9: World Fair Trade Day — #WorldFairTradeDay
10: World Lupus Day — #WorldLupusDay12: World Migratory Bird Day — #WorldMigratoryBirdDay
15: Endangered Species Day — #EndangeredSpeciesDay17: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia — #IDAHOT20
18: International Museum Day — #MuseumDay
22: International Day for Biological Diversity — #BiologicalDiversityDay23: World Turtle Day — #WorldTurtleDay
31: World No Tobacco Day — #WorldNoTobaccoDay

June

5: World Environment Day — #WorldEnvironmentDay
8: World Oceans Day — #WorldOceansDay
12: World Day Against Child Labor — #WDACL2014: World Blood Donor Day — #WorldBloodDonorDay
20: World Refugee Day — #WorldRefugeeDay
21: International Day of Yoga — #YogaDay
22: World Rainforest Day — #WorldRainforestDay27: Gay Pride Day — #Pride20

The Global NGO Technology Report is a biennial research project that seeks to gain a better understanding of how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide use web and email communications, online fundraising tools, social media, mobile technology, and productivity software.

July

11: WorldPopulationDay — #WorldPopulationDay
18: Nelson Mandela International Day — #MandelaDay
28: World Hepatitis Day — #WorldHepatitisDay29: International Tiger Day — #InternationalTigerDay
30: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons — #WorldDayAgainstTrafficking

August 

9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — #IndigenousDay
10: World Lion Day — #WorldLionDay
12: International Youth Day — #YouthDay12: World Elephant Day — #WorldElephantDay17: National Nonprofit Day — #NationalNonprofitDay (Internationally recognized)
19: World Humanitarian Day — #WorldHumanitarianDay
26: National Dog Day — #DogDay (Internationally recognized)29: International Day Against Nuclear Tests — #AgainstNuclearTestsDay

September

5: International Day of Charity — #CharityDay
8: International Literacy Day — #LiteracyDay
10: World Suicide Prevention Day — #WSPD20
15: International Day of Democracy — #DemocracyDay21: International Day of Peace — #PeaceDay22: World Rhino Day — #WorldRhinoDay
27: World Tourism Day — #WorldTourismDay
27: World Rivers Day — #WorldRiversDay

October

4: World Animal Day — #WorldAnimalDay
5: World Teachers Day — #WorldTeachersDay
6: World Cerebral Palsy Day — #WorldCPDay
7: World Habitat Day — #WorldHabitatDay
10: World Mental Health Day — #WorldMentalHealthDay
11: International Day of the Girl Child — #DayOfTheGirl12: World Arthritis Day — #WorldArthritisDay
15: International Day of Rural Women — #RuralWomenDay16: World Food Day — #WorldFoodDay
16: Global Cat Day — #GlobalCatDay17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — #EndPoveryDay
17: World Values Day — #WorldValuesDay
29: World Internet Day — #WorldInternetDay
31: World Cities Day — #WorldCitiesDay

November

13: World Kindness Day — #WorldKindnessDay
14: World Diabetes Day — #WorldDiabetesDay
15: World Philosophy Day — #WorldPhilosophyDay
16: International Day for Tolerance — #ToleranceDay19: World Pancreatic Cancer Day — #WPCD20
19: World Toilet Day — #WorldToiletDay20: World Children’s Day — #WorldChildrensDay21: World Television Day — #WorldTVDay25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — #EndViolenceAgainstWomen

December

1: Giving Tuesday — #GivingTuesday1: World AIDS Day — #WorldAIDSDay
3: International Day of People with Disabilities — #IDPwD205: International Volunteer Day — #VolunteerDay
5: World Soil Day — #WorldSoilDay9: International Anti-Corruption Day — #AntiCorruptionDay10: International Human Rights Day — #HumanRightsDay
11: International Mountain Day — #MountainDay
18: International Migrants Day — #MigrantsDay

Are these the most beautiful potties you have ever seen?

You know I love a good potty story!

Today in the Boston Globe was a story about the high demand for port-o-potties.

What I found to be most interesting is that the Labor Unions require a potty for every 20 workers. Quite a difference from the one potty for 200 walkers that most walkathons subscribe to.

If you want to read about my past potty posts – you can check them out here and here.

As always – please feel free to forward any good potty company names and photos!

Thanks to the NP Tech for Good Peeps…

Here is the 2018 Cause Awareness & Giving Day Calendar!

