About Fundraising with Army Run
Help make a difference!
Since 2008, through race proceeds and the fundraising efforts of participants, Canada Army Run has contributed over $5 million to Support Our Troops and Soldier On to care for our Canadian Armed Forces community, their families and the ill and injured. This includes providing financial assistance to promote family resiliency and to support the recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration of members with a physical and/or mental illness or injury.
On behalf of our men and women in uniform – who do so much to keep us safe at home and abroad – THANK YOU for Standing With Us!
FUNDRAISING
The Basics
When fundraising, the first step (besides registering) is to personalize your fundraising page and explain your “why.” Then you can choose how you want to reach out based on your level of comfort. Remember to always follow up and thank your supporters!
Getting Started
1. Register: click on the “Register” button when visiting armyrun.ca. Then follow the Race Roster prompts to register by clicking the “Register” button via the lefthand menu, righthand menu, or under your preferred sub-event distance. You’ll be prompted to choose which sub-event you wish to participate in from a dropdown menu. Once selected, you’ll have to enter your personal information, answer some event day questions, indicate whether you’ll be participating as part of a team, and what size of event shirt you’d like to run in, among other things. You’ll also have the opportunity to enter you fundraising goal and share your “Why” in the My Story section.
Once registered, you can check if you’ve done so correctly by going to the “Confirm registration” section (lefthand menu) on the Canada Army Run event page and entering your first name, last name, or email address in the search bar. If your name appears, you’re registered. If it does not appear, please try registering again following the same steps.
2. Personalize Your Fundraising Page: to the right of your fundraising page, under your name and social media icons, click “Edit fundraising page.” Feel free to upload an image and customize the text on your page. For example, write a few sentences on why you’re participating in Canada Army Run (Share Your “Why”). All it takes is a few sentences for a supporter to understand why this cause is important to you and motivate them to donate. Set yourself up for success!
3. Set a Fundraising Goal: choose a fundraising goal to encourage your supporters to donate to your fundraising campaign and reach your goal. You can use the Impact Milestones (see below) to help you with this. For example, if you’re looking to set a goal, you can either set a personal goal or tie it to a specific impact.
Fundraising Impact Milestones
- $200 – You’ve helped offset medical travel expenses for a military family to travel for a specialist appointment.
- $500 – You’ve sent a child of a military member to attend day camp for a week
- $700 – You’ve covered the cost of a facilitator for an Operational Stress Injury Support System virtual training session
- $750 – You’ve purchased a piece of sporting equipment for a Soldier On member to support their rehabilitation and recovery through sport.
- $2,500 – You’ve awarded a dependent of a military member a scholarship from the Support Our Troops National Scholarship Program opening the doors to their future.
- $5,000 – You’ve helped offset the cost of a vehicle that will accommodate the required modifications for an injured Canadian Armed Forces member.
4. Create a Team (Optional): select “Create a Team” (righthand menu) on your fundraising page. Create a team name, set a team fundraising goal, appoint yourself team captain, and recruit your family, friends, and/or colleagues to register and join your team.
5. Ask for Donations: get ready to engage your networks. Reach out to your contacts and share that you’re registered and fundraising for this year’s Canada Army Run. Be sure to include a link to your fundraising page for them to use to donate (see “How To Share Your Fundraising Page on Social Media” below). Why not lead the charge? Be the first to donate to your own campaign and gain momentum toward that fundraising goal.
- Email Your Close Contacts and Extended Network: email your closest friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, friends, distant relatives, etc. and ask them to support you by donating to your page. Explain your connection to the Canadian Armed Forces and/or why you’re participating in Canada Army Run. They’ll help your fundraising build some momentum. Remember to ask them for their financial support, include a link to your fundraising page, and thank them for their time and support.
- Social Media Share: after you’ve emailed your contacts, it’s time to get social! We save your social media for later steps in your fundraising journey because people like to support causes that already have momentum.
How To Share Your Fundraising Page on Social Media
- Go to the Canada Army Run event page.
- On the left, click “Donate to Participant”
- Search for your fundraising page by entering your first name OR last name OR email address in the search bar provided and hit the search icon.
- Once you’ve found your name, click the “Donate” button on the right.
- You will be directed to your fundraising page. On the right, you will see three social media icons. Clicking one will allow you to share your fundraising page on that platform.
6. Share Your Milestones & Have Fun: be sure to update your supporters on social as you inch closer to your fundraising goal. You’ll also receive emails about the impact that you and your supporters have made along the way. Feel free to share these as it’s important for you and your supporters to know the difference you’re making. Whether it be sending a kid to camp, making a youth’s academic dreams come true, or empowering an ill/injured member start their road to recovery and rehabilitation. You and your supporters are making a difference!
From all of us at Canada Army, thank you for joining us as a participant and a fundraiser!