I can't even imagine how much the parents, teachers, and kids loved this. Who doesn't love walking. Did u reward top fundraising child or class?

We made it simply. Flyers went out asking for flat pledges. Parents used their own envelopes to return the pledge. Students walked and we invited parents to come to watch & walk if they wished to do so. We scheduled each grade level at a different time so the area was not overcrowded. It was also a day when we had our one-day Scholastic Book Blast, so parents were there to shop with their student as well.
No t-shirts; but we gave a sticker that said I Walked Today for my new Playground
We provided water to all that walked
Top fundraisers in each grade level won a prize

Since we have a Ladies Night Out with a gift raffle, we have already hit up our area businesses for donations. So getting sponsors for the walk would be too much. Also, our students receive a free tshirt on Spirit Day in June & we sell school shirts as well. It would take away from that if we gave another free one.

We raised 10K our first year and it will be our fall fundraiser next year to kick off the year.

We've agreed to have our first walk-a-thon fundraiser. We have basic ideas for what we'd like to do, but need a little help getting started.

We'd like to make it a family event.
We'd like to have t-shirts for each participant, regardless of pledges collected.
We'd like to have sponsors cover the t-shirt costs (and other costs, if possible).
We'd like to have a raffle at the end of the walk, with each participant receiving a ticket - regardless of pledges collected.
We'd like to have flat pledges, rather than distance-based pledges.
We might like to offer prizes to the biggest pledge collectors.

Any advice on developing flyers & envelopes, when/how to collect (can we collect the day of since we're seeking flat pledges?), getting t-shirts & sponsors, running the raffle & drinks, etc?

The e-mailing of helpful forms, flyers, etc would be most welcome. They could be sent to enchantedleader @ enchantedword.com (no spaces). To avoid adding a list of 'me too's' to the thread, CC'ing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. would make them available for everyone here.

TIA