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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to join the Janus Charity Challenge? Nothing! There is no fee to participate in the program.

How can I participate in the Janus Charity Challenge program? All athletes who are registered in one of our participating Ironman full distance races, including Coeur d’Alene, Lake Placid, Louisville, Wisconsin, World Championship, Florida and Arizona, are eligible to participate in the Janus Charily challenge as long as:

1. They are already registered in the race itself;
2. They are not employed by their nonprofit;
3. The nonprofit has 501c3 tax exempt status; and
4. The nonprofit is in the United States. 

If these four requirements are met, then you are able to participate in the Janus Charity Challenge.

What are the fundraising minimums? There are no fundraising minimums to participate.

What are the requirements for selecting a beneficiary? Your beneficiary must hold 501(c)3 tax exempt status from the IRS, and your beneficiary must approve that you are fundraising on their behalf.

What is a 501(c)3 IRS tax determination letter and why does Janus need it?  This letter is given to your nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service at the time they are given tax exempt status.  This letter verifies that they are legally recognized as a nonprofit organization and contributions are considered tax deductible.

Why is my international charity not eligible for the program? International charities are not recognized as 501(c)3 nonprofits by the IRS and, therefore, we are not able to make international contributions.

Do I have to use the Janus Charity Challenge we system for my fundraising? Although you must register using our system, you do not have to raise funds through this online technology.

I’m having technical problems setting up my website. How can I get help?
Please contact Blackbaud at http://cs.Blackbaud.com/.

I don’t have the contact information for my beneficiary. Can I use my name, address, phone and email for my beneficiary during the registration process? NO- if you enter your personal information as your beneficiary information, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION FROM JANUS AND IT WILL DELAY RECEIPT OF ONLINE FUNDS RAISED BY YOUR BENEFICIARY.

Why are fees taken out of online donations? Our web service provider, Blackbaud, must cover their costs for operating the site and processing payments (which includes paying the credit card company fees).

What are the fees taken out of online donations? Blackbaud will withhold $1.76 per transaction for processing plus 2.59% in credit card processing fees from all donations made online.

I need to make a change to my fundraising site (update copy, modify an offline contribution, change the design). How do I do this? You have the ability to make all these changes from your fundraising center.  Click on the appropriate link below and log in.

How do I manage my offline donations?  Once you log in to your fundraising center, under My To Do List on the right hand side of the page, click on "Enter Offline Donations".  From here, click on "Enter Pledge" and record your donation.  These offline donations will be listed as pledges.  Once a week Janus staff will mark all pledge contributions as paid so you can manage your account more efficiently. 

My name is not showing up in the januscharitychallenge.com search. What should I do? It takes up to 72 hours for athlete names to be added to the search function. If your name is not showing after this time, be sure that you have entered all of your information properly when you registered. If you have not completed all of the required fields, your name may not show up in the search. If this has been done, email januscharitychallenge@janus.com and detail your problem. Someone will follow up with you as soon as possible.

When will my nonprofit receive the funds from my online fundraising? One check will be sent to your beneficiary within two weeks following the race.

If I am collecting checks, who should they be made out to? All checks should be made out and sent directly to your nonprofit beneficiary.

How often should I send my offline contributions to my beneficiary? This is something that you should determine with your nonprofit. It is always best to get the money to your beneficiary as soon as you receive it so there is never any confusion about the handling of funds. Both you and your beneficiary should make sure you track these contributions to aid in the verification process. A tracking form is available under the Fundraising Ideas tab at www.januscharitychallenge.com.

Should I bring my donation checks with me to the race to complete my registration? No. All checks should be sent directly to your beneficiary. No money is ever collected by Janus.

One of my donors made their check payable to the Janus Charity Challenge. Is this okay? No. All checks must be made out directly to your beneficiary. If a check was erroneously made payable to the Janus Charity Challenge, a new check must be issued.

What do I need to bring to the race to complete my registration?  If you have not already done so, you must bring a copy of your beneficiary’s 501(c)3 tax determination letter from the IRS.  You must also bring documentation tracking all of your offline donations. Please come prepared to tell Janus representatives the FINAL total of all funds you have collected and/or pledged as of 2pm the day prior to the race. We will do our best to have internet access for you to check your website for final contributions, but this is not always possible.

May I still fundraise for my charity on Blackbaud after the race?  People may donate money to your charity through your site for up to three weeks following your Ironman race. At that time, Blackbaud will close the JCC website and no additional contributions will be accepted.  Please note that your name will no longer appear on the Janus Charity Challenge website following your Ironman race so you must direct your donors to the address of your personal web page in order for them to make a contribution.  A reminder: Any additional donations made after 2pm on the day before your Ironman race do not count toward the final Janus fundraising results.

How are matching gifts handled? All funds must be received by your nonprofit within three weeks following the race, even funds being received via a matching gift program.   Because all online donations are held by Blackbaud until two – four weeks following the race, it is nearly impossible for companies to account for these donations in their matching gifts programs within the necessary time frame. Therefore the best way to have any donations matched is by having these contributions made by check and sent directly to your nonprofit beneficiary. There are many different matching gift administration processes, and any forms needed by a company to make a match must be sent directly to your charity, not to the Janus Charity Challenge. If your company is able to submit the matching gift payment to the charity within three weeks following the race, this can be included in your fundraising total and should be entered into your fundraising headquarters as an offline donation.

Can I switch chapters after I’ve registered and started fundraising? In order to switch to a different chapter you would need to change the address of the charity and update the contact information in your fundraising headquarters on your Blackbaud site.  Additionally, you would need to update the Federal Tax ID number if that is different for each chapter.  Finally, you will need to confirm with us via email that the different chapter falls under the same 501c3 exemption status and that the IRS letter sent to us is still valid, and if not, send us a new letter.