ISSN1475-3928 print /ISSN1477-6421 online © Westburn Publishers Ltd. doi: 10.1362/147539207X223375 Motivations for participating in charity-affiliated sporting events

Abstract Organisers of charity-affiliated sporting occasions have to attract participants, and thus need to understand the reasons why people want to take part. This paper examines the motives that influence participation in mass sporting events with charity connections. Five hundred and seventy-nine members of the public who reported that they had previously taken part in one or more charity-related sporting events completed a questionnaire designed to establish their reasons for participation, the number of events they had attended, and their willingness to increase their financial contribution to an event based on its charity-credentials. The results identified ten motives that seemingly determined participation. Four of these dominated the sample members’ responses, namely motivations that arose from (i) personal involvement with the good cause(s) supported by an occasion, (ii) opportunities to lead a healthy lifestyle provided by the event, (iii) an individual’s involvement with the sport in question, and (iv) the desire to mix socially with other attendees. The research also found that a person’s propensity towards being seriousminded exerted