Got a question? Check out our frequently asked questions or contact us for further assistance.
The Challenge
What is the Body Fit Challenge?
The Body Fit Challenge is an online fitness and fundraising challenge in support of The Orangutan Project.
During March you’ll challenge yourself to complete a set number of daily exercise repetitions depending on your ability - beginner (60), intermediate (125) or advanced (240) - while fundraising to support orangutan conservation projects.
By joining the Challenge you’ll not only be improving your overall strength and fitness, you’ll also be taking meaningful action to protect and conserve Critically Endangered orangutans.
Why a fitness challenge?
Orangutans are known for their incredible upper body strength. In fact, did you know that orangutans are seven times stronger than humans?! Their strong arm muscles enable them to swing from tree to tree and, along with their shoulders, support the weight of their body.
For humans, maintaining body strength and overall general fitness can greatly enhance our quality of life and improve our ability to do everyday activities.
Participating in a fitness challenge is a great way to kickstart your exercise routine, set yourself personal fitness goals, and establish sustainable habits all while raising funds for a good cause!
What exercises will I need to do?
The Body Fit Challenge is focused on upper body and core body strength. Each day you’ll be challenged to complete three exercises - pull-ups, sit-ups and push-ups. You’ll aim to complete a set number of repetitions per day, per exercise, depending on your ability - beginner, intermediate or advanced.
Can I do other exercises?
You sure can! If you’re unable to undertake the set exercises feel free to supplement with any exercise that meets your needs and abilities. At the end of the day it’s about challenging yourself to get active, strong and fit, whatever form that activity may take, while helping to raise funds for orangutan conservation.
Can anyone participate?
Absolutely! Depending on your ability and experience, you can choose to complete the challenge at the beginner, intermediate or advanced level.
Our Body Fit Challenge ‘How to Guide’ outlines the number of repetitions you’ll need to complete each day depending on your level as well as diagrams and instructions for how to undertake individual exercises. We’ve included different exercise variations depending on your ability, and so you can mix it up to challenge yourself even further.
Do I need any special equipment?
Most exercises do not require any equipment, however for some of the pull-up exercises undertaken at home you’ll require a towel or exercise band and access to a sturdy door and table.
If you’re participating at the advanced level, access to a pull-up bar at your local gym or park is advised, or perhaps you have a pull-up bar at home.
See our ‘How to Guides’ on the Resources page for more information.
When does the challenge start and end?
The challenge starts on 1 March and ends on 31 March. However, you can start the challenge at any time during March.
Registering
Why do I need to register?
Apart from the support and guidance you’ll receive from The Orangutan Project team, by registering through our event website you’ll automatically be granted an Authority to Fundraise that will allow you to legally fundraise on our behalf.
How much does it cost to register?
There’s no registration fee to participate in the Challenge, but we do encourage you to fundraise as much as you can to support The Orangutan Project in protecting and conserving Critically Endangered orangutans.
We’ve set you a default fundraising target of $250 which you can increase or decrease in your Body Fit Challenge dashboard.
How do I register?
It’s easy! You can register at any time by clicking on the ‘Sign Up’ button. Just fill out your details, set your fundraising goal and monthly reps target. We'll then log you automatically into your Body Fit Challenge dashboard so you can start creating your personal fundraising page straight away. You’ll receive a confirmation email and a personalised URL that you can share with your friends and family via social media and/or email to get your fundraising started.
Can I create a team?
You sure can! Setting up a team is a great way to stay motivated and to collectively raise donations for orangutan conservation. Create a team with your family, friends, work colleagues, or gym buddies.
You can create a team when you sign up, or afterwards via your Body Fit Challenge dashboard. You can set up your team fundraising page just like your personal fundraising page with a team message and a team profile pic. Don’t forget to ensure your team page settings allows anyone to join your team!
You can then share a link to your team page with your friends and family and ask them to join you by clicking the ‘Join Us’ button on your team fundraising page.
How do I join a team?
You can search for teams to join during the sign-up process. If the team is locked, then you’ll need to be invited by the team captain.
How do I refer a friend?
Send your friend to www.bodyfitchallenge.org and ask them to click the ‘Sign Up' button.
Alternatively, once you’re logged in, you can send them an email directly from your Body Fit Challenge dashboard.
I've missed the start date. Can I still join the challenge?
Absolutely! You can challenge yourself anytime throughout March.
I'm having trouble registering?
Please contact us on 1300 733 273 (Australia) or +61 892 988 016 (International) or you can email us at help@bodyfitchallenge.org.
I've forgotten my password?
You can request a reset of your password through the platform. Click on “login” and then the "Forgot password?" link under “Member Login.”
Fundraising
Do I need to fundraise?
On registering you’ll automatically be set up with a fundraising page. We encourage all participants to fundraise to support orangutan conservation. The more funds we raise the more orangutans we can permanently protect.
What does my fundraising support?
All monies raised during the Challenge will support The Orangutan Project, an international conservation charity whose mission is to ensure that endangered wild orangutan species are protected against extinction, and will continue to live in secure populations for generations to come.
Since 1998 The Orangutan Project has raised over $25 million to support orangutan conservation projects thanks to the support of caring supporters like you.
Is there a minimum I need to raise?
No. We only ask that you fundraise as much as you’re able. The more you raise, the more we can deliver on our conservation projects to protect and conserve Critically Endangered orangutan populations.
We’ve set a default fundraising target per person of $250, which you can increase or decrease as you register or from within your Body Fit Challenge dashboard once registered.
We also have fundraising incentives to encourage you along.
