Dup15q Alliance Makes Their Virtual Event Flexible and Expands Participation

Dup15q Alliance works to raise awareness and promote research into chromosome 15q duplications, ultimately seeking to find targeted treatments so that affected individuals can live full and productive lives. 

The Dup15q Alliance has hosted Run for a Reason events for years. This event has allowed athletes to raise money for Dup15q’s cause via peer-to-peer campaigns while running a marathon. The Dup15q Alliance recently launched Walk for a Reason to open the fundraisers up to people who wanted to participate but couldn’t physically handle running marathons. 

“So many people want to help, but they have limited time or limited capacity. Letting them guide their event allowed them to make it what it needed to be for them.”

—Naka King, Dup15q Alliance Administrator

Walk for a Reason lets people set their own goals for how many times per week they plan to walk and how long their walks will be. This format also makes it possible for participants to walk with a child who has Dup15q syndrome. Walk for a Reason would launch on a larger scale than the Run event, and it was scheduled during the pandemic, so it would need to cover a longer time period to accommodate everyone’s existing commitments. 

Naka King, Dup15q Alliance Administrator, shared that Network for Good’s easily-customizable peer-to-peer pages allowed the organization to easily expand Walk for a Reason beyond what they were doing with the Run event. Families got involved and promoted the event and the individual they were walking for via a customized t-shirt with the person’s name on it. 

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising’s Flexibility is Ideal for an Uncertain Time

Because the pandemic made already-busy schedules even more complex, the Dup15q Alliance team wanted to make sure that the fundraiser was as easy as possible for peer-to-peer participants. Running the event for a three-month period enabled people to participate during any time frame that was convenient for them. 

Allowing Fundraisers to Create Their Own Event Boosts Participation

Naka says that one of the reasons their event was so successful was that they allowed their fundraisers to set their own parameters for their walk — how far and how long their event would be. She says, “So many people want to help, but they have limited time or limited capacity. Letting them guide their event allowed them to make it what it needed to be for them.” 

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