We have a series Customer Case Studies, in which we take your stories and share your challenges and successes as a learning tool for other RunSignup users.
Semper Fi Fund Community Athletes and RunSignup
The Semper Fi Fund Community Athletes program uses RunSignup to easily manage the fundraising goals and requirements of their Teams.
About the Semper Fi Fund Community Athletes
The Community Semper Fi Fund Team consists of compassionate people who take the time and initiative to compete in athletic events and/or accomplish athletic feats while supporting the Semper Fi Fund. Community Athletes compete in marathons, triathlons, and other athletic endeavors, or simply conduct a letter writing or fundraising campaign. They pledge to raise funds and awareness for the Semper Fi Fund throughout their generous efforts, and they usually have fun in the process.
Moving to RunSignup
The Semper Fi Fund Community Sports program started working with RunSignup after a demo and discussion with Technical Account Manager Natalie Young, who knew some of their unique challenges from a previous working relationship.
“Overall, I think re-learning a new platform is a challenge – just where to find everything, and what your options are. In the beginning, any issues I would email Natalie and she would explain it; once learned, it was easy to work with.” – Elizabeth O, Race Manager, Community Athletes.
Customer Service Made Simple
Once simple feature that made life easier for the Semper Fi Fund team was the basic “Contact Info” form on the registration page. This simple feature made communication easy: any issues from their runners would be sent directly to Michelle, their Race Coordinator, and she could easily reply back to the runner directly through email.
One note: Michelle did recognize that the emails from the contact form are “from” RunSignup (not the runner), so she would need to check her RunSignup emails when tracking down an old runner email.
The Process
There are a variety of ways for Community Athletes to be involved with the Semper Fi Fund. For their biggest singular event, the Marine Corps Marathon, running for charity can bring extra meaning to the effort as well as a bypass to the sellout lottery process.
Runners wishing to run for the Semper Fi Fund will register directly with the Semper Fi Fund team on RunSignup (or via the widget on their website). They have a few options, the main ones being:
- Fundraising Only for the Marine Corps Marathon or the Marine Corps Historic Half: For a $150 minimum and a $25 registration charge, these participants receive some team perks, but do not have an entry into a race.
- Marine Corps Marathon Participant: For a $140 race registration fee and a $500 fundraising minimum, these runners gain entry into the marathon upon their fundraising goals.
Through registration, runners automatically have a fundraising page created for them. They can customize their page with photos, personal information about their support of the cause, and individualized fundraising goals. This page can be shared throughout their social network (and beyond) to collect online donations towards their minimum.
Donors on the RunSignup Fundraising page immediately receive email confirmation and a tax receipt for their donation.
The Marine Corps Marathon Semper Fi Fund Team is still accepting donations towards their 2015 goal of $775,000. Thus far, their 752 runners have raised $657,632.
Volunteers on RunSignup
Further centralizing their data, the Semper Fi Fund has also utilized the RunSignup Volunteer System to track their volunteer needs for Expo Support, Pasta Dinner Support, a Race Day Water Stop, and more. This year, they used a combination of RunSignup Volunteer registrations and imported registrations from a previous system; in the future, they can cut out the importing step and have everyone register on RunSignup.
One impressive note for anyone who has ever tried to recruit volunteers: their Volunteer Report shows they reached 100% of their goal volunteers in every category.
The Difference-Maker: Reporting
Beause the main name of their game is big fundraising, reporting is crucial to the Semper Fi Fund. Previously, they would need to create crazy custom reports that would take hours; with RunSignup, that has become a lot easier.
RunSignup worked with the Semper Fi Fund team to improve the reporting capabilities on Fundraisers – to help Semper Fi Fund, but also to ensure usable reports for all races that utilize fundraising. With the new reporting, they can see who has met their minimum requirements with the click of a button, and can view the fundraising amount directly in the participant report.
What’s Next
At RunSignup, we are always looking for what can be done better to build long-term customer relationships. A few points of improvement in the coming years:
- Customized colors on Race Page (like they were able to do on the widget)
Check! The new Race Websites allow for custom colors and images, and theirs can be updated for next year! - Improved fundraising leaderboard to help runners see their status
- Smoother linking of Volunteer Coordinators to their event
Stay tuned for what’s next!
If you have a success story about your race, store or club, big or small, email us
…we’d love to explore a Case Study on your topic!