How to Use Your Climbing Wall as a Fundraising Tool

You likely had to do some fundraising to get your climbing wall. Now that you have it, have you considered using it to raise funds for other needs at your school or organization? Hosting a Climb-a-Thon is our favorite way to use a climbing wall to raise funds.

A Climb-a-Thon is like a Walk-a-Thon. Instead of raising money by walking, participants raise money by climbing. They solicit pledges from friends and family members either as a dollar amount per lap climbed or as a flat donation for participating in the Climb-a-Thon. We’ve created a Climb-a-Thon Pledge Form that you can download. If donors choose to donate per lap climbed, climbers should keep a log of how many laps they climbed. You can download our Climb-a-Thon Lap Log to help them track the laps. A lap is defined as one trip across a Traverse Wall® or one vertical climb up a Top Rope Wall.

A Climb-a-Thon can be a one-day event or spread out over a week or more. The longer the timeframe, the more money that can be raised. And if your organization is a school, spreading the event out over a week or more enables all grade levels to participate as part of their physical education classes. Having the climbing wall “open” before or after school or during recess could provide additional climbing opportunities. Other organizations can host a Climb-a-Thon during certain hours of the day for a set number of days, or for just one day for predetermined hours. There’s a lot of flexibility in how you plan this fundraiser.

Be sure to inform parents and guardians of the Climb-a-Thon and let them know how the funds raised will be used. Also advertise the event by posting fliers and providing information in your organization’s newsletter and website.

Once the Climb-a-Thon has been completed, climbers should reach back out to their donors to collect funds. There will be some math involved in calculating the per lap pledges. Be sure to follow up by thanking donors and communicating the total amount of funds raised. If you host a Climb-a-Thon, please send photos and let us know how it went! We would love to share your success in an upcoming newsletter.

For other fundraising ideas, be sure to download our free Fundraising Guide. We offer one for every state and even though it’s intended to help people raise funds for a climbing wall, the resources within can help you raise funds for other equipment.