The Hartford Marathon has so established itself as a signature event in Connecticut that its organizers at the Hartford Marathon Foundation want to leverage that position to provide additional help to local charities.
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
The Hartford Marathon has so established itself as a signature event in Connecticut that its organizers at the Hartford Marathon Foundation want to leverage that position to provide additional help to local charities.
Beth Shluger, executive director of the foundation and a lifelong runner, biker and swimmer, acknowledges that it's now a lot easier to raise sponsorship money, than it was in 1994, when she launched the first marathon with $30,000 and 352 runners.
Today, she can comfortably count on the presence of 16,000 people to run the marathon and several shorter races originating in Bushnell Park Oct. 10. The runners, moreover, will be joined by 60,000 spectators and volunteers.
“We have a high-quality product that appeals to all age groups and all nationalities,” Shluger said. “We're recognizable. We don't have to explain who we are.”
The marathon's 60 sponsors are headed by Eversource, the energy company formerly known as Northeast Utilities, which signed a three-year agreement in 2014 to be the title contributor. The sponsors include numerous other corporations seeking to raise their profile and connect with their employees and the community.
Race sponsorship packages now range from $2,500 to $50,000 with varying benefits, such as having customized event programs. According to foundation spokeswoman Elizabeth Cowles, revenues from those packages increased 20 percent in the last year alone and 34 percent since 2011.
This year, the foundation is asking sponsors to step up the expertise and promotional services that they typically offer to the “official” charities that help stage the race, with an eye toward increasing their donations from $325,000 in 2014 to more than $500,000.
“We're not so concerned with our own survival because we're strong,” Shluger said. “So we're now focusing on what more we can do for our community. Our sponsors are completely on board with it.”
The perks associated with becoming an official charity of what is now the Eversource Hartford Marathon are significant: fundraising assistance, exposure on the marathon website and on all printed materials distributed at the race, and the opportunity to have a display table in the Bushnell Park Charity Village on race day. Eversource even hired a video production crew to create promotional spots for the five charities that do the most to help with race management.
The charities, in turn, are required to provide a minimum number of volunteers and runners for the event and to set a specific dollar amount in donations that they want to raise for their own organizations.
Premier-tier charities must deliver no less than 45 volunteers, a team of at least 75 runners and raise at least $20,000 through their affiliation with the marathon. Gold-tier charities have a 30-50-$10,000 requirement and silver-tier charities must make a 20-20-$5,000 commitment.
The new emphasis on helping the official charities raise more money has been well received. Foundation officials say that the number of runners raising money for the official charities has increased 10 percent from last year's total of 1,200.
Donate Life Connecticut, a small nonprofit based in Durham, that works to increase organ and tissue donations through public awareness, signed up as a premier-tier charity and expects to send about 100 runners and 45 volunteers — all of them organ donors or organ recipients.
Kari Mull, Donate Life's director and only full-time employee, said her organization has been raising a major portion of its operating revenues at the marathon for the past five years. The marathon, she said, also provides a large platform for delivering Donate Life's message.
“It's an uncomfortable message to get across,” Mull said. “But seeing our runners and volunteers at the marathon makes organ donation feel normal.”
Mull added that Donate Life Connecticut is already on track to exceed last year's donation total of $25,000, thanks to pre-race promotions. The other premier-tier charities — Fedelco Guide Dog Foundation, The Connecticut Children's Medical Center, The Hospital for Special Care and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation — all report similar growth patterns, a sign that Shluger's goal will likely be reached.
“Our participation rate is through the roof,” said Barb Weisman, development manager for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. “We rely on runners to raise most of our donations and this year we went from 20 to 65. So, yes, we fully expect a big return.”
To understand how far the marathon has come since 1994, it pays to talk to Bill Crawford, the CEO of United Bank of Connecticut. Crawford said he was sold on the idea of making United Bank a first-time, upper-level sponsor last year, right after running in the marathon's 5K race. This year, in addition to the sponsorship, he will be joined on the course by three dozen of his employees.