January

15: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service — #MLKDay
21: World Religion Day — #WorldReligionDay

February

2: World Wetlands Day — #WorldWetlandsDay
4: World Cancer Day — #WorldCancerDay
13: World Radio Day — #WorldRadioDay
14: World Bonobo Day — #World Bonobo Day
14: V-Day — #VDay
18: World Whale Day — #WorldWhaleDay
20: World Day of Social Justice — #SocialJusticeDay
22: Digital Learning Day — #DLDay
27: International Polar Bear Day — #PolarBearDay
27: World Spay Day — #WorldSpayDay
28: Rare Disease Day — #RareDiseaseDay

March

3: World Wildlife Day — #WorldWildlifeDay
8: World Kidney Day — #WorldKidneyDay
8: International Women’s Day — #WomensDay
21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — #EndRacism
21: International Day of Forests — #ForestsDay
21: World Down Syndrome Day — #WDSD18
21: World Poetry Day — #WorldPoetryDay
22: World Water Day — #WorldWaterDay
24: World Tuberculosis Day — #WorldTBDay
24: Earth Hour — #EarthHour

April

2: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAustismDay
7: World Health Day — #WorldHealthDay
12: International Day for Street Children — #StreetChildrenDay
14: World Dolphin Day — #DolphinDay
15: World Art Day — #WorldArtDay
22: Earth Day — #EarthDay
23: World Book Day — #WorldBookDay
25: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay
25: World Penguin Day — #WorldPenguinDay
30: International Jazz Day — #JazzDay

May

1: International Workers’ Day — #LaborDay
3: World Press Freedom Day — #WorldPressFreedomDay
10: World Lupus Day — #WorldLupusDay
12: World Migratory Bird Day — #WorldMigratoryBirdDay
12: World Fair Trade Day — #FairTradeDay
17: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia — #IDAHOT
18: International Museum Day — #MuseumDay
18: Endangered Species Day — #EndangeredSpeciesDay
22: International Day for Biological Diversity — #BiologicalDiversityDay
23: World Turtle Day — #WorldTurtleDay
31: World No Tobacco Day — #WorldNoTobaccoDay

June

5: World Environment Day — #WorldEnvironmentDay
8: World Oceans Day — #WorldOceansDay
12: World Day Against Child Labor — #WDACL
14: World Blood Donor Day — #WorldBloodDonorDay
20: World Refugee Day — #WorldRefugeeDay
21: International Day of Yoga — #YogaDay
22: World Rainforest Day — #WorldRainforestDay
23: Gay Pride Day — #Pride2018

July

11: WorldPopulationDay — #WorldPopulationDay
18: Nelson Mandela International Day — #MandelaDay
28: World Hepatitis Day — #WorldHepatitisDay
29: GlobalTiger Day — #GlobalTigerDay
30: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons — #WorldDayAgainstTrafficking

August

8: International Cat Day — #CatDay
9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — #IndigenousDay
10: World Lion Day — #WorldLionDay
12: International Youth Day — #YouthDay
12: World Elephant Day — #WorldElephantDay
17: National Nonprofit Day — #NationalNonprofitDay (Internationally recognized)
18: International Homeless Animal Day — #IHAD18
19: World Humanitarian Day — #WorldHumanitarianDay
26: International Dog Day — #DogDay
29: International Day Against Nuclear Tests — #AgainstNuclearTestsDay

September

5: International Day of Charity — #CharityDay
8: International Literacy Day — #LiteracyDay
10: World Suicide Prevention Day — #WSPD18
15: International Day of Democracy — #DemocracyDay
21: International Day of Peace — #PeaceDay
22: World Rhino Day — #WorldRhinoDay
23: World Rivers Day — #WorldRiversDay
27: World Tourism Day — #WorldTourismDay

October

2: World Habitat Day — #WorldHabitatDay
4: World Animal Day — #WorldAnimalDay
5: World Cerebral Palsy Day — #WorldCPDay
5: World Teachers Day — #WorldTeachersDay
10: World Mental Health Day — #WorldMentalHealthDay
11: International Day of the Girl — #DayOfTheGirl
12: World Arthritis Day — #WorldArthritisDay
15: International Day of Rural Women — #RuralWomenDay
16: World Food Day — #WorldFoodDay
16: Global Cat Day — #GlobalCatDay
17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — #EndPoveryDay
29: World Internet Day — #WorldInternetDay
31: World Cities Day — #WorldCitiesDay

