January often sees many us frantically trawling through the calendar filling up weekends with races to complete. Some of us will do many, finally aiming for one ultimate one, and then some will just be doing one big personal challenge and no other ones. Whatever it is we all have a goal, a finish line, something to aim for and it can be the best way to keep us on with fitness targets. But is that enough? Do we need something else to keep us pushing, achieving, striving? BT MyDonate is here to help.
Have you considered doing your fitness challenge for charity? Raising some pennies for your chosen organisation could be just the incentive you need. I have only done this a few times and only for big races, but I regularly support others on their way to their own personal challenges, those who have never done a 10k run or those doing crazy ultras. One of my big ones where I did raise money was when I did my first triathlon at Blenheim, I raised money for Epilepsy Research UK as I'd only been diagnosed with epilepsy the year before.
Believe it or not if you do some sort of a fitness challenge for charity you are far more likely to keep on track, and according to a BT survey more a quarter (28%) said they'd be likely to adhere to New Year's Resolutions if they involved something to do with charity. With regards to my fundraising I must admit there were a few occasions I felt like giving up, I'd have an internal argument with myself because I was constantly having to self motivate. In the end I did my race, raised money and that began my love of triathlon - so I'm thankful I carried on.
I haven't used it yet but I am really interested in fundraising for charity via BT MyDonate. It has many plus points in comparison to other online fundraising websites, but mainly because it's a not-for-profit service. Even though it launched in 2011 and has £113m processed in donations and gift aid, it still does not charge any commission fees, subscription fees or even any registration fee. The only fees are the ones for card payments, 15p if you use a debit card or 1.3% on a credit card. The thing I do like about this service, is the fact BT invests at least 1% of it's corporate pre-tax profits into the community and environment each year. BT MyDonate now has over 10,900 charities to chose from and has over 13,400 live fundraising pages, so it has clearly kept on growing since it launched. To make things easier you can actually monitor all donations with the MyDonate app, allowing you to keep spreading awareness via social channels.
Not quite sure about asking people for money? It can hard to approach people for a donation I know, but with the wonderful world of the internet you can simply just keep sharing a fundraising page. Chose a charity that is close to your heart, the stronger bond you have with your chosen charity the more likely you will reach your challenge goal. There is even more incentive at the moment for those who create a fundraising page on MyDonate, as part of BT's Donation Doubler campaign any that raise over £100 between 5th January and 20th January will be entered in to a prize draw. This could mean you can double the donations received on their page up to £1000 if you won!
By choosing a challenge whether it is a run, a cycle, a swim, climbing something or some sort of crazy obstacle course, whatever you decide to do by selecting a charity it will keep you focused All those people donating, not only want to help the charity but they believe in you. That itself should be motivation enough - and obviously you are doing something amazing for charity too.
Are you looking to perhaps do something fitness wise for charity this year? If so what are you thinking of doing and for who?
To find out more about fundraising and setting up your fundraising page, head over to BT MyDonate to discover what they can do.
*Post in collaboration with BT*
