Four Flexible Fundraising A-Thons!
Everybody loves some healthy competition – especially when it comes to fundraising. That is one reason why A-Thons are so successful: it encourages participants to engage with your fundraiser and compete for the title of highest fundraiser, strongest swimmer, or biggest reader! Discover everything there is to know about A-Thons.
In this article:
What is an A-Thon?
An A-Thon is any activity that encourages people to do lots of the same activity for a group cause. Based on the concept of a marathon (a very long run!), a fundraising A-Thon encourages participants to collect sponsors for their efforts.
Sponsors can make a standard donation regardless of how many laps or books the participant completes, or may choose to make a donation per successful lap or book. For example, they may wish to donate $5 for every book read or correctly spelled word.
Types of A-Thons
There are many types of A-Thons: Swim-A-Thons, Lap-A-Thons, Read-A-Thons, Skip-A-Thons, Spell-A-Thons, and dozens more! Below we explain four popular A-Thons for schools and groups and how they work!
Read-A-Thon
Read-A-Thons are popular fundraisers in schools, especially in areas where reading and literacy is a strong focus within their school culture.
These fundraisers encourage students and families to read together, strengthening the school community and developing creative ideas, critical thinking and of course, are great for fundraising!
A Read-A-Thon works by having students successfully read as many books as they can during your fundraising period. The best way to host your Read-A-Thon is to help students set a reasonable reading target, and assist them in choosing suitably challenging books to read.
As students keep track of their completed books, they can update sponsors and draw in more donations as they approach their reading goal.
Encourage reading with a Read-A-Thon fundraiser!
Benefits of a Read-A-Thon:
- All school aged children can participate, ranging from Prep onwards,
- It does not rely on an event day, making it easy to organise and COVID-friendly,
- Reading encourages parents and children to spend time together, sharing the fundraising experience.
Looking for more information about a Read-A-Thon? Contact the Fundraising Specialists at Australian Fundraising for everything you need to know about hosting a Read-A-Thon for your school or group!
Contact Australian Fundraising today!
Spell-A-Thon
Spell-A-Thons are very similar to Read-A-Thons, and have many similar benefits for your school community! These fundraisers are great for children of reading age, and can be a positive way to strengthen literacy skills within your school.
These fundraisers often attracts target-based donations – where people will pledge to donate a certain amount of money per successfully spelled word. This can be a great way to motivate children towards practicing their spelling in the lead up to your event.
A Spell-A-Thon works by asking students to engage in a Spelling Bee – where they need to correctly spell as many words as possible. You may choose to do this via a written quiz (where all students spell the same words). Alternatively, students can work together as a class and collectively spell as many words correctly as possible.
This type of A-Thon does require some preparation and organisation. You will need to collect words of appropriate difficulty for each age group, and liaise closely with staff to help hold the Spell-A-Thon.
Spell-A-Thon’s can be an engaging fundraiser for any age group.
Benefits of a Spell-A-Thon:
- A Spell-A-Thon encourages students to engage positively with spelling and literacy,
- Facilitates team work between students and teachers to achieve their spelling goals,
- A popular fundraiser for target-based donations, which can drive students to aim for bigger goals.
Did You Know?
McDowall State School raised more than $80 000 with a Spell-A-Thon and School Fun Run with Australian Fundraising? This could be you! Contact the team today to find out how!
Contact Australian Fundraising today!
Skip-A-Thon
A Skip-A-Thon is a crowd favourite, particularly because it gets participants out of the classroom and moving their body! Give your participants a set period of time and watch them skip away.
Fundraising is sponsorship based, meaning that your participants find sponsors who support their Skip-A-Thon. This is similar to fundraising for a Colour Explosion School Fun Run or Slime Spectacular School Fun Run.
To help motivate students to fundraise, they will collect their sponsorship donations before their Skip-A-Thon, and receive incentive prizes at the completion of your fundraiser! You can see our range of awesome incentive prizes here.
Host a fundraising favourite with a Skip-A-Thon!
Benefits of a Skip-A-Thon:
- Using class groups or grade groups can help students bond with peers outside the classroom, creating lifelong memories and fostering comradery,
- A healthy and fun fundraising option that can be run in addition to a School Fun Run or entirely on it’s own,
- Partnered with music, skipping tricks and school spirit, a Skip-A-Thon is one of the most fun A-Thons you can host at your school.
Looking for more information? A Skip-A-Thon is a popular choice for schools and groups across all ages! Contact the team at Australian Fundraising to learn more about how you can host a Skip-A-Thon fundraiser for your school or group!
Contact Australian Fundraising today!
Swim-A-Thon
Perfect for the warmer months, turn your annual Swimming Carnival into a fundraising Swim-A-Thon! Similar to the Skip-A-Thon, a Swim-A-Thon encourages students to get active while fundraising for your school or group.
If you host a Swim-A-Thon alongside your swimming carnival, it could be an all-in event where students are encouraged to swim as many laps as they can in a five minute time slot. This could also be held at the end of a regular Physical Education class.
Alternatively, your Swim-A-Thon could be hosted as a stand-alone event where you hold specific races for each age group. It should be noted that Swim-A-Thons are best for older age groups, but with the right context, supervision and encouragement, could be held across the school community.
The Swim-A-Thon is an event based fundraiser, therefore comes with a bit more organisation than a Read-A-Thon. However, Swim-A-Thons are often the highlight of the school year as students splash their way to fundraising success!
Perfect for warmer months, a Swim-A-Thon is a great fundraiser for schools and groups.
Benefits of a Swim-A-Thon:
- Hugely popular for schools with their own on-site swimming pool,
- Encourages team work and bonding among classes, grades or school house groups,
- Facilitates physical activity, and can be incorporated into existing activities like a Swimming Carnival or physical education class.
Do you have questions about a Swim-A-Thon at your school? Our team can help! Experts in all things fundraising, the team at Australian Fundraising can help answer every question you have about a Swim-A-Thon. Contact us today!
Contact Australian Fundraising today!
Fundraising For Your A-Thon
Australian Fundraising makes it easier (and better!) than ever to fundraise with an A-Thon. By adapting our flexible School Fun Run program to your A-Thon, you will bring in all the extra benefits that help you reach your fundraising goals.
Having helped schools and groups fundraise for more than 20 years, we know how to host a successful and profitable fundraiser. If you choose Australian Fundraising to help you host your A-Thon, you will benefit from:
- Our custom made fundraising platform for primary-school aged children and groups;
- A suite of pre-made template resources, including parent letters, assembly announcements and more!
- The hottest incentive prizes in fundraising for students who raise $10 or more,
- Your own dedicated Fundraising Account Manager to provide support every step of the way,
- FREE sunglasses, wristbands, Coordinator Colour Kits and so much more!
Did You Know?
Students who fundraise online with our cybersafe online platform raise 3x more than those who collect cash?! They are also eligible in up to $75 of FREE extra prize credit by collecting virtual coins.
Learn more about online fundraising.
Learn More About Hosting A Fundraiser!
Are you ready to start organising your A-Thon fundraiser with Australian Fundraising? Getting started is simple!
Request your information kit from our team, and someone will be in touch with everything you need to know! Alternatively, you can learn more about our basic School Fun Run package (that is tailored for an A-Thon) or view our online catalogue!
Request A Free Information Kit.
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