St. Paul Lutheran: A Walkathon With a New Reason Every Year

All figures are as the school states them on its walkathon page.¹

Water stations and a music curriculum

Most years, the school names what the money is for, and the names are concrete. In 2021 it was "additional P.E. and recreational field spaces." In 2023 it was "a new Faith Studies Curriculum, new water bottle filling stations, and a new Music curriculum." In 2025 it was professional development for teachers and enhancements to the arts and athletic programs.

A donor asked to help buy water bottle filling stations can picture the gift on a hallway wall. A donor asked to "support our school" can't. Keeping each year's purpose on the same page as each year's result also builds a kind of credibility a new campaign page can't: families can see that previous years' money turned into the things that were promised.

What the six years show

Read as a trend, the table tells two stories. From 2020 to 2024 the walk grew from more than $25,000 to more than $65,000, roughly two and a half times, by our arithmetic. Then 2025 came in at more than $50,000, down about a quarter from the record. Because every figure is a floor ("over," "more than"), the real totals may be somewhat higher, but the shape holds.

The largest year, 2024, was described only as raising money "to benefit St. Paul Lutheran School!" The following year, with a specific purpose, raised less. Results move for many reasons, from enrollment to the economy to who chairs the campaign, and the page doesn't explain the change. A named purpose gives families something to tell their relatives; it doesn't guarantee a bigger total. What St. Paul does right is leave the lower year on the page beside the record one. A results page that only ever shows growth stops being believed.

Keeping a record like this at your school

St. Paul's page is easy to copy and needs updating once a year. Post one row per walk: the year, the total stated the same way every year (gross or net, not a mix), and the purpose in the words families were given. Add a column St. Paul doesn't have: what was actually delivered, and when. A line such as "filling stations installed in January" (our example, not St. Paul's) closes the loop that the purpose opened, and it's the most persuasive sentence next year's kickoff letter can include.

Choosing the purpose matters as much as recording it. The strongest ones are things families can see, things the school can finish within the year, and things priced at or below a cautious goal. If the walk overshoots, name a second item in advance so the extra money has a home. That's the tiered approach described in the Hall Middle School case, applied to a single project. Our parent letter template has a line for the year's purpose.

Superheroes of Faith, and a whale

St. Paul gives each walk a theme drawn from its faith. The current one is "Superheroes of Faith." The walk also has a mascot who comes back every year, Wally the Walkathon Whale, who appears "to encourage our students as they raise funds."¹ A theme changes each fall; a mascot is built once and returns. At a school that runs from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, Wally gives the youngest walkers a character to look for, and older students a familiar face from year to year. For more theme and name ideas, see walk-a-thon slogans and event names; faith-based schools may also find the private school walk-a-thon guide useful for coordinating with an annual fund.

Sources

1. St. Paul Lutheran School, Walkathon (accessed October 19, 2026).