November

13: World Kindness Day — #WorldKindnessDay
14: World Diabetes Day — #WorldDiabetesDay
15: World Philosophy Day — #WorldPhilosophyDay
16: International Day for Tolerance — #ToleranceDay
19: World Toilet Day — #WorldToiletDay
20: Universal Children’s Day — #ChildrensDay
21: World Television Day — #WorldTVDay
25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
27: Giving Tuesday — #GivingTuesday

December

1: World AIDS Day — #WorldAIDSDay
3: International Day of People with Disabilities — #IDPwD
5: International Volunteer Day — #VolunteerDay
5: World Soil Day — #WorldSoilDay
9: International Anti-Corruption Day — #AntiCorruptionDay
10: International Human Rights Day — #HumanRightsDay
11: International Mountain Day — #MountainDay
18: International Migrants Day — #MigrantsDay

Have a fantastic year!!

The Head of the Charles Regatta is a yearly rowing event happening every October.

It is coming up this weekend and I read a good article in the Boston Business Journal  about the logistics involved in this huge event.

Like many once-a-year fundraising events – little seeds must be planted all year-round so they all bloom on event day. It was interesting to see the numbers needed to make this regatta safe and fun for everyone:

2,260 boats

10,600 athletes representing 28 countries  (I cannot event begin to comprehend the travel and lodging logistics involved for this!)

4,000 proposals to get 100 in-kind and media partners

Six full time staff

Race committee of 12

85 on the race operations team

2,000 weekend race volunteers

And the volunteers get down vests!

This is an outdoor event, which means the most important number of ONE belongs to Mutha Nature.

She determines if you will have a sunny day with thousands of observers lining the Charles River drinking and walking and socializing. If it is a rainy day, then the observers are reduced exponentially and are mostly huddled in their respective collegiate and rowing club tents just drinking. How do I know this?

Once upon a time when I was much younger and did not have my weekends obliterated with driving my kids (Fire and Gasoline) around to their activities – I used to love attending the Head of the Charles. Before I was a WalkathonMaven, I would walk up and down the three-mile course on the shores of the Charles watching the crowds and wondering how the rowers did not hit the bridges, or the other competitors with their boats.

Ahhhhh. Memories.  Best of luck this weekend and may Mutha Nature smile upon you!

thanks to nptechforgood for creating the calendar

Here it is! The calendar that shows ALL of the cause awareness days for 2016.

The folks at Non Profit Tech for Good created this resource for the curious minds that want to be aware of all the great causes around us.

Since the month of January is almost over, I’ll offer the designated days starting in February. To be honest, I’ve never heard of most of these.  I’m not even sure how an organization goes about squatting on their ‘official’ day.  My birthday falls on the International Day for Street Children.  Or should I say that they have chosen my birthday for the Street Children of the World?

I visited their website and found: The International Day for Street Children is a platform for the millions of street children around the world – and their champions – to speak out so that their rights cannot be ignored. They are based in London and have a walk!

The event is called Just Walk.  It is on June 19 and they welcome everyone to walk and raise money for the cause of their choice. They provide several options for route length so you can walk as long and as far as you like.

Here is the list for the rest of the year..Enjoy!

February

2: World Wetlands Day — #WorldWetlandsDay
4: World Cancer Day — #WorldCancerDay
13: World Radio Day — #WorldRadioDay
13: World Whale Day — #WorldWhaleDay
14: V-Day — #1BillionRising
17: Digital Learning Day — #DLDay
20: World Day of Social Justice — #SocialJusticeDay
23: World Spay Day — #WorldSpayDay
27: International Polar Bear Day — #PolarBearDay
29: Rare Disease Day — #RareDiseaseDay

March

3: World Wildlife Day — #WorldWildlifeDay
8: International Women’s Day — #WomensDay
10: World Kidney Day — #WorldKidneyDay
19: Earth Hour — #EarthHour
21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — #EndRacism
21: International Day of Forests — #ForestsDay
21: World Down Syndrome Day — #DownSyndromeDay
21: World Poetry Day — #WorldPoetryDay
22: World Water Day — #WorldWaterDay
24: World Tuberculosis Day — #WorldTBDay

