A charity 5K lives or dies on race morning. If the packet-pickup line is moving, the waivers are signed, the shirts fit, and every runner’s name is on a bib, you look like a pro. If registration is a pile of paper forms and a spreadsheet of who-owes-what, you spend the season chasing details instead of raising money.
The good news: with the right setup, a charity 5K can practically register itself. Runners sign up solo or as a team, sign the waiver and pick a shirt size at checkout, and the money lands days later. Here’s how to build charity 5K registration on EventPassHero so the busywork disappears.
Solo or team — one checkout, every runner named
Runners rarely show up alone. There’s the co-worker crew, the church group, the family running in memory of someone. So let people register the way they actually come: as individuals or as a team, in one checkout.
A team registration works like a bundle — one purchase that splits into individual runner tickets, each tied to a real person’s name and email. The captain buys a “Team of 4,” then fills in each runner’s name and email so everyone gets their own QR ticket. No back-of-envelope roster, no “who’s actually on our team?” on race day.
The team signs up once; you get every runner’s name, email, waiver, and shirt size — automatically.
The waiver and shirt size — the heart of charity 5K registration
Here’s the part that saves the most headaches. You don’t need a separate registration form or a clipboard of waivers at the finish line. EventPassHero lets you add custom checkout fields and mark them required, so runners can’t complete their order until they’ve answered.
For a 5K, the three you’ll almost always want are:
- Liability waiver acknowledgment — a required checkbox where the runner confirms they accept your waiver text. Because it’s required, no one gets a ticket without acknowledging it.
- T-shirt size — a required dropdown (S, M, L, XL and up), so your shirt order is built from real numbers, not guesses.
- Emergency contact — name and phone, captured per runner, so race-day staff have what they need.
Waves, heats, and distances — as ticket types
Most 5Ks aren’t one flat field. You’ve got competitive runners chasing a time, a fun-run/walk crowd pushing strollers, and the kids doing a dash. Set those up as ticket types, and each becomes its own selectable option with its own price and its own cap:
Competitive Wave Fun Run / Walk Kids’ Dash Team bundle Virtual runner
Price the competitive wave higher, keep the kids’ dash low or free, cap each tier so a wave doesn’t overflow — and let runners self-select the one that fits.
Let runners fundraise — and see who’s driving it
A charity 5K is a fundraiser first, so give runners and teams a way to bring in more than their own entry fee. With Member Accountability and Hero Affiliates, every runner or team captain gets a personal tracking link. When friends and family register through that link, the sign-up is attributed back to them — so a live leaderboard shows which runners and teams are actually driving registrations.
One honest note: this is tracking and attribution, not a commission engine — it shows who’s rallying their network, but it doesn’t cut checks to your runners.
Collect donations at checkout
Not everyone can run, but plenty of people want to give. EventPassHero can collect donations right at checkout, so a supporter can add a gift on top of a registration — or donate without registering at all.
Race morning: QR check-in at packet pickup and the start line
When runners arrive to grab their bib and shirt, volunteers scan the QR ticket with the organizer app — fast, tap-and-go check-in that clears the line and confirms who showed. Use it at packet pickup, the start corral, or both.
Keep runners in the loop with email and SMS
Between sign-up and start time, runners have questions: where do I park, when’s packet pickup, what if it rains? Use the built-in email and SMS tools to send race-day updates — a parking map on Thursday, a “bib pickup opens at 6” text on Saturday, a thank-you afterward. You can segment by ticket type, so kids’-dash families get different instructions than the competitive wave.
Get paid in 2–3 days
Registration fees and donations don’t sit in limbo until after the race. Payouts land in your bank account in 2–3 business days via Stripe Connect — no event-end hold, no minimum, no payout request. That matters when you’re covering shirts, chips, and permits before race day.
Common questions
Can runners register as a team and still get individual bibs?
Yes. A team registration is one purchase that splits into individual runner tickets. The captain enters each runner’s name and email, so everyone gets their own QR ticket while the team checks out together in a single transaction.
How do I collect a liability waiver during charity 5K registration?
Add a required custom checkout field — a waiver acknowledgment checkbox — to your event. Runners must check it to complete registration, so every order has the acknowledgment on record. No separate waiver form or clipboard needed.
Can I offer different race waves or distances?
Yes. Set up each wave, heat, or distance as its own ticket type — Competitive Wave, Fun Run/Walk, Kids’ Dash, and so on. Each gets its own price and capacity, and runners self-select the one that fits when they register.
Does EventPassHero give donors a tax receipt?
No. EventPassHero collects donations at checkout and routes the funds to you, but it does not issue 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donor receipts. If your organization provides receipts, you handle that through your own nonprofit accounting.
What do I need for QR check-in on race day?
Volunteers scan runners’ QR tickets with the organizer app at packet pickup or the start line. Check-in needs a live internet connection, so at parks with weak cell service, plan a phone or portable hotspot as a backup.
Related reading
- Who’s actually selling? Meet Member Accountability
- Sell table bundles that split into individual tickets
- Hero Affiliates: sales tracking for your event
The bottom line
A charity 5K has enough moving parts on race morning without registration adding to the pile. Let runners sign up solo or as a team, capture the waiver, shirt size, and emergency contact at checkout, run your waves as ticket types, and check people in with a QR scan. Do that, and registration really does most of the work for you.
Ready to set up a 5K that practically registers itself? Create your event and build your waves, waiver, and team bundles, or book a quick demo and we’ll map out your race with you.
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