London Marathon Fundraising: 3 Simple Ways Leukaemia Care Raised £687,000
So you want to level up your charity’s London Marathon fundraising game. Maybe you didn’t reach your target last year. Or maybe you just want to aim higher in 2025:…
So you want to level up your charity’s London Marathon fundraising game.
Maybe you didn’t reach your target last year. Or maybe you just want to aim higher in 2025: more fundraisers, more donations, more money raised for your mission.
Leukaemia Care is a national charity that helps support people and their families affected by blood cancer diagnoses.
In 2024’s London Marathon, the charity ran a campaign that…
- Received over 800 applications, with 253 runners taking part on the day
- Raised £687,000+
- And achieved an average Fundraising Page value of £2,719
Outstanding! But what kind of a team does it take to do THAT?
It’s one person. Senior Events Fundraising Officer Zoe Makings is the core member of the charity’s London Marathon team, occasionally getting help from colleagues. And while this is a testament to how success like this is possible for your charity, we think you’ll have even more confidence after you read their strategies.
So how’d they do it? The charity’s Head of Fundraising Hayley Wessier and Senior Events Fundraising Officer Zoe Makings shared how they broke their own record in 2024 – read on to find out.
3 ways Leukaemia Care achieved fundraising success in London Marathon
Build a robust fundraiser screening process
While Leukaemia Care’s campaign met its target in 2023, they struggled filling out their team, had a high dropout rate mid-campaign, and had some fundraisers raise lots while others didn’t meet their goal.
To improve, the team built a screening process to ensure more dedicated fundraisers.
Upon applying for a place, runners needed to have a plan for their fundraising or confirm they’d pay the money themselves. If they were successful, they had two weeks to set up a JustGiving Fundraising Page or else they’d lose their place.
“Our supporters preferred using JustGiving – they trusted the platform and were more familiar with it.” LEUKAEMIA CARE
Ensure fundraisers know what’s expected
Learning from the previous year, the team made their milestones and deadlines clearer, so fundraisers knew what they were responsible for.
“We brought in the use of docusign to ensure people read and understood the [Terms & Conditions]. Multiple places to sign ensured [people understood] things such as dropping out, milestones, and expectations.” LEUKAEMIA CARE
The team also made phone calls to fundraisers who were stuck with their fundraising or behind on meeting their fundraising milestones to help them along.
Charities that start early raise more! Our London Marathon hub is built specifically for charities. Create your JustGiving Campaign Page in a few steps, get expert resources, and start fundraising now for London Marathon 2025. Visit the London Marathon Fundraising Hub |
Maintain momentum with consistent communication
Leukaemia Care used email as a primary type of communication method (Zoe emailing runners manually in Outlook). But they went far beyond this to build trust and stay relevant in the minds of their fundraisers. Here’s are the other communication channels the charity used:
- A private fundraiser Facebook Group. First-time runners especially loved the community aspect of this. The charity used their Group to keep the conversation going, run polls, and check in with their team with updates and support.
- Customised fundraiser resources. Zoe said, “We have digital resources on our website like sponsorship forms, bake sale packs, quiz night packs, A-Z fundraising ideas, and lots more.” The charity also sends materials upon request, like collection boxes, leaflets, and banners.
- Fundraiser competitions. To encourage early fundraising, the charity held a competition where everyone who raised £1000 by November would win a branded metal water bottle.
- A live event. The charity’s live event helped fundraisers meet each other and the charity’s team. “Our fundraisers loved having a virtual event in the months before London Marathon. We had a running coach to speak the past 2 years, and this has really made a difference.”
- A race day cheer point. Leukaemia Care shows up to the marathon and cheer their runners on!
- A digital certificate. People love to be recognised. Zoe arranges for fundraisers to receive certificates, and top fundraisers receive trophies with their name and the amount they raised once they complete the marathon.
Add a little more to your application process. Give a bit of extra support. It’s amazing what going the extra mile can do for your charity.
Leukaemia Care raised more than £687,000 in their London Marathon campaign, with an average Fundraising Page value of £2,719. We usually tell charities to aim for an average of £2,500 – so this really knocked it out of the park!
Ways JustGiving will help your charity raise more in London Marathon 2025
At JustGiving, we do everything we can to help your charity raise more in London Marathon. After all, charities using JustGiving raised a record-breaking £42 million in 2024, and we’re aiming to help boost that even higher in 2025.
A crucial first step to raising more in London Marathon, is early page creation. We’ve got some exciting giveaways, incentives, and tricks up our sleeves to help you encourage fundraisers to set their pages up as early as possible.
Here’s a preview of just a few thing we have plans and how you can get ahead on your fundraising:
- Encourage page creation as soon as you’ve accepted your runners
Launching in June, we’ll give 4,000 London Marathon runners a £5 donation when they create their fundraising page on JustGiving.
- Improve your activation rate and incentivise runners to create their page
We’ll give three £2,000 donations away each month (September – November) to London Marathon runners who receive a donation on JustGiving.
- Keep momentum and encourage fundraising latecomers to get started
Launching early 2025, we’ll give away £100 a week (until event day) to a London Marathon fundraiser using JustGiving. The more donations they receive, the more chances to win in our weekly draw.
- Our London Marathon fundraising resource library
On our London Marathon fundraising hub, where runners can get connected with others, learn how to raise more money, and see examples of others’ success.
Plus more to come!
And of course, you and your supporters deserve the best, so we’ve got the basics covered too:
- Uninterrupted access to your charity account
- Always-on page creation + checkout optimisation
- Fundraising stewardship for runners
- Expert advice and support for charities on the JustGiving Blog
And we show up when your supporters need us most. We’re there on race day, every year, cheering your runners on, and we can’t wait to be back in 2025.
Create your charity’s London Marathon 2025 Campaign Page now
Charities used JustGiving to raise over £42 million for their causes in London Marathon 2024. Start raising money now with the world’s most trusted platform.
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