April

2: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAustismDay
7: World Health Day — #WorldHealthDay
12: International Day for Street Children — #StreetChildrenDay
16: World Dolphin Day — #DolphinDay
22: Earth Day — #EarthDay
23: World Book Day — #WorldBookDay
25: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay
25: World Penguin Day — #WorldPenguinDay
30: International Jazz Day — #JazzDay

May

1: International Workers’ Day — #LaborDay
3: World Press Freedom Day — #WorldPressFreedomDay
3: Give Local America Day — #GiveLocal16
7: World Migratory Bird Day — #WorldMigratoryBirdDay
10: World Lupus Day — #WorldLupusDay
14: World Fair Trade Day — #FairTradeDay
17: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia — #IDAHOT
18: International Museum Day — #MuseumDay
22: International Day for Biological Diversity — #BiologicalDiversityDay
23: World Turtle Day — #WorldTurtleDay
31: World No Tobacco Day — #WorldNoTobaccoDay

June

5: World Environment Day — #WorldEnvironmentDay
8: World Oceans Day — #WorldOceansDay
12: World Day Against Child Labor — #WDACL
14: World Blood Donor Day — #WorldBloodDonorDay
20: World Refugee Day — #WorldRefugeeDay
21: International Day of Yoga — #YogaDay

July

11: WorldPopulationDay — #WorldPopulationDay
18: Nelson Mandela International Day — #MandelaDay
28: World Hepatitis Day — #WorldHepatitisDay
29: International Tiger Day — #TigerDay
30: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons — #WorldDayAgainstTrafficking

August

8: International Cat Day — #CatDay
9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — #IndigenousDay
12: International Youth Day — #YouthDay
12: World Elephant Day — #WorldElephantDay
19: World Humanitarian Day — #WorldHumanitarianDay
26: International Dog Day — #DogDay
29: International Day Against Nuclear Tests — #AgainstNuclearTestsDay

September

5: International Day of Charity — #CharityDay
8: International Literacy Day — #LiteracyDay
10: World Suicide Prevention Day — #WSPD
15: International Day of Democracy — #DemocracyDay
21: International Day of Peace — #PeaceDay
22: World Rhino Day — #WorldRhinoDay
25: World Rivers Day — #WorldRiversDay
27: World Tourism Day — #WorldTourismDay

October

4: World Animal Day — #WorldAnimalDay
5: World Cerebral Palsy Day — #WorldCPDay
5: World Habitat Day — #WorldHabitatDay
5: World Teachers Day — #WorldTeachersDay
10: World Mental Health Day — #WorldMentalHealthDay
11: International Day of the Girl — #DayOfTheGirl
12: World Arthritis Day — #WorldArthritisDay
15: International Day of Rural Women — #RuralWomenDay
16: World Food Day — #WorldFoodDay
17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — #EndPoveryDay
29: World Internet Day — #WorldInternetDay
31: World Cities Day — #WorldCitiesDay

November

13: World Kindness Day — #WorldKindnessDay
14: World Diabetes Day — #WorldDiabetesDay
16: International Day for Tolerance — #ToleranceDay
19: World Philosophy Day — #WorldPhilosophyDay
19: World Toilet Day — #WorldToiletDay
20: Universal Children’s Day — #ChildrensDay
21: World Television Day — #WorldTVDay
25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
29: Giving Tuesday — #GivingTuesday

December

1: World AIDS Day — #WorldAIDSDay
3: International Day of People with Disabilities — #IDPwD
5: International Volunteer Day — #VolunteerDay
5: World Soil Day — #WorldSoilDay
9: International Anti-Corruption Day — #AntiCorruptionDay
10: International Human Rights Day — #HumanRightsDay
11: International Mountain Day — #MountainDay
18: International Migrants Day — #MigrantsDay

Super Bowl XLIX (or 49 for the roman-numeral-challenged) is tomorrow!  My beloved Patriots are playing the defending champs (name omitted on purpose) for the title of Best NFL Team. Being an event junkie, I needed to read about the logistics involved in hosting such a HUGE event.  I found the Host committee website to peruse the volunteer opportunities, sponsors and the like.

Apparently, Super Bowl Central in downtown Phoenix is sponsored by Verizon. The VSBC Verizon Super Bowl Central (VSBC) will take over and transform Downtown Phoenix into the epicenter of Super Bowl activities with 1 million visitors expected to attend.  I think that the Host Committee did a great job on the website making the event idiot-proof with regards to transportation and other FAQs.  They even have a tab that lists contact information for ALL of the vendors that have provided services to their event.  If you have room to spare on your walkathon website, it would be nice to include ALL the vendors that provide services for your event.  Perhaps the mention on your site will encourage a greater discount or outright donation of services for your next walk.   FYI – the name of the potty company is called “A” Company Portable Restrooms.  Your welcome.

