Planning a color run fundraiser is exciting — until you get to the math. Order too little and you'll have a crowd of barely-dusted kids wondering where the color went. Order too much and you've blown your budget on powder sitting in storage.
The good news: figuring out how much color powder you need is simple once you know the formula.
The Short Answer
Plan for 0.5 to 1 pound of color powder per person.
For most school and church color run events, 0.75 lbs per person (¾ of a pound) is the sweet spot — enough for a vivid, memorable experience without going overboard.
Since Peacock Powder comes in 5lb bags, here's how that translates to a real order:
| Participants | Light (0.5 lb/person) | Medium (0.75 lb/person) | Heavy (1 lb/person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 5 bags (25 lbs) | 8 bags (40 lbs) | 10 bags (50 lbs) |
| 100 | 10 bags (50 lbs) | 15 bags (75 lbs) | 20 bags (100 lbs) |
| 200 | 20 bags (100 lbs) | 30 bags (150 lbs) | 40 bags (200 lbs) |
| 300 | 30 bags (150 lbs) | 45 bags (225 lbs) | 60 bags (300 lbs) |
| 500 | 50 bags (250 lbs) | 75 bags (375 lbs) | 100 bags (500 lbs) |
Want to skip the math entirely? Use our Event Powder Calculator — plug in your participant count and coverage level and it calculates your exact order size instantly.
What Affects How Much Powder You Need?
The 0.75 lb recommendation works well for most events, but a few factors can push you toward the light or heavy end of the range.
Number of Color Stations
The more stations you have along the route, the more powder gets used per person. A course with 3 stations uses noticeably less than one with 6 or 7 stations. If you're planning a long route with lots of color zones, budget closer to 1 lb per person.
Age of Participants
Kids under 10 tend to get less powder thrown at them per station than adults and teenagers — both because volunteers are more careful and because kids move through faster. For elementary school events with younger children, 0.5 lbs per person is often plenty. For high school or mixed-age adult events, go 0.75–1 lb.
Indoor vs. Outdoor
Outdoor events in open fields benefit from some buffer — powder disperses in the wind and some always ends up on the ground rather than on participants. If you're running an outdoor event on a breezy day, add 10–15% to your order. Indoor events (gymnasiums, covered courts) are more contained, so you can stay on the lower end.
Crowd Energy
This sounds unscientific, but it matters. A highly engaged crowd where volunteers are actively throwing and participants are tossing powder at each other burns through supplies much faster than a casual walk. If you're expecting a wild, high-energy event, err on the side of more.
Whether You're Having a "Grand Finale" Color Throw
Many color run events end with a big simultaneous color throw where everyone tosses powder in the air at once. This single moment can use as much powder as several stations combined. If you're planning a finale throw, add 1–2 extra bags per 50 participants on top of your base calculation.
How to Distribute Colors
Once you know your total pound count, you need to decide how many bags of each color to order.
For a standard 7-station rainbow layout, order roughly equal amounts of each color — Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and Pink. If you're ordering 28 bags total for a 200-person event at 0.75 lbs/person, that's 4 bags of each color.
For a school spirit event, you might weight your order toward your school colors. If your school colors are blue and gold, order more Blue and Yellow and less of the colors that don't match your theme.
Not sure how to split it? Our product page lets you customize the exact quantity of each color in your order — you can mix and match however you need. Build your custom order here.
Don't Forget: Order Early
Color powder for school events sells out fast in late February and March as spring events ramp up. We recommend ordering at least 4–6 weeks before your event date to ensure delivery and give yourself buffer for any last-minute headcount changes.
Peacock Powder offers free standard shipping on all continental US orders, and wholesale pricing kicks in automatically at checkout — the more bags you order, the more you save, up to 50% off on large orders.
Quick Reference: Order Size by Event Size
If you just want a fast answer, here's a simple cheat sheet for medium coverage (0.75 lbs/person):
- 50 participants → 8 bags (40 lbs)
- 100 participants → 15 bags (75 lbs)
- 150 participants → 23 bags (115 lbs)
- 200 participants → 30 bags (150 lbs)
- 300 participants → 45 bags (225 lbs)
- 400 participants → 60 bags (300 lbs)
- 500 participants → 75 bags (375 lbs)
Ready to Order?
Use the Peacock Powder calculator to get your exact number, then head to our wholesale order page to build your custom color mix. Have questions about your event size or setup? Email us at info@peacockpowder.com — we're happy to help you figure out exactly what you need.
And if you're still in the planning stage, check out our Color Run Fundraiser Guide for a full timeline, station setup tips, and everything else you need to pull off a successful event.
Peacock Powder — Bulk color powder for school and church color run fundraisers. Safe, non-toxic, cornstarch-based. Free shipping on all US orders.