Chocolate is not called ‘the food of the gods’ for nothing! Everyone loves it and that is why using it to make money for your organization will have a broad appeal. Not only that, but attendees can walk off some of the calories. Go-green in the outdoors, and give your local small businesses a boost. How does a Chocolate Walk fundraiser work?

The basic idea is this: talented chefs from restaurants and candy makers gather for a competition to see who can make the best chocolate dessert. Stands are set up around the center of town or, for a larger city, through a couple of commercial neighborhood blocks.

Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at a slightly reduced cost, or at designated locations on the day of the event. A map is provided with each ticket. People can start at any location they want because their tickets are numbered to correspond with each store and punched at each chocolate sampling station. (No double chocolate dipping allowed!)

Savvy restaurant owners will not pass up an opportunity to shine a sumptuous spotlight on their creative dessert. Other businesses in the area will welcome more foot traffic encouraged by the event. These businesses will be your backup location for the food stands in case of rain. Each chocolate maker is responsible for setting up their own stand.

Add a little culinary competition by allowing all the patrons to vote on their favorite chocolate concoction, with the winner getting a write-up in the local paper. Consider having a special sidebar - the ‘chocolatiers’ can design a treat to sell to support a green cause in tandem with your fundraiser!

This fundraiser idea has the potential to draw hundreds of people and works best with at least one big local sponsor. Wilbur Chocolate Factory has been the cornerstone of the Chocolate Walk charity event held in Lititz, Pennsylvania since 2001 and has attracted over 9,000 patrons. Even if your town does not have a chocolate factory to call its own, find another business or two that can help pick up the tab for printing and advertising costs.

Your group or organization can provide all the volunteers needed to make this a successful event. One of the most important committees will be the one that contacts all the restaurants, candy stores, ice cream parlors and beverages stores that sell hot chocolate or chocolate laced coffee. Another committee can gather other agreeable businesses or churches in the area as possible staging sites for the chocolate stands should it rain!

Put your best strategic minds on the task of picking the route for your Chocolate Walk and who can also design the map. Availability of bathrooms should be taken into account. While not every chocolate stand location will be handicapped accessible, advertise that wheelchair ‘walkers’ need only bring along a friend who can be their legs when necessary.

Craftsmen and artists in the area can be invited to line the walkways with their works. Small school, amateur or even professional music groups can be invited to play at certain locations for a festive ambiance.

A Chocolate Walk is a fundraiser event that your organization can build on every year. It has the potential to become a popular ‘must attend’ Saturday that will attract chocolate lovers from miles away. Price tickets appropriately for your town’s economy, and enjoy the picker-upper of a day of chocolate!