Year-round walkathons, answered

Steps runs year-round walkathons for nonprofits and personal causes: supporters give monthly, and each donation goes through on the days they hit their daily steps. It gives people one more reason to walk: a cause they care about.

A supporter sets up a monthly donation, like $30. For every day they hit their daily step goal, $1 goes to your cause. A missed day gives nothing, and they are charged once a month for the days they walked, up to their monthly donation. The more days they walk, the more your cause receives, up to their monthly donation.

Supporters hear from Steps once a month, with a short report of the days they walked and what went to your cause. They can switch to a weekly report, or text to ask for their score any time. There are no daily texts and no reminders to walk.

If they like, walkers can write a few words about why they walk for your cause. Now and then, a report sends those words back. It's an extra, and nobody has to write one.

That day gives nothing, and that's all. Steps sends no reminder and no guilt, and nobody on your team chases anyone. The day simply doesn't count toward that month's donation.

Because it gives people one more reason to walk: your cause. A supporter who knows their donation only goes through when they walk has a reason to get out the door, and your cause is part of their day. It's also the kind of thing people tell their friends about.

Get started with four quick questions, and our team gets in touch. Tell us about your supporters and what you want to raise. We build the campaign with you: its name, your logo, the messages supporters get, your join word, your leaderboard and your Stripe account. You check it before it goes live.

Nothing, unless you want to. Once your join word is out, supporters join, give and walk on their own. Steps welcomes each one, counts the steps, sends the monthly reports and charges each monthly donation. You watch who walks and what goes through on your campaign dashboard, which only your team can open.

Yes, two kinds: your campaign's, with everyone, and each walker's own, with the friends who joined through their link. Both rank days walked and show average daily steps, in monthly reports and on your campaign page. Walkers are on one only if they choose to join, under a name they pick.

Yes, and that's how a campaign grows. Every walker gets their own link when they join and in each monthly report, and each friend who joins through it sets up their own monthly donation. Now and then Steps offers a good month to post, too. Steps never messages anyone's contacts.

Every campaign gets its own join word. Supporters text it to the Steps phone number, or tap your link or scan your QR code, which opens iMessage or WhatsApp with the word already typed. Then they set their daily steps and monthly donation, and install the Steps app. One Steps number serves every campaign, so the join word is how Steps knows it's yours.

Yes, one: the Steps app, which counts their steps. The Steps app counts steps on iPhone and Android, with the walker's permission. They install it once when they join, and never need to open it again. Steps talks to supporters in iMessage or WhatsApp, so any phone works, and a late sync still counts before the month is charged.

Any time. A walker can change their monthly donation, their daily goal or how often they get a report, by text. Replying STOP ends everything, the messages and the monthly donation, after Steps asks them to confirm. Days already walked that month are still given; nothing more is charged after that.

Each walker picks their own daily goal, near what they walk now, and a missed day costs them nothing but that day's donation. Steps isn't a medical program and never gives health advice. Anyone with a health condition should check with their doctor before walking more.

Every step counts, with or without a leash. For a rescue or shelter, a walkathon can be as simple as supporters walking their own dogs a little further each day, with a dollar going to the animals every day they do.

It's walking at your own pace. Each walker picks their own daily goal, so someone who walks 3,000 steps a day can choose a goal near 3,000. Walking to work counts.

Yes. A year-round walkathon works wherever people are, with iMessage or WhatsApp and the Steps app. Grandparents in other states, parents and staff can all walk for the same school and see the same leaderboard.

Every step counts, wherever it's walked. The Steps app counts a walker's steps on their phone, so a Saturday hike on your trails and a walk to work on Monday both count toward their daily goal.

No. It sits beside the giving you already have, as a walkathon for a season like Lent or for a project like a new roof. Donations go to your own Stripe account, and your usual giving stays exactly as it is.

Yes. Remembrance walks are part of hospice and health fundraising, and a Steps campaign can be one. We write its name and messages with you, so supporters can walk for someone they love.

Yes. Steps runs walks for personal causes too, like medical bills, a service dog or getting back on your feet after an injury. Our team sets up every campaign with the person running it, and donations go through Stripe to an account in their name.

Personal fundraising for someone you love →

Tax receipts are the nonprofit’s to give, for the amount actually given. Donations to a personal cause go to a person, so they are not tax-deductible.

Straight to your own Stripe account. Steps connects to it when we set up your campaign, and every donation is paid straight to you, so Steps never holds your money. Stripe sends each donor a receipt, and tax receipts stay with you, for the amount actually given.

A monthly donation is a recurring donation that starts the day they set it up. At the end of each month they are charged for the days they hit their goal, up to their monthly donation, and it shows on their statement as STEPS. A supporter who chose $30 and walked 24 days gives $24.

Steps takes nothing from your donations. Stripe charges its usual card fees on each monthly donation, the same as on your own donation page, and registered nonprofits in many countries can ask Stripe for its nonprofit discount.

When a supporter sets up a monthly donation, they can add a tip for Steps. It starts at zero, sits on its own line, and is added on top of the donation, so the whole donation reaches the cause. The screen shows what goes to your cause and what goes to Steps before they confirm.

Nothing, for a nonprofit or a personal cause. When supporters give, they can add an optional tip to Steps, and those tips are how Steps is paid for. Stripe's usual card fees apply to donations, as they would on any donation page.

You do. Your supporters are yours. Steps runs the campaign for you and never sells, rents or shares their details, and it never messages them for anyone else. You can download your supporter list any time, and a walker can ask to be deleted.

Steps is software. A local AI model writes its short replies to supporters. Nothing a supporter sends is used to train AI, and Steps never gives health advice. Step counts are used for the days walked, the reports, the leaderboard and your campaign totals, nothing else.