Many news sites have done non-football-related comparisons between New England and the other team.  My favorite is the one from Philanthropy.com titled: Super (Generosity) Bowl: Which Team Has the Edge?  The article compared things like:

Which city is more generous?  (Answer: the other team. Their giving ratio is 3.09% vs. our 2.54% of income. )

Which teams foundation gives more?  (Answer: Patriots with $3.12 million in grants. BTW, only the Cowboys give more)

Which team owner is more generous? (Answer: The other team.  The owner, Paul Allen,  is the co-founder of Microsoft.  ‘Nuff said.)

Charitable standouts on the roster. (Answer: toss up)

Looking forward to seeing the commercials, especially the Budweiser Clydesdales search for ‘Lost Dog’!  Let’s go Patriots!!!

Holiday Traditions. Some are are a time suck, like Black Friday, when my daughter wakes me up at 2:30am so we can go be part of the mayhem looking for good deals (read: clothes for her and only her).  We get back home around 8am and I’m a body-clock-wreck for the next day.

Some traditions are practical, like Cyber Monday, when you can bang-out most of your holiday shopping list and have things delivered for free.  I love the deals and free shipping to my home makes me love it even more. The anti-time-suck.

A new tradition, Giving Tuesday, is today.  Time to think about others who need our help.  Give your time and talent to others in your community.  Give a donation to an organization that is meaningful to you or your family.

We celebrated having full tummies and full hearts for a long weekend.  Time to share the wealth.

Pink is in the news.

No, not the dynamic performer with the amazing estro-abs (who I did happen to see in concert last month) – but some pink events that raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

Today, I read an article in the NPQ about how the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation had a 22% drop in income last fiscal year. They made $77 million less than the previous year.  Yeowza! Due to this decrease, they had to cut $50 million from breast cancer research and public health education.  That is a huge bummer. Why did they lose so much money? Several reasons, including some bad funding decisions regarding Planned Parenthood and the revelation of the Chief Executive’s big-honkin’ compensation. I wrote all about it here a few months ago.  

Many Komen constituents got angry and stopped participating in fundraising events and stopped making charitable contributions to the organization.  Who really got hurt here?  For starters, the breast cancer researchers who depend on organizations like Komen to fund the research that will hopefully find a cure for this disease.  Second, the men and women who are not getting educated about the need for early detection. Without a cure, early detection is the best prevention.  So there ya go.

Other pink news, locally, for me is the publicity machine that has started for the Boston Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  For the low-low price of $1850 ($50 registration plus $1800 minimum fundraising requirement) you can participate in this weekend-long walk. So what is an Avon Walk?  Their website says what they are, and are-not:

“The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is a national series of 39-mile weekend fundraising events launched in 2003 by the Avon Foundation.

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event series is a project of the Avon Foundation for Women and is not affiliated with any other breast cancer organizations or programs such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, American Cancer Society, or Breast Cancer Research Foundation.”

I wondered where the money goes that is raised by the Avon Foundation and found this:

“Avon Foundation brings this mission to life through two key areas: breast cancer and domestic violence. The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade launched in 1992, and Avon breast cancer programs in more than 55 countries support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved and uninsured. Funding is awarded to beneficiaries ranging from leading cancer centers to community-based breast health programs for awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; access to treatment; support services; and scientific research.”

For more info – check it out here.

Let’s hope that there is not any controversy with the Avon Foundation so that more money can go toward the programs and services that were cut by Komen.

One more thing..  If you would like these literary ramblings to come straight to your inbox once I publish, then please subscribe with the link above!!

found this on the non profit tech for good blog!

The New Year is hours away, and I’m populating my calendar with all kinds of family and fun events for 2014.  I found this gem on the Non Profit Tech for Good blog and thought I would share.  I have never heard of most of these. Some are worth an eyebrow-raise and others I may read more about to see if they have a walkathon or what color their awareness ribbon may be. I like that they even have their twitter hashtags ready!

