Setting SMART goals for a fundraising challenge

#MumDeeWalks 4 Little Troopers - Update 2 - SMART Goals

Hello my Darlings and welcome to Mum Dee Does. I am Dee, a mum who does (it all), and today I am defining clear goals for my fundraising campaign using the SMART technique.

​I will walk for the Little Troopers charity. I will do it for 4 months, aim to lose 40lb doing it and attempt to rack up 400 miles in the process. It is my hope that I can raise £400. These are what us, business people, call SMART goals.

The acronym SMART stands for:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T - Time-bound

I believe that the two simple goals set out in this challenge match the above criteria. Let's explore:

4 months

Challenge start date: 25th August 2020
Challenge finish date: 25th December 2020

​A short walk on Christmas morning will do me a lot of good. I can also have a final weigh-in at 12 o'clock noon before we sit down for an amazing James’s home-cooked Christmas dinner with all the trimmings - our last family celebration before he goes away at the start of January!

This is not a goal that I need to work towards, but a criteria that determines the parameters of this campaign. It provides the "T - Time-bound" element for the other two goals in this challenge and is, indeed, very specific (I am literally counting down the seconds here)!

40 lbs

Starting weight: 221 lbs
Target weight: 181 lbs

​I’ll admit that I don’t even own bathroom scales of my own, so this afternoon, returning from my first #MumDeeWalks romp, I popped in to see a neighbour and good friend of mine, just to borrow her scales. I put little Ronnie on it first and he weighed in at a nice 22lb (10kg). I jumped on next and… I can’t say I was utterly surprised - but it was the largest number I’d ever seen: 221 lbs (100kg)! Well, at least I have a starting point and I feel inspired!

I published a weight tracking Google spreadsheet here. This is the first goal in this challenge that is within my direct control. It is very specific, measurable (hence the tracking sheet!) and time bound by the 4 months that I already stated above. Is it achievable and realistic, though? Let's investigate:

40 lbs in 4 months = 10 lbs per month.
That is equivalent to 18 kg in 4 months = 4.5 kg per month.
That is just over 1 kg per week (4.5 kg * 12 months / 52 weeks, as I used to do in the accounts departments =1.04 kg)

The NHS guide on weight loss here states that a safe rate for losing weight is between 0.5 and 1 kg a week. But let's face it, I am quite a bit above the BMI that would be considered normal for my 5'7" (172 cm) height, so especially at the start of this journey, I will be losing weight at a higher rate than someone aiming to lose only a few extra kilogrammes. This makes the 1.04 kg weekly target realistic and, with a bit of will power, determination and consistency on my part, achievable as well. This will become more apparent as we go forward with the challenge and collect more data.

400 miles

I will take my phone with me every time I go walking and record the activities using a GPS app and a fitness tracker Endomondo (where my public profile is all set-up - here!). The tracker will automatically keep a log of all my walks and chart the total distance completed, so we can all see how close (or far!) I am from my 400 mile goal. No hike is too long, no stroll is too short (Paw Patrol catch phrase?! What can I say... I have a 2 year old!), so I will count all the little walks as well as the long ones towards my goal of 400 miles.

​You can check out my profile here, and I will also link the widget below on all future updates, so you can keep me accountable!
Let's just hope it works, they don't always update in a timely fashion!

So, SMART analysis. 400 miles - definitely specific. Endomondo will do all our measuring for us, so measurable - tick! But then...

400 is about the same distance as going from London to Edinburgh and that sounds like an insane distance! But wait, I am not doing it in a day... So is it achievable? Is it realistic? Where is my calculator gone (I apologise that this blog post has turned into a maths lesson, but I hope you're still with me and might even find this useful).

400 miles in 4 months = 100 miles per month.
That works out to be 23 miles per week (once again: 100 miles * 12 months / 52 weeks = 23.08 miles)
​23 miles per week equates to 3.3 miles per day.

Here is a document published by The Department for Transport on Commuting Trends in England. Figure 14 on page 23 shows that average walking distance for commuting purposes is 0.9 mile. That means that an average person walks 1.8 miles every day to get to and from work. This does not include leisure walking, fitness walking or walking to the shops! With that in mind, twice the nation's commuting distance sounds very reasonable as a fundraising challenge target. It is meant to be challenging to be worthwhile for me, for the charity and especially for you, my Darling!

The goal, whilst challenging, is also attainable! Back in my fitness hay day I used to walk every morning from the South end of my island, back home to North end. The island is 6 miles long. Admittedly, I am far from my glory days at the moment, but I will get fitter as the challenge progresses and, as I said previously - I do not need to do the whole distance in one go! A mile in the morning, a mile in the afternoon and a mile after dinner - doesn't sound all that bad! Plus, Ronnie will be dragging me outside most days anyway as he is an active little boy!

Target £400

​I know that £400 is a large target for my first-ever fundraiser, but I wanted to keep the theme of “4” going and it is my hope that I can reach enough people with a few pennies to spare to achieve this target. £40 seems hardly challenging and, truthfully, I can't imagine raising £4,000! So, £400 is my specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound target for this campaign.

​If I inspired, encouraged or entertained you even just a little bit, please consider donating on my campaign's Virgin Money Giving page (the platform that Little Troopers recommended to me). The page will remain open until 25th March 2021 (extending the time parameter for donations, but not for my goals!).

​Stay informed and up-to-date with my fundraising progress:

​Thank you all so much! It’s been a pleasure! My name is Dee, and I am a mum who does. Ta ta for now.

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