Eventbrite sat down with Tammy Ellis, Special Events Coordinator, and Steve Kerr, Chief Development Officer, to find out how Drumstick Dash turned their nonprofit turkey trot from a local fundraiser into a national franchise. Wheeler Mission Ministries began the race in 2003 as a new way to raise funds to help the homeless in Indiana. Since they receive the most donations around Thanksgiving, and running events are incredibly popular on Thanksgiving day, a turkey trot felt like the natural choice.
The team was hoping for 500 participants their first year and got 1300. Ten years later, the race has grown to about 17,000 runners and walkers. The Drumstick Dash is now one of the 50 largest Thanksgiving races in the country, and the team has launched a nationwide franchise. Through the team’s seminars, consulting and licensing services, Drumstick Dash races now take place at 6 locations across the country.
Do you have advice for other NPO organizations who want to put on their first fundraising races?
Make local connections. When we first started, we met with a friend of Steve’s, who is a race director, and another friend who owns a local running store. Those are critical first steps for something of this nature. So many NPOs will try to do it on their own, but it’s key to find the right people to support your cause and your race. It helps to do it for the love of the sport.
As turkey trots have become more popular, how do you make the Drumstick Dash stand out?
Steve always encourages the staff to sign up for other walking and running events so they can see what everyone is doing. That way we can learn best practices, and see who may be copying us. You don’t want to become stagnant.
Over the years, several other local turkey trots have started to compete with us. Some were on the same registration site, so we decided to switch to Eventbrite to stand out more. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up, and the slick event page reinforces that our race is the can’t-miss event.
How do you get people coming back year after year?
We make a fun event and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We make sure to add new unique things to make it exciting for families, like encouraging costumes and offering a Little Gobblers run. As a faith-based non-profit race, we always tie our work back to our mission. Our slogan is “Move your feet, so others can eat,” and that inspires people to participate. It’s become a great family tradition for lots of folks.
We also make the event as easy to access and well organized as possible. As we have grown, we realized parking was becoming a challenge, so we created a shuttle service. Little things like that show that you’re not just a run, you’re a first class event.
What is your favorite part of organizing the race?
After a year of planning, I love the moment when the whole team stands on the stage and watches the entire race run by. We see so many repeat participants, and it’s a culmination of our efforts fitting for Thanksgiving morning.
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