We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Valentino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anthony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

Since 1992, The Red Nose Run (TRNR) has been 100% volunteer-organized by the Low and Slow Running Club of Del Mar, which consists of runners of various ages and running abilities. We started TRNR to connect our San Diego North County community, support our charities, and have a really good time doing it. We welcome runners, walkers, sponsors, volunteers… and dogs! Holiday themed costumes are highly encouraged for all.

As we enter our 30th year of TRNR, we have raised over $371,000 for our amazing charities.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve spent a lot of time at the crossroads of sport and philanthropy both professionally and personally. For me, the switch was really flipped over twenty years ago when I was working as a General Manager of a local health club brand and we partnered with Challenged Athlete Foundation to help produce the Tour de Cove as part of the annual San Diego Triathlon Challenge. Learning how an event was able to 1) bring community together, 2) foster inclusion, 3) promote healthy activity, and 4) raise money for a good cause – all at the same time – was really eye opening.

Not long after that I left the commercial fitness industry to work at a San Diego based software company, Active Network, which provides online registration for participatory sporting events (marathons, 5Ks, youth sports, etc.). Directly working with best-in-class event producers like IRONMAN, runDisney, and Little League Baseball and Softball, I was able to see first hand how the most renowned experiential sporting events were developed, promoted, and produced.

After the better part of a decade working in event registration, I moved another step closer to the charity side of things by launching an online peer-to-peer fundraising platform, called JustGiving (headquartered in the UK), into the United States. While JG was the “800 pound gorilla” in the UK, at that time it had functionally no presence in the largest market int he world – the USA. Our strategy was to partner with the charity programs of larger participatory sports events. With a couple early big wins (like Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon’s global series), JG became an attractive acquisition target for US-based Blackbaud in less than a year after we brought JG to the USA.

My next step toward the charity side of things was jumping directly into it with both feet. I had always been curious to discover if I could do even “more good” by being inside a non-profit. The folks that work inside charitable organizations are passionate, tireless, and give themselves completely to their cause. I have the deepest respect for those that are fit to serve in this way, but for me it just wasn’t a good fit. I realized fairly quickly my capabilities were better leveraged working in the for-profit world, allowing me to promote and support causes with a higher degree of freedom.

What we are trying to do at The Red Nose Run is pull in all of our relevant experiences – not just mine as described above, but those of our entire “Volundeer” team – to deliver a well produced community event and provide significant financial benefit for our charities.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The Red Nose Run is in the middle of a significant pivot right now. Historically, we have organized TRNR as volunteers (aka “Volundeers”) under the umbrella of the charities we served. As the non-profit industry has evolved, this sort of direct responsibility from the charities has grown in disfavor. It consumes their resources and there are very tight restrictions on cost that can interfere with the creative process required to produce a unique community event. It’s better for us to produce the event independently and then write a check for the amount of our net profit to the charities.

So, we have registered The Red Nose Run as an individual business and begun the process of establishing TRNR as a 501c3. The end result will be the ability to create an even more compelling event, attracting more participants and sponsors, and generating a lot more money for our charities.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

As Volundeers, we are all partners in this. In fact, I’m one of the newest on the team as having only been formally involved since 2018. I was introduced to the event through my mom, Monica Valentino. who had been part of the team producing this event for quite some time. One of the original founders and then Race Director, Al Bernotas, was looking to pass the torch after nearly 30 years of making magic happen. The more I learned about the event, the charities, the attendees, and the volunteers, the more I fell in love with the concept. I was also really excited about all the opportunity to grow the impact.

Contact Info:

• Website: therednoserun.com
• Instagram: @therednoserun
• Facebook: @therednoserun
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajvalentino/