How Royal Credit Union Took Its Annual Charity Race Virtual

Our communities are counting on credit unions, now more than ever, to offer hope and leadership while navigating an uncertain environment. How do we continue to strengthen neighborhoods during a time of a global pandemic and unrest?

Large-scale events are one tool credit unions use to connect with their communities. Is it possible to continue to engage with communities and make a positive impact, while following state and local guidelines? The community engagement team at Royal Credit Union ($2.8 billion in assets) located in Eau Claire, Wis., attempted to answer these questions as we struggled to decide how to proceed with a long-standing event. We are excited to share the lessons we learned and help other credit unions facing similar situations.

Celebrating Our Past

For the past 25 years, Royal has held a large, community event to benefit non-profit organizations in the communities we serve. In 2017, we expanded the event and made it a fundraiser for our RCU Foundation. The foundation then donates the funds raised to local non-profits. Rock the Riverfront featuring the Charity Classic (RTR) is a walk/run and family fun event that has turned into a summer favorite.

The annual event attracts over 1,000 people and takes place in the park outside Royal’s corporate center, nestled at the confluence of two rivers in downtown Eau Claire. Like clockwork, it is held every year on the fourth Saturday in June. The main features are a 10k and two-mile run/walk, and two popular kid’s races. However, the event offers much more than just a chance to win a first place medal in a race. It serves as a celebration of community partnership and features the spirit of “people helping people” with a quintessential, downtown Midwestern feel. Complete with bouncy houses, face painting, a dunk tank (with a featured Royal executive as the dunkee) and food trucks lining the race route, the day is filled with hugs, high-fives and celebrating a sense of community.

Reimagining the Future

For the 2020 event, the RCU Foundation had committed to raising $27,500 to support three local non-profit organizations that work to address mental health and domestic violence. A planning committee had been meeting for months and was on track to make RTR a success. Then, the state of Wisconsin enacted its stay-at-home order on March 25, 2020 as a result of COVID-19.

As the calendar turned from April to May and the order continued, it became clear that our event could not be held safely in a traditional sense. With no playbook to consult that outlined how to continue the event during a global pandemic, we set out to write one of our own. We believed in our ability to create and execute a virtual event and got after it.

Sprinting to the Finish Line

On May 6, 2020, the planning committee made the difficult decision to recommend transitioning the 2020 RTR event to a virtual race. Following foundation board approval, we quickly created new committees and scheduled weekly check-ins to stay focused on the logistics, communications and technology-based solutions we would need to ensure a successful transition.

We designed the event to allow participants to complete their race anytime and anywhere between June 27 and July 12. Our traditional in-person event would have been held on June 27, so we saw that as a logical start date for the virtual run/walk. We offered online registration for either the 10k or two-mile option. Racers are also given the option to record their time and qualify to win cool prizes. Upon completion of the event, participants will be mailed their race swag, including a T-shirt and finisher medal.

We revised our budget and developed new communication strategies to encourage community support of our virtual event. We knew we had an impactful story to tell. Mental health and domestic violence have emerged as two prevalent issues during the global pandemic, and our event provides support to organizations that are addressing those issues at a critical time. We made our official announcement on May 11 and were off to the races.

Within a few hours of announcing our virtual event, we received our first email. “What happened to the kids’ races? Our family participates in Rock the Riverfront every year, but we can’t afford to pay $30 per child, especially now,” Julie B wrote. Our team didn’t fully consider the fact that families would want to complete this activity together. We got so focused on details like which graphic were we going to use in the announcement email and what size package we should use to mail the swag, that we overlooked one of the key elements that makes this event so special. We worked quickly to add a youth option at a cheaper price, and are now providing a safe, fun summer activity for the whole family.

Getting Creative With Sponsorships

Our team was also concerned about whether our sponsors would continue to support our now virtual event. Several companies were already signed up to sponsor different areas of the in-person event, such as the kids games, dunk tank and finish line. We quickly created a new menu of sponsorship opportunities and made recommendations that aligned with each organization. For example, one organization had signed on to sponsor the food truck and dining tent area. We asked if we could transition their sponsorship to the social media event page. We also offered to include their logo on our Facebook profile frame and finisher frame. By getting creative and finding new ways to recognize our supporters, even in a virtual environment, we hoped to save their needed contributions. All of our sponsors, many of whom are respected credit union vendor partners, agreed to continue their support of our event. It was an excellent example of the “people helping people” spirit of our movement.

Five Tips for a Successful Event Transition

1. Identify the key elements that make your event uniquely special and do your best to include them in the transition.

2. If you have a short window to make the change, structure your planning team to work in a sprint environment. Establish critical committees using an “all hands on deck” approach, and schedule frequent check-ins and clear action steps. Monthly meetings aren’t going to work if your event is only six weeks away!

3. Work within your budget, but be OK with breaking even. Our event typically raises additional funds for the foundation, but this year we are thrilled to be on pace to donate the $27,500 to the charities and not incur a loss that the foundation would have to cover.

4. Listen to feedback and work quickly to make changes that will better the event. People are very forgiving and understand we are all trying to navigate this environment as best we can. If someone offers an idea, share it with your team and implement the idea if it makes sense for your event.

5. Stay positive and focused, and have fun!

Jennifer McHugh is Vice President of Community Engagement for Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis.