When we talk about planning races, we tend to focus mostly on the more logistical aspects. Things like routes, events offered, and promotion tactics. However, one area we don’t tend to touch on as much is budget.
Money is a very important issue for lots of races – especially for smaller ones without big backers. No matter what type of event you host, chances are you need to stretch a few pennies to make your dollars and cents go the distance.
That reality is a big part of why RunSignup offers all of our premium tools for free to our users. In this article we cover three RunSignup tools you can use to save money for your event. We also share a few non-platform tools that you can consider to save a few more dollars.
Websites
As more and more people search, and register, for races online a high-quality website is non-negotiable. Websites aren’t just information hubs either, they also play a big part in forming someone’s opinion of your event. Plainly put, if your website doesn’t look professional, people might be weary of your event.
Building a website with something like SquareSpace, or Wix generally costs at least $15 a month. And those sites don’t offer any of the endurance-specific features that RunSignup does. So, even if you use one of those sites to sell tickets, chances are you’d need to connect to something like RunSignup on the backend to manage registrations.
Our sites are also optimized for mobile out-of-the-box, and optimized for SEO, helping people find your event easily. And With our new Websites V2 builder you’re able to make beautiful websites quickly and easily (check out this article to see some of our favorite examples).
Over the years we’ve consistently seen that email is an incredibly important promotional tool for races. In fact, last year 17% of all transactions on RunSignup came directly from emails sent from our platform. Truthfully, there are a lot of free email options. However, many free tools like Gmail, or Yahoo, don’t offer the types of features that our email system does.
For more advanced things like automated emails, analytics tracking, and pre-built email templates, you’d need to pay for something like MailChimp, or Constant Contact. Those types of tools generally cost around $20 a month. It’s not the biggest cost, but one that there’s no need to incur.
Along with the savings, since our email platform is integrated with RunSignup as a whole you’re able to do things like send automated emails to people with incomplete registrations. You can also set automated emails up for things like upcoming price increase, or registration close. Both of which we’ve found motivate people to purchase, as 26% of all registrations for events on our platform happened within three days of a price increase or registration close.
Mobile Timing App
*Note: we only suggest using the Mobile Timing App as a primary timing tool for events with 50 participants or less.
Timing is a very important part of most races. Participants train hard and want to know how they did in your event. However, if you host a smaller event and hiring a timer isn’t in your budget, the RaceJoy Mobile Timing App is a great option. It’s free to use and gives you the needed tools to time your race.
The app efficiently captures finish times and the order of finishers. And also seamlessly integrates with RunSignup’s results platform, enabling real-time publication of race results. Further, timers can effortlessly manage participants, create result divisions, and generate comprehensive results, including age group placements.
Along with being free to use, the app is designed for flexibility, it functions offline, storing data for later upload. This feature is invaluable for remote events like ultras and trail races. Additionally, it can serve as a backup timing tool, recording data independently for later analysis or verification.
A few more money-saving tools to consider
As a bonus, we wanted to share a few more tools you can use to keep costs low, outside of what’s available on the RunSignup platform.
Strava – Strava is a great tool for planning routes. It’s free to use and even integrates directly with RunSignup websites, so you can display your Strava map right on your site, giving participants more information about what to expect with your race.
Canva – Canva is a design tool that’s useful for doing things like creating logos and other images. Some features are limited on their free plan, but are still quite robust. We actually have an entire article about using Canva, with some free templates, too. Check it out here.
Asana – Asana is a project management tool that can help you better plan and follow-up on tasks associated with your event. They have a free version that’s useful for smaller teams. With it, you can assign tasks and set due dates. It’s mostly useful to serve as a single-source of truth for your team and helps keep tasks a bit more organized.
ChatGPT – ChatGPT is a generative AI tool that has a ton of potential uses. We’ve found it’s a great tool to help with things like writing website copy and event descriptions. You can use it to generate text from scratch, or edit existing text to check for grammar and spelling issues, as well as do things like shorten, lengthen, or change the tone of text. Similar to others, the free version does lack some functionality, but it’s still incredibly useful.
Moving forward
By leveraging the free tools offered by RunSignup, race directors can significantly reduce event costs without compromising quality. From crafting professional websites to effectively managing participant communications and even timing smaller races, these resources empower organizers to allocate their budget more strategically.
While these three tools provide a solid foundation, exploring additional cost-saving options can further optimize your event’s finances. By carefully considering your event’s specific needs and utilizing available resources, you can maximize your budget and deliver an exceptional experience for participants.