Fundraising Through Weight Loss

Are you trying to lose weight to benefit your health? Well you might not have heard about such thing as a weight loss fundraiser, but many are using this charity event as the motivation they need to stay on track with their weight loss goals!

Weight loss fundraisers are not a new idea. You’ve seen this idea on television in the form of shows such as The Biggest Loser. It’s no surprise that about 66% of people in the US struggle with being overweight or obesity. Not only that, but carrying around excess weight on your body can increase a person’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and many other unhealthy conditions.

With billions and billions of dollars being pumped into the weight loss industry every year, on fad products such as the weight loss patch, fat burning pills and a multitude of newfound exercise equipment and diets—why not put some of this money into the hands of those who need it—goodness knows, Richard Simmons doesn’t need the royalties from yet another fitness video.

Encourage employees to have a good wellness-work balance

Weight loss fundraisers are catching on in the workplace. It makes sense, after all there are thousands of company dollars lost to employee absenteeism and low productivity directly connected to conditions of those who are out of shape and need to lose a few pounds—maybe more.

With the price of obesity costing companies around $285,000 a year in increased medical costs and absenteeism—it’s no wonder that some CEO’s might try to encourage employees to take control of their health.

Just of late the corporate world is discovering the financial benefits of encouraging their employees to have a good wellness-work balance. There has been a ton of research to show that yoga classes, corporate gyms, running and walking programs have many benefits to the employee as well as the employer.

For the employee, fitness promises:

• better concentration
• positive attitude
• more energy
• improved overall health
• stress reduction

For employers, fitness benefits in these ways:

• increased productivity
• happier workplace atmosphere
• greater hiring incentive
• decreased staff turn over
• increased morale
• greater teamwork
• less absenteeism
• lower medical costs

So that’s all well and good, but as an employer with these concerns, how do you get your employees interested in their health and well being? Well a fun challenge that the company does together can be a good first step. That is where the weight loss fundraiser comes in!

Fundraiser vs Weight Loss Challenge

Now this is the great thing about a fundraiser, compared to a weight loss challenge. People get turned off by the idea of competition—especially with co-workers and especially when it’s bringing to light the idea that they need to be healthier—maybe lose some weight. No one wants to be the center of a negative competition, especially if they come up the loser.

However, a weight loss fundraiser puts the focus on raising money for charity. So instead of one winner and a bunch of losers with a competition, with a fundraiser, regardless of who loses how much, everyone is helping to benefit the larger cause.

Now the main focus of your weight loss fundraiser should be raising funds for the charity. Take the onus off of your employees to lose weight. While it may be a personal goal for many of the participants, the larger goal, the one that will have them signing up and keep them motivated is the money they are raising for charity.

Also, you want to make sure that your weight loss program is accessible to all employees. This may challenge them to take on their weight loss privately, by going for walks or a gym.

However, if you do group exercise or events, be very sure to include everyone by keeping the events within everyone’s fitness level. You don’t want to be running marathons with employees who have never jogged around the block before.

Setting up a Weight Loss Fundraiser

To set up a weight loss fundraiser, all you need is a record-keeping program. The easiest way to do this is online or through some sort of pledge program.

This way volunteers can:

• Sign up on the Website.
• Weigh in (this can be done privately at home or by one judge).
• Make the private commitment to lose weight.
• Print out pledge sheets and go to friends and family to garner donations.
• Or if they are more public about their weight loss efforts, pass the pledge sheet around to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers to solicit donations (donations can be anywhere from $1 to $10, but you should agree on a minimum donation).

Choose a timeline for your fundraiser, so that within a certain time period (make it realistic) contestants can have their weigh-in, collect donations, and have their final weigh-in to determine their weight loss efforts. When all is said and done, the final monies collected can be reported in bulk fashion.

You don’t need to highlight or separate everyone’s weight lost, but you can celebrate the final numbers as a collective. Keep in mind that the idea that their health is serving a higher good can be enough motivation to kick off a health program that has been in limbo for a very long time.

Sure, the charity of your choice will be the recipient of the funds, but the participants will feel better about their overall health, experience greater energy, and significantly reduce the stress in their lives.

It really is a win-win situation for all!