Doing Good or Running Well? An Analysis of Wellness and Motivation to Participate in Fitness Fundraisers

Michelle Bolwerk

&

Professor Peter Hart-Brinson

Fitness

Fundraisers

Why Do People Volunteer?

Values Understanding Career Social Enhancement Protective

(Clary et al., 1998)

What is Wellness?

According to the National Wellness Institute: Occupational Physical Social Intellectual Spiritual Emotional

(National Wellness Institute, 1976)

EventJust Us for Justice

Run/Walk "Brute"al 5K

Run/Walk

Cruisin’ the Blues in my Running Shoes

Run/Walk

Pursuit of a Cure Run/Walk

Booking it for Books Run

Walk for PawsJDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

Location Eau Claire Strum Durand Arcadia Elk Mound Menomonie Eau Claire

Distance(s)5 Mile2 Mile½ Mile

5K5K

10K5K

4 Mile2 Mile½ Mile

~1 Mile 2 Miles

BeneficiariesInternational Justice Mission and Fierce

Freedom

Strum Community Foundation

Food Pantry, Cross Country Team,

Humane Society

American Cancer Society

Elk Mound LibraryDunn county

Humane SocietyJDRF

Entry Fee No Charge $25.00 $15.00 $25.00 $20.00 $25.00 No Charge

Number of Participants

832 73 65 285 72 adults, 20 kids 100 500

Gross Revenue$27,500 ($5,000 Fierce Freedom, $22,500 IJM)

$1,000.00 $1,600.00 $38,500.00 $1,806.00 $10,000.00 $48,000.00

Notes: Data regarding number of participants was received by follow-up emails to the event organizers. They are self-reports and were not independently verified.

Interview Questions

1. Why did you choose to participate in this fundraiser today?

2. What motivated you to actively participate instead of just donating money to the cause?

3. How does participating in this event make you feel?

4. How would you define wellness or wellbeing?

5. What do you think the outcomes of this race will be?

Notes: I gave several follow up questions to these answers when they were necessary such as: In which ways do you think your personal wellness

has improved from doing this fitness fundraiser?

Number of Participants for Each Category of Motivations and Wellness

  General Motivation Specific Motivation

Values 39 15

Social 27 21

Fitness 20 32

Enhancement 19 40

Understanding 11 5

Protective 0 1

Career 1 0

  Wellness

Physical 43

Intellectual 20

Emotional 17

Social 12

Spiritual 4

Occupational 0

Note: Most responses were coded into multiple categories

Enhancement Motivation: Becoming More Healthy

“I’m trying to get healthier myself. And it’s a reason to get out there and walk.”

(Female, Just Us for Justice)

Result #1: Individualism

Fitness Motivation:Enjoy Physical Activity

“Well, I don’t really know that much about the cause. Um, it’s a convenient day to do a race. I race probably every two weeks and this just happened to be on a night that I had time to do it. I don’t really care about the cause or anything like that.”

(Male, Just Us for Justice)

Result #1: Individualism

Wellness

“Wellness I would say, well taking care of yourself. Getting out there, being active. You know, that’s another reason why I come out. Instead of just giving money, it’s something, I go out and I get to walk and the dogs get to walk.”

(Female, Walk For Paws) “Wellness and wellbeing is probably partly how your

body is but also your state of mind and who you are and that’s kind of why I like these events because again, it brings people out and gets them out and thinking.”

(Female, Walk for Paws)

Result #1: Individualism

Value Motivation: Find Cure

“Well number one because Laura is my granddaughter. And I think, we can come up with a cure for diabetes, you know for all, young and old. I work in health care and I see just diabetes and the prevalence is so much on the rise in our young kids, our little kids, that I think the more that we can get out there and, the better we are, the better they will be. And hopefully we will be able to have a cure for them in their lifetime.”

(Female, JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes)

Result #2: Altruism

Social Motivation: Spread Awareness

“I first heard about it through our church, the Bridge. And our pastors wife is very, this is very much her passion and once I learned about human trafficking and that it’s so huge, and that it happens right here in our own country in our own city even, I was like, I have to do something.”

(Female, Just Us for Justice)

Result #2: Altruism

Social Benefit: Build Community

Everyone seemed to know everyone else. When people arrived, they were greeting each other with hugs and smiles, asking one another how family members were doing and other personal conversations. . . Just about everyone there seemed excited and happy to be participating in this race for one reason or another. I really enjoyed this smaller group of fun runners because it felt like such a fun thing to do, not a obligation which running can feel like sometimes.

(Field Notes, ‘Brute’al 5k Run/Walk)

Result #2: Altruism

Summary

Individualistically and altruistically motivated Wellness as individualistic motivation

Broad social benefits

Variation across events JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

No Entry fee Most money raised Clear Values motivation

Cruisin’ the Blues in my Running Shoes Entry fee Split between three beneficiaries Most people were unaware of cause

Not always inherently civic

References

Clary, E. Gil ; Snyder, Mark ; Ridge, Robert D ; Copeland, John ; Stukas, Arthur A ; Haugen, Okun, M. A., Barr, A., & Herzog, A. (1998). Motivation to volunteer by older adults: A test of competing measurement models. Psychology and Aging, 13(4), 608-621.

Hettler, Bill. (1976). The Six Dimensions of Wellness. Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nationalwellness.org/resource/resmgr/docs/sixdimensionsfactsheet.pdf