Team relay or overnight walk (Relay For Life style)
- Raises money for a national charity
- Outdoor: weather matters
Teams keep a member on a track for a set period (often overnight) and each team fundraises beforehand.
Typically raises
$2,000
$500–10,000 per eventest.
About $133 per organiser hour
Based on one relay team
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $2,000–10,000
- Work
- A few evenings
- Helpers
- 7–15 people
- Lead time
- 2–4 months
- Red tape
- None
Fairly common: Relay For Life made it familiar in many towns
- People
- 10-20 per team
- Organiser time
- 10-20 per captain (estimate)
- Lead time
- 2-4 months
- Up-front cost
- $0–$300. Team registration and camp gear.
- Risk
- Low.
How it works
The money, as an example sum
Take about $2,150, pay about $150 of costs, and you keep about $2,000 per event: the typical result for one relay team.
From the typical figure on this page. Your result will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
Per team, estimate. Cancer Society runs Relay For Life in NZ; event totals were not verified for this report.
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Step by step
- Register a team and captain.
- Set a team target.
- Run small fundraisers beforehand.
- Plan a roster for the relay.
- Take part.
- Bank funds through the charity.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Participants to sign up and collect sponsors.
- Ask people to buy
- Family, friends and workmates to sponsor them.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 6–8 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
- Facebook events and what’s-on listingsMake a Facebook event people can say they’re going to, and list it on your council’s or town’s what’s-on page.
- Community newsletters and magazinesResidents’ newsletters, village magazines and other churches’ bulletins often run community notices free. Small ones close early.
- Other groups sharing itAsk the school, kindy, church, sports club or marae down the road to share it in their newsletter or page. Offer to share theirs back.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededA public space (park, street, beach)
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- Not neededNo food sold
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
The national charity runs the venue, permits and safety; teams follow its rules and fundraise to its platform.
Make more from it
Online sponsorship page per participant
often $50-300 per participant (estimate)
each participant brings in their own network
Team bake sale or sausage sizzle beforehand
often $200-600 per team (estimate)
adds non-sponsor money to the team total
Stack it: on its own, about $2,000. With the add-on above, roughly
$2,200est.
What you can get donated
Food for the team tent, sponsor for team T-shirts.
Tips
- Mini-events (quiz, bake sale) before the relay lift team totals.
Watch out for
- Fatigue overnight; roster carefully.
Team relay or overnight walk (Relay For Life style): checklist
0 of 11 done
Before
On the day
After
The national charity runs the venue, permits and safety; teams follow its rules and fundraise to its platform.
Also pairs with: Team bake sales beforehand, Online pages
Sources
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide