Coronavirus - Race Options and Best Practices

All nonprofits should offer their participants the option to make their registration fee a tax-deductible donation. Here are the steps we recommend that you take:

• Enable and customize the Keep My Registration Fee option by navigating to Race >> Cancel or Postpone Race. Customize the default text with donation language and be sure to include a date when your donors can expect to receive receipts for their tax-deductible donations.
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Below is some suggested text: 

• • Keep Registration Fee Option Text: Donate My Registration Fee
  • Keep Registration Fee Explanation: Many of you have very generously asked to donate your registration fee as a way to support our nonprofit in the wake of this substantial financial hit. If you would like to donate your registration fee, please select this option. All donation receipts for tax-deductible donations will be sent by XX/XXXX.

• Communicate the donation option with your participants via email, social media, and RunSignup’s Race Cancellation/Postponement Tool.
• Make your communication plan clear. Let your participants know when they can expect to receive an official tax receipt for the registration fee that has been converted to a donation. Keep in mind that even though your organization is a nonprofit, you will have customers who don’t wish to use this option, so be sure to have a refund plan in place for those customers.
• Below is some sample text that your organization can customize to send via email and share on social media. Please be sure to add hyperlinks where needed, and customize the language based on postponement, cancellation, virtual, and refund options that you provide.

  • In light of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus a pandemic, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel/postpone our event.
    
    Many of you have very generously offered to donate your registration fee as a way to support our nonprofit in the wake of this substantial financial hit. If you would like to donate your registration fee, please let us know via the cancellation/postponement form on our website. All donation receipts for tax-deductible donations will be sent by XX/XXXX.
    
    We will issue refunds on individual registrations per our refund policy. 
    

KEEP MY REGISTRATION FEE: 

If your organization is not a 501c3, you can still offer your participants the option to let you keep their registration fee to support your business, organization, and event(s). These are challenging and difficult times, and we hope that by making this an option, participants will be understanding of the sunk costs for your event and want to help contribute.

Please note that if you are not a registered 501c3 you cannot issue tax-deductible receipts for this option. If you plan to donate these registration fees to a charity, the tax-deductible receipt will need to come from the charity and be sent to participants who opted to let you keep their registration fee.