Help Your Marathon Runners Meet Their Fundraising Goals

Posted by Ben Crook on 29 March 2018

Marathon season is fast approaching and some of your runners might be a long way off from reaching their fundraising goals. It can be hard for first-time runners, as well as those serial runners who take part in events like Tough Mudder on an annual basis, to reach high targets from only asking friends and family for donations.

You can help them by suggesting they run (excuse the pun) an alternative fundraising campaign.

Get them to tell their story

Many marathon runners have a personal story that has motivated them to take part, however sharing that story via social media can increase their reach and enable them to acquire donations from strangers. People will connect to human interest stories quicker than a curated message from an organisation because its relatable. A Charities Aid Foundation survey found that over 60% give because of personal experiences related to the cause. Ask your marathon fundraisers to share their story of why they are running the marathon and you can then share this across your own blog, website and social channels. Especially helpful for those runners who might have a small network, as they could attract sponsorship from some of your other regular donors.

Your marathon fundraisers should also be encouraged to share updates on their training and progress in the build-up to the event, it could well ignite a larger following for the individual. Supporters will invest their time into the runners story, reading updates on their training right up until the day of the race as well as making a donation. Video is a great way to tell their story as it can convey a lot of information in a short space of time and is more likely to be sharedon social media.

Host an online auction

Marathon runner Adam Sebba was fundraising for Walking With The Wounded in 2017 and being a serial marathon runner, found he was asking the same group of people for donations, which were starting to dwindle as the years went on. Looking into alternative ways to raise funds, Adam decided it would be great idea to run an online auction and so asked his family if there were any items or experiences they could donate to his cause. He secured a mix of 7 prizes, including sports tickets, memorabilia and the chance to have lunch with the former CEO of Net-A-Porter, which appealed to a diverse range of interests. You couldn’t buy the prizes on the high street which helped add intrigue and demand. The auction was hosted on Givergy.com, with a branded charity page which meant that users could easily see that the money raised would go directly to the charity. Adam was not only able to share the page with his family and friends to increase bids, but Givergy also promoted the listings to their email database and social media followers, increasing reach dramatically. As a result, Adam was quickly able to exceed his fundraising goal, raising over 4,500.

I used Givergy for a personal charity campaign for Walking With The Wounded. In a short space of time, I raised more from the Givergy campaign than through all my other initiatives put together. The staff helped me through the process and made it very easy. It really is a fantastic platform, very intuitive and user-friendly and I would thoroughly recommend it to individual fundraisers or charities. Adam Sebba, Individual Fundraiser.

Keep fundraising after the event

Around 20% of donations through JustGiving come in after people finish their event, so when you contact your runners to congratulate them on crossing the finishing line, encourage them to ask for donations again. Its important for your marathon fundraisers to include a monetary goal, to ensure that people feel compelled to support and remind them that if they hit that goal mid training, to increase it again!

Remember, after the event takes place to thank those that ran and also donated, making your supporters feel appreciated will encourage them to give again. Retaining repeat donors can increase the amount you raise, with less outgoings, so check out these tips on how charities can use increase donor retention:

Ben Crook

Chief Operating Officer

Ben is at the forefront of every project in Givergy, listing and actioning constant improvements across the business. With over a decade of experience in the charity and events sector he brings a deep understanding of what the fundraising industry needs to operate effectively and efficiently.