Great North Run is known as the world’s biggest half marathon… and is an incredible fundraising opportunity for charities like yours.
Over 10,000 Great North Run runners chose to raise money on JustGiving in 2024 – raising a huge £7+ million for charity!
But with an event this size, fundraising can seem daunting.
What if we’ve never raised money in Great North Run before? How do we get people to raise money for us in the event? If we do get fundraisers… what do we say to them?
Today, we’ll share the highlights from our recent talk with Lucie and Niamh from Alzheimer’s Society to show you how sometimes, the simplest tactics can be the most effective. Read on to discover:
- The key strategy they use to build a committed team
- Their exact onboarding emails that jumpstart their team’s fundraising
- The detailed stewardship tips that keep fundraising momentum through race day
- The incentives they give fundraisers to help raise even more for their cause
Let’s take a closer look, and explore how you can achieve similar success.
The Great North Run opportunity for charities
In 2024, we saw…
- Over £7 million raised for charity by more than 10,000 fundraisers on JustGiving
- A 12% increase in the average amount raised per fundraiser (vs 2023)
- 17% growth in average donation volume per page since 2022
It’s clear: Great North Run is an amazing chance for your charity to connect with supporters and raise more money in 2025!
CHARITIES THAT START EARLY RAISE MORE
Check out our Great North Run 2025 Fundraising Hub for everything you need for next year’s ballot runners and start raising money right away.
Alzheimer’s Society’s keys to fundraising success
Alzheimer’s Society works to build a world where dementia no longer devastates lives by helping to those living with dementia today and providing hope for the future.
Overall, fundraising in running events has been a game-changer for the charity, and Great North Run 2024 was no exception. Not only did they recruit 1,700+ fundraisers in the event, but those dedicated runners smashed their fundraising targets by an average of 50%!
The four emails raising more money for Alzheimer’s Society
The secret sauce? Their email onboarding journey.
Here’s the exact email sequence (plus a few other outreach methods) they use to get their community excited, signed up early, and raising money for them well in advance of the event date.
- Onboarding email 1
First Monday, Wednesday, or Friday after fundraiser signs up
- Onboarding SMS
First Monday after fundraiser signs up
- Onboarding email 2
+2 days after email 1- The charity’s fundraising guide
- Fundraising target
- Console details if relevant
- Onboarding email 3
+2 days after email 2- Link to the charity’s fundraising hub
- Information about fundraising on JustGiving
- Onboarding email 4
+2 days after email 3- Link to training hub
- Information on where to get support
- How to contact the charity’s training providers
- Onboarding call
Within the first 2 weeks after the fundraiser signs up- A welcome call to thank the runner for joining and chat through their fundraising plans
- Onboarding mailing
Within the first month after the fundraiser signs up- A physical fundraising pack mailed to runners, if requested
All in all, this combo worked exceptionally well for Alzheimer’s Society, boosting email opens by 3% and clicks by 2% – a lot when you’re communicating with thousands of fundraisers. It’s all about keeping the momentum going and making sure everyone feels supported every step of the way!
More stewardship tactics for fundraising success
One of the key elements of Alzheimer’s Society’s fundraising journey is getting fundraisers raising money early, then keeping their momentum through race day. Here are a few ways they engaged their community from the start.
Get people active and excited early
- Set up a waitlist for next year’s event. The charity sets up a waitlist on their website before next year’s event is announced, then notifies subscribers as soon as it is.
- Send important, timely reminders. They send emails to anyone who has started the registration journey for fundraising to help them complete their application. (This is also a great opportunity to remind fundraisers to set up their JustGiving pages).
This led to 68% of their fundraisers’ JustGiving pages being set up by February 2024, compared to 36% in 2023!
Build up your community
- Facilitate fundraiser connection. The charity has one central running-focused Facebook Group for the charity. They’ve found this best supports participants from all their events, versus having a separate group for each event.
- Leverage fundraiser referrals. They encourage fundraisers to bring friends on board to make their fundraising more fun and meaningful.
- Hold in-person events. Alzheimer’s Society offers both online and in-person training sessions! This is a great way to connect with your fundraisers in person and get them ready for the big race day.
Make a fundraising “shopping list”
The charity breaks down specific donation amounts that make a tangible impact for their beneficiaries and their mission, so fundraisers can then share with their family and friends when asking for donations. For example:
- “£25 could pay for 2 companion phone calls to someone feeling along and isolated.”
- “£50 contributes to half a day’s research, funding the dementia breakthroughs of tomorrow.”
Provide achievable fundraising targets
Alzheimer’s Society has seen value in giving their fundraisers targets, broken down into manageable chunks. For example, a £375 target over 6 months is £62.50 per month.
Keep fundraising momentum
- Use JustGiving incentive programmes. Leverage JustGiving offers and incentives like competitions for £200 donations just for creating a page within a specific timeframe. Two of our participants won and that helped them exceed their £375 targets!
- Go above and beyond for your biggest supporters. In 2024, the charity introduced something new to make their high-value fundraisers feel extra-appreciated. 116 standout fundraisers received special gold badges, good luck or thank you cards before the event, Christmas cards at the end of the year, and personal phone calls. This type of special recognition can really help encourage continued support for your charity!
As a result, Alzheimer’s Society ranked in the top 5% of charities fundraising on JustGiving for the Great North Run 2024.
Final thought
Now that the secrets are out, is your charity ready to board the onboarding train?
When you’re ready, JustGiving is here to help you get set up for 2025! Check out our Great North Run 2025 fundraising hub for the best resources to build your page, plan your campaign, and get special incentives along the way.
Gear up for Great North Run 2025
Get everything you need to plan a successful Great North Run fundraising campaign.