How do I create a fundraising page?
A fundraising page will be created automatically upon completing your registration. After registering, check your email and follow the instructions to complete your page set up.
How do I receive donations?
If it's your first time fundraising, asking for donations can be daunting. But don't be scared, friends and family want to support you! Just explain what you're doing and why you're doing it, then ask. If you don't get any donations the first time, you can always ask again later.
When you're talking about why you are fundraising, make sure you speak personally. People are chipping in because this cause is important to you. Tell a personal story about why you've taken this incredible step to fundraise for us. On our Resources page you'll find a handy Fundraising Guide as well as some posters and social media assets you can use to spread the word.
How do I thank my donors?
Getting donations is exciting, but make sure you say thanks! You can thank your donors by logging into your Body Fit Challenge dashboard, scrolling down to your donation feed, and clicking the little heart icon. Write a message, and we'll send it to your donor on your behalf.
What do I get for fundraising?
Besides the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to protect and conserve Critically Endangered orangutans, your fundraising will be incentivised and acknowledged. Watch your dashboard light up with badges as you reach certain fundraising milestones.
Can I use Facebook to fundraise?
We currently advise that you don’t use the Facebook Donate button to raise funds for your fundraiser as we can’t link any donations back to your fundraising page. If you’ve already set up a post, we ask that you:
- Delete the post, as this is the only way to remove the Facebook Donate button.
- Create a new Facebook post and share the link to your fundraising page without adding the ‘Donate’ button.
Why aren't donations that I'm receiving through Facebook showing up on my fundraising page?
Facebook donations are handled and held by a third party, so we can’t sync these donations with the Body Fit Challenge campaign due to limitations with the Facebook Donate button functionality. Given these limitations, we advise you not to use the Facebook Donate button to raise funds.
If you’d like your friends and family to donate to you, we encourage you to share the link to your fundraising page on your social media pages instead.
Someone gave me cash. What should I do?
Don't worry, it often happens. Please see the attached instructions for receiving cash and cheque donations.
How can I promote my involvement in the Body Fit Challenge?
Social media and emails are a great way to easily promote your involvement to your family, friends and colleagues. From your personal fundraising page, you’ll find easy to use tools to help you with this.
Simply login and select ‘Get Support’ from the drop down menu on the top right of your account. From there you can choose to post on social media or email friends using one of the templates we have provided for you. Make sure you include the link to your personal fundraising page.
When does fundraising close?
Although the challenge will officially end on the 31 March, you can keep fundraising up until two weeks after the event ends.
Can I buy event merchandise?
Event merchandise is not available for separate purchase but included as fundraising incentives.
What resources are available?
We want to make your fundraising easy, so we have put together some great resources to help you out. Your best tool is your online fundraising page – easy to set up and easy to share. It’s the best way to get donations and spread the word about your participation in the Challenge. Our Resources page also includes How to Guides, posters and social media assets.
I would like to speak to someone about my fundraising.
Our team is always happy to help you with any questions you may have. Please feel free to call us on 1300 733 273 (Australia) or +61 892 988 016 (International) or you can email us at help@bodyfitchallenge.org.
Donating
Is The Orangutan Project a registered charity?
Yes. The Orangutan Project is a project of Wildlife Conservation International (WCI). WCI is a registered charity in Australia, Canada, European Union (The Netherlands)and the United States.
Find out more at https://wildlifeconservationinternational.org
Will I get a tax-deductible receipt?
Yes. People who donate to the Body Fit Challenge will automatically have a tax-deductible receipt emailed to them. We can issue tax-deductible receipts for donors based in: Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States.
How do I find my friends to donate to them?
Friends that are already signed up can be found by entering their name in the search bar in the top right-hand corner of the page. You can then make a donation to their page.
Alternatively, click on the 'Donate' button, search for your friend and click on their page to make a donation.
Do you accept cash, bank transfer and cheque donations?
Yes, we do accept cash, bank transfer and cheque donations. Please see the attached instructions for more information.
What's the process and where does my donation go?
All donations go directly to The Orangutan Project using the Stripe Payment Gateway for our online credit card transactions. Stripe provides a safe and secure means of collecting credit card payments via the Internet. Your complete credit card number cannot be viewed by The Orangutan Project or any outside party and all monies are directly transferred from your card to a merchant account held by The Orangutan Project.
For more information about Stripe Payment Gateway, please visit here.
The Orangutan Project keeps our internal costs down by employing a small team of staff who work from home, thereby saving on overhead costs associated with running a central office. The Body Fit Challenge is delivered by an internal team, saving on paying an external agency.
The Orangutan Project has a policy of financial transparency, and is externally audited every year. You can view a breakdown of our income and expenditures in our annual Impact Report here.
Activity Tracking
Why should I log my repetitions?
Logging your daily repetitions in the Body Fit Challenge dashboard helps to keep track of your progress towards your fitness goal and also lets your sponsors know how you are progressing.
Your individual activity tracking will be added to other participants so that we can record the total number of repetitions undertaken through the challenge.
How do I log my repetitions?
You can log your repetitions in three easy steps:
- Log in to your Body Fit Challenge dashboard
- Click on ‘My Fitness Progress’ and manually add your repetitions under ‘Add My Progress’.
- Click ‘Save Change’ to ensure your repetitions are added to your online tally on your Body Fit Challenge dashboard.
Can I start logging my repetitions before the 1st March?
You can start practising the logging of your repetitions anytime after registering on your Body Fit Challenge dashboard, however, we will reset all activity logged prior to 1 March so that everyone starts off on the same base.