As you know, some causes have adopted a whole month. Let’s see if any of these below can gain any traction to do so – although I am unsure if there are any un-adopted months left on the calendar.  International Day for Street Children happens to fall on my birthday, but I doubt I will be celebrating it – unless they are serving my favorite orange vodka, limes and lotsa ice 😉

January

20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service — #MLKDay

February

2: World Wetlands Day — #WorldWetlandsDay

4: World Cancer Day — #WorldCancerDay

5: Digital Learning Day — #DLDay

14: V-Day — #VDay or #1BillionRising

20: World Day of Social Justice — #SocialJusticeDay

25: World Spay Day — #WorldSpayDay

27: World NGO Day — #WorldNGODay

28: Rare Disease Day — #RareDiseaseDay

March

8: International Women’s Day — #IntWomensDay or #IWD

22: World Water Day — #WorldWaterDay or #WWD

24: World Tuberculosis Day — #WorldTBDay

April

2: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAustismDay

12: International Day for Street Children — #StreetChildrenDay

22: Earth Day — #EarthDay

25: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay

May

1: International Workers’ Day — #IntWorkersDay, #MayDay or #LaborDay

10: World Fair Trade Day — #WorldFairTradeDay

16: National Bike to Work Day — #BikeToWorkDay

18: International Museum Day — #IntMuseumDay or #MuseumDay

23: World Turtle Day — #WorldTurtleDay

June

8: World Oceans Day — #WorldOceansDay

14: World Blood Donor Day — #WorldBloodDonorDay

20: World Refugee Day — #WorldRefugeeDay or #RefugeeDay

July

11: WorldPopulationDay — #WorldPopulationDay

18: Nelson Mandela International Day — #MandelaDay

29: Global Tiger Day — #GlobalTigerDay or #TigerDay

August

9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — #IndigenousDay

12: International Youth Day — #IntYouthDay or #YouthDay

12: World Elephant Day — #WorldElephantDay

19: World Humanitarian Day — #WorldHumanitarianDay

September

8: International Literacy Day — #IntLiteracyDay or #LiteracyDay

21: International Day of Peace — #IntDayOfPeace or #PeaceDay

22: World Rhino Day — #WorldRhinoDay

28: World Rivers Day — #WorldRiversDay or #RiversDay

October

4: World Animal Day — #WorldAnimalDay

5: World Teachers Day — #WorldTeachersDay

10: World Mental Health Day — #WorldMentalHealthDay

11: International Day of the Girl — #IntDayOfTheGirl or #DayOfTheGirl

11: National Coming Out Day — #NationalComingOutDay or #NCOD

12: World Arthritis Day — #WorldArthritisDay

November:

14: World Diabetes Day — #WorldDiabetesDay

20: Universal Children’s Day — #ChildrensDay

December:

1: World AIDS Day — #WorldAIDSDay

2: Giving Tuesday — #GivingTuesday

3: International Day of People with Disabilities — #IDPWD

10: Human Rights Day — #HumanRightsDay

11: International Mountain Day — #IntMountainDay or #MountainDay

I hope you and your families have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

How do you measure the success of your walkathon?

This article in CIT magazine made me start to thinking about how we measure the success of our events.

Traditionally, most walks measure their success on the numbers:

– Number of walkers

– Number of teams

– Number of donated dollars

As an event manager, I see success measured by different elements:

– Setup and breakdown without incident

– The number of complaint emails I receive after the event

– The amount of eye-contact I receive from senior management the day-after

– The number walker incidents I need to follow-up on

– Rental vehicles making it back without an insurance claim

– The speed at which I can evict the guerilla-marketers from the event site

– Expenses under 20%

You may have some staff colleagues that measure success differently.

Communications staff may measure success with the number of mentions on Twitter, or likes on the event Facebook page, or news outlets that show up at the event.

Mission staff may measure success with the number of volunteers they have recruited.  Measuring awareness of a mission is a hard one, but I would think that any new walker or donor to the walk would be counted.

Advocacy staff may measure the number of signatures they receive for a petition.

Finance may measure the size of the deposit or the time it takes to close-out the event.

HR may measure the number of complaints they get from staff for having to work on a weekend.

Here is how Bill and Melinda Gates measure success.

This article at CNN Money, mentions to measure success by relationships, not money.  I like this because you need to bring these relationships into your organization and move them up your development pyramid.

The more I read on this – the more I see that everyone has their opinion on what a successful event really is, and how they like to measure it.