St. James-Holy Redeemer Jog-a-Thon: A Small School Doubles Its First Goal

The first year of any fundraiser is the riskiest. Families don't know what to expect, volunteers are learning the job, and nobody can tell you what a "normal" total looks like. The St. James-Holy Redeemer jog-a-thon is a useful example because it was a first attempt at a small school, and the published result was strong. It shows how far a modest goal and a well-dressed blacktop can take you.

What the school reported

The facts below come from a school-submitted article in Crescenta Valley Weekly, published November 14, 2019.

• When: October 2019, the school's first jog-a-thon.
• Who ran: students from transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.
• School size: the article says the school has over 100 students.
• Goal and result: an initial goal of $10,000; nearly $21,000 raised.
• Use of funds: school supplies, classroom materials and the school's educational efforts.
• Support: backing from both of the school's parishes.
• Late gifts: online donations stayed open through November 30, several weeks after the run.

Lap length, run time and the counting method weren't published.

The math behind doubling a goal (our analysis)

Nearly $21,000 from a school of just over 100 students works out to a little under $210 per student. Because enrollment is above 100, the true figure is somewhat lower. That's a high per-student result for a first-year event (see the per-runner figures other schools reported), and it suggests the money came from a wide circle, not just parents. Two parishes behind one school is a bigger donor base than the enrollment alone would suggest.

The lesson isn't that every small school can expect $200 a head. It's that small schools should size their goal from their donor network, not their enrollment. A school with 100 kids and two congregations behind it is a different fundraising unit than a school with 100 kids and no outside community. Our page on how much jog-a-thons raise walks through how to build that estimate from participants, donors per child and average gift.

The second lesson is about the goal itself. A $10,000 target was beatable, and beating it by that much made for an easy headline. A first-year goal you clearly pass is worth more next year than a stretch goal you miss by 15%.

Illustrative: a school of 100 students sets a $10,000 goal and expects 80 of them to fundraise. Each participating child needs $125 ($10,000 ÷ 80). At a $40 average gift, that's about three donors per child ($125 ÷ $40 = 3.1). Three donors is a grandparent, an aunt and a neighbor, which is a conversation a family can actually have. The goal tab of the jog-a-thon pledge planner runs this same math with your fees and costs included, so the number you announce is the number you can defend.

Turning a blacktop into an event

The school didn't have a stadium. The run happened on the upper yard, which the article says was turned into a "festive track" with colorful banners and student-made posters. An emcee kept things moving, music played from large speakers, and parents, teachers and staff cheered from the sides.

For a small campus, that list is the whole production budget: a sound system, someone on a microphone, and posters kids make in class. None of it requires a vendor. If you're laying out a loop on asphalt, our course setup guide covers cone spacing, a passing lane and where to put the counting table so it doesn't block the finish.

Recognition in three lanes

Prizes went to three groups: top earners, top runners and the class with the best combined result. Every participant also received a certificate. That structure is smart for a school with a wide age range. Fundraising awards reward families with big networks. Running awards reward kids who trained. A class award gives a shy second grader a reason to care about a total they can't move much on their own. The certificate makes sure nobody goes home with nothing.

If you're picking which prizes to buy, our jog-a-thon prize ideas page sorts them by cost and age group.

If this is your first jog-a-thon

Here is how we'd translate St. James-Holy Redeemer's first year into a plan for yours. This is our guidance, not something the school published.

1. List every community that might give. Parish, alumni families, grandparents, the parents' employers. That list sets your goal more than enrollment does.
2. Set a goal you expect to beat, and announce it. Then report the result, as this school did in the local paper.
3. Keep giving open after event day. The school accepted online gifts for weeks after the run. Late donors are common, especially per-lap sponsors who wait to see a lap count.
4. Spend on atmosphere, not equipment. Banners, posters, music and an emcee make a yard feel like an event.
5. Recognize earners, runners and classes separately.

Running a parish or independent school event? Our private and Catholic school jog-a-thon guide covers the planning details that differ at parish and independent schools. To see how this first-year result compares with long-running events, visit the jog-a-thon case studies index or the full jog-a-thon planning guide. And if you're still deciding between formats, our side-by-side of walk-a-thons and jog-a-thons covers the gentler version of the same event.