The primary aim of this thesis is to research the role of motives in participating in a charity sporting event. Given that nonprofit organizations face the everyday challenge of attracting potential attendees to this type of event, it is necessary to understand what motivates them to participate. The thesis is based on the research of Bennett et al. (2007.) and it explores 11 motives that are seemingly influencing consumers' participation. For the purposes of this paper, one-time empirical research was conducted on an appropriate sample of current and potential participants (those who intended to participate) in the Wings For Life World Run race in Zadar. The questionnaire collected 183 respondents and the analysis of the results confirmed four motives that dominate the decision to participate in charity sporting events – the desire for fun and enjoyment, involvement with the charity, desire to pursue a healthy lifestyle, and desire to mix socially. It was found that a person's level of serious-mindedness positively affects a decision to participate in a charity sporting event. In addition, it was concluded that more serious-minded people are more willing to donate an additional amount to charity next to the participation fee. People who are willing to donate an additional amount are mostly motivated to participate because of their involvement with the charity and duty to participate. People who have a motive to pursue a healthy lifestyle are more likely to participate in charity sporting events more often.