As we adapt to social distancing and isolating at home, people are finding innovative ways to fundraise and support the causes they’re passionate about. This week we’ve seen charity runners setting themselves challenges like running half or full marathon in their back garden. They’ve shared content on this on their social media feeds with regular updates followed online by friends and family. Those friends and family have been keen to support them, and runners have raised up to £20k from these garden challenges. A great example is James Campbell’s 6 Metre Garden Marathon, which has now raised over £27k for NHS Charities https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-campbell0104
These challenges tap into three strong trends driven by the current crisis:
· People generally respond to a crisis with altruism – they want to help. We’re seeing this in the huge response to calls for NHS volunteers, neighbours helping each other with shopping; and now fundraising
· We’re all at home and in need of ways of occupy our time. Setting ourselves a challenge or following someone who is undertaking one gives us a positive focus
· People want to support charities right now – as fundraisers our charities need us to be fundraising and our supporters want to help.
So how can you help your charity’s supporters to fundraise in this way? Here’s some top tips:
- Suggest your runners to do a running challenge in their home – in their garden or on a treadmill. Cyclists can do this on a static bike if they have one.
- Participants set the distance – could be a half marathon or a cumulative distance over several weeks. 5k a week if they are a Park Runner?
- Participants create an online giving page and share it via social media. You can share top tips for maximizing online sponsorship such as adding and adjusting their page sponsorship target, updating it with photos and the reason for their challenge.
- Participants wear their charities’ vests or tops if they have them – this will be particularly motivational for your participants who were signed up to do an event which has since been postponed
- Participants posting regular social media progress updates (particularly video or photos) will boost donations. This inter-relationship between social media feeds and donations to the online page is key. The quality doesn’t matter – it’s the ability of short videos or photos to engage people online that counts.
- Relate the ask for sponsorship to the impact of coronavirus on your charity and on all of us. How many more calls are you having on helplines? What changes are you having to make to deliver your services? The average Brit spends £10-15 per week on work lunches. Can people sponsor that amount?
- Amplify your runners’ fundraising through your charity social media channels. Share their videos with on your social media feeds. Encourage other supporters to post messages cheering them on. Give updates on the challenges and top tips on social media and online fundraising.
- Make sure you thank your supporters and ensure they feel valued and appreciated, and let them know the difference their support has made.
These tips can work for a range of do your own thing fundraising – from virtual quiz evenings to home baking challenges to head shaves. Digital and social media platforms make this possible – your supporters can get online and do this themselves.
At the moment people want to take positive steps and contribute to the challenge facing us all. And charities need help more than ever – and fundraisers need to be asking for that help. So let’s help our amazing supporters make a huge difference to the causes they are passionate about.
Catherine Miles
Founder, Catherine Miles Consulting