2016 FUN RUN SWIM SPIN EVENT

Report, Analysis and Recommendations

Background

The Eltham Leisure Centre (ELC) has organised the annual Eltham Fun Run Event to raise money for

the Open Doors Initiative for 33 years. The Fun Run is part of the ELC’s contract agreement with the

Nillumbik Shire Council. For many years, the event was run during the month of November in line

with the Eltham Rotary Festival. Since 2014, the event has been run in March and this year it was

brought forward to February 28th 2016 in line with the YMCA’s National Swimathon event.

Early in 2015 an event committee (ELC Directors, Managers, Marketing staff, Project manager, staff

and volunteers) was formed to plan and implement the 2016 event. It was decided to trial a

combined event including a Run, Swimathon and Spinathon where participants could choose to

participate in one or all three events. The rationale for the restructure of the event was to

consolidate limited resources, raise more funds for the Open Doors Initiative and offer an event that

would reach more participants and host a family FUN day for our members and the local community.

Objectives

To Raise $20,000 for the Open Doors Initiative

ELC Member retention and acquisition

Community partner / sponsorship engagement

Volunteer and member acquisition

Showcase the ELC

Fun Run Swim Spin Event

The event commenced at 9.00am with the Fun Run. The weather provided perfect running

conditions and the staggered start to the race worked well. A bag drop and storage service was

offered for race participants. There were 535 participants – (10km-212, 5km-221 and walk-102). At

10.30 the awards presentation and recognition of sponsors and supporters completed this event.

Registrations were down by approximately 185 in 2015’s event.

Spinathon

The Spinathon commenced at 11.30 and ran for 2 hours in the cycle studio. The Centre Manager,

race ambassador and group fitness instructor lead the teams on a two hour journey to compete for

the most kilometres over the two hours. The participants gave great feedback about the event and

would like to see more Spinathon events in the future. The Spinathon sold 16 bikes to teams /

individuals and raised $800

Swimathon

There were 11 participants who participated in the Swimathon on Event Day between 12 and 2pm.

In addition, during the month of February, all registered swimming students (1300) were

encouraged to help collectively swim the length of the Murray River and collect pledges from friends

and family to donate to the cause. $1825.55 was raised in total.

T-shirts

Event T- Shirts and singlets were available for $20. There were approximately 85 Sold at $1700.

Every Day Hero

The Every Day Hero platform was offered at the point of registration for the Fun Run and Swimathon

participants. There was a small uptake by participants to fund raise through this platform. The

Swimathon Raised $1825.55 and the Fun Run raised $1128.45 through the Every Day Hero Platform.

Marketing/ Promotion/ Advertising

A promotional video was produced with a number of versions targeted at different digital

platforms including media use.

High profile Race ambassadors secured; Tracy Morrison – Ironman Triathlete andJack Swift

Paralympian.

Nillumbik Council ran an event article in their summer edition of Nillumbik News which is a

magazine delivered to every household in the shire. Mayor Bronnie Hattam, took a keen

interest in promoting the event both internally to the shire staff and externally to the

community.

Media – The leader newspaper ran a half page article on the event and a call to action in the

fortnightly column, “The Mayor’s Message.” 3AW’s Darren James featured the event on his

morning show for two weeks leading into the event.

MP Jenny Macklin was involved in promoting the event on her digital platforms as well as

opening the event. Local MP Vicki Ward participated in the event.

The Macleod, Diamond Creek and ELC cluster worked collaboratively to promote the event.

Six weeks prior to the event all staff and volunteers at all three centres wore the Event Crew

T-shirt to promote the event.

Eight sponsored Community Boards were erected for a three week period prior to the event

in both the shire of Nillumbik and Banyule.

Digital Marketing –The Digital Marketing Specialist worked with the event team to develop

an EDM and Facebook content plan for the event. (See attached plan including analysis and

recommendations)

Many of the event sponsors and supporters posted the event on their digital media

platforms and featured articles in the print media newsletters.

Event articles posted in the Inside The Y Newsletter.

Community Engagement

Volunteers

More than 180 volunteers worked together to promote and deliver the event. Strategic links have

been established with tertiary and training institutions to maintain and continue to recruit

volunteers for ELC events and ongoing administrative support.

Allied Health Professionals

More than sixty five allied health professional services in the Diamond Creek, Doncaster, Doreen,

Eltham, Greensborough, Macleod, Montmorency, Templestowe, Viewbank and Warrandyte area

were approached regarding, staff and client/ team engagement, advertising/promoting the event,

and/or a donation towards the cause. More than $500 was raised through this exercise and Back In

Motion Physiotherapy had one of the largest staff teams participating in the run.

Schools

Sixty primary and secondary schools were approached to promote the event through school/sports

captains and advertising the event in the school’s newsletter.

Athletic clubs

Twenty five sports and athletics clubs were approached to advertise and promote the event.

Local Traders

Local Traders in Diamond Creek Macleod and Eltham were approached requesting their support in

the form of staff/team involvement in the event, advertising/promoting the event in store and a

financial or goods in kind donation. More than $4000 in prizes were donated for the raffle which

raised $2000 and served as a platform to promote the event.

Sponsorship Community partners

An event sponsorship package was produced outlining different levels of sponsorship for this year’s

cause which was children with disabilities. Our previous sponsors continued with their amazing

support for the event and a new major sponsor, Bendigo Bank was secured.

M &M Print Works donated all promotional advertising design and production.

Athlete’s Foot Greensborough – donated all prizes for the winners valued at more than

$4500.

More than $5000 was donated by additional sponsors.

A free 12 month membership at the ELC was offered to our sponsors for the first staff

member who raised a $1000 on the Every Day Hero Platform. Unfortunately no one reached

this goal.

Observations

The message of the Fun Run Swim Spin event is complex and hard to communicate.

The registration process is confusing. Two events were presented on an electronic platform

and one event on a manual registration system.

The Swimathon is a YMCA National event and the date is determined at a national level. To

hold the Fun Run and Swimathon on the same day, the timing of the event was brought

forward by two weeks to the previous year’s Fun Run event and the lead time for promotion

was impacted by the January holiday period.

Historically there has been a small uptake of registrants fundraising through the Every Day

Hero platform. The process is complicated and requires registrants to leave the Register

Now platform and move to another site. The process is not only complex but is time

consuming.

A price increase from $5 to $10 for late registration may have impacted the number of

participants.

In relation to the dramatic drop in Fun Run participants from last year’s event, Register Now

indicated that there has been a considerable influx of events over the last three years and

the market is going through a correction. Most event organisers are seeing numbers

remaining static or decreasing this season.

A number of previous Fun Run participants did not register this year. The event organiser

recognised a trend of complaints from individuals experiencing difficulty registering. Prior to

the event, Register Now was contacted about a general complaint that the registration site

would, “drop out” when registrants tried to pay and eventually gave up. Register Now

analysed the statistics of both unpaid and incomplete registrations and stated that the

numbers were not unusual and could be explained by individuals indecision to proceed after

starting the registration process.

Community engagement of volunteers, sponsors and supporters is paramount to the success

of the event and maximising fundraising dollars. Although the Fun run saw 185 less

participants to the previous year the event raised an additional $6,000 to the previous year

and exceeded the $20,000 fundraising goal raising $25,198.10.This was due to increased

sponsorship and donations.

Recommendations

The Fun Run, Swimathon and Spinathon to be held as separate stand alone events.

The Fun Run to be held in mid to late March.

Spinathon’s scheduled twice a year for member engagement and retention.

An event working group to be established and a project plan developed for the 2017 event.

Digital content plan established.

Project Manager to consult with YMCA Board Representative regarding project plan and

Board influence and engagement.

Further analyse of the unpaid and incomplete registrations from Register Now. Explore other

on line registration services.

Consult with Every Day Hero to improve transparency and explore ways to increase the

uptake of this platform with the organisations supporters.

Strategically engage our most passionate supporters, staff and volunteers to use the Every

Day Hero platform.

Investigate and cost the possibility of a Micro website for promotion, engagement and

registration purposes.

Provide engagement opportunities and events for our major sponsors throughout the year.