If you’ve taken on the challenge of running the epic MBNA Chester Marathon or Metric Marathon, we know you’ve got guts, determination, commitment, and great decision-making skills.

Therefore, deciding to run for charity and raising valuable funds is something you can also achieve!

GoFundMe is the ideal platform to use if you’re fundraising for the event. Start your fundraising page here.

You can select a charity from our list of charities when starting a fundraiser in a quick and easy way.

There’s no minimum fundraising requirement to do this and funds are delivered automatically, 100% of Gift Aid goes directly to the charity.

Once you’re set up you can share with your friends and family easily to try and increase donations.

As well as this, you can provide engaging updates on your fundraiser to let supporters know how your training is going.

Here are some great quick and easy fundraising tips from us and our race sponsor ‘GoFundMe’

Fundraising Tips

SET A GOAL

Everyone needs a target to work towards. Take a little time to think about how much you’d like to raise for your charity. Set a realistic goal, whilst challenging yourself.

The best totals are those that feel achievable. If you set your goal too low and achieve it quite quickly some people may feel you don’t need the support as you’ve already received your total.

You can always ask your charity for advice. They’ll have had other runners raising funds for them.

TELL YOUR STORY

Be as personal and share as much information as to why you’ve chosen to run for your charity. People will engage more and are likely to donate or sponsor if they have a better understanding of why it is so important to them.

When someone lands on your fundraiser page, they want to hear your story and what the charity means to you.

It’s great to include your feelings about taking on the race and why it would be incredible for people to donate or sponsor.

Keep your story simple, it doesn’t have to be long, but it does need to be heartfelt and personal to you. What’s more, fundraisers with a profile picture or video raise over 50% more on average.  

SHOW YOURSELF

Take a photo or record a video of yourself so your friends and family know it is you. This is not only reassuring but it also shows you are committed to your fundraiser.

Have fun with it. Take a photo in your training gear, or charity T-shirt, or showcase a short video of your training. If you’re feeling confident share a video of yourself explaining why raising money for your charity and completing the MBNA Chester Marathon or Metric Marathon is so important to you.

As we’ve mentioned Fundraisers with a profile picture receive 50% more donations on average. While it may be a small thing, adding a profile picture at the beginning of your fundraising journey can make a big difference.

DONATE TO YOURSELF

This might not be the first thing you think of doing but donating to your cause yourself will help start the ball rolling. It shows your commitment and starts the totaliser moving in the right direction.

Self-donating can also help set the tone in terms of the amount others give. Fundraisers who self-donate raise around 20% more.

SHARE YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE

It’s important to share your page so friends and family can sponsor/donate to your cause. Sometimes Fundraisers feel slightly uncomfortable promoting their page. We suggest you think back to when a friend or family member last asked you to sponsor them, as we’re sure you happily wanted to support them in their endeavour.

There are many ways to share your page – This can be done via emails, sending text messages, and creating social posts. All of these are supported within your fundraiser page, so it is nice and easy to do.

Don’t be shy is resending the link to your page, especially closer to race day to secure a few last-minute sponsors.

PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES

Make sure you update your fundraising page with an update. This can be photos of your charity kit (if you’re being provided with one) or training achievements, showing you're working hard to be race ready – clocking up the miles. Friends and family who have sponsored you or future sponsors will be interested in how you are progressing.

Fundraisers who posted an update raised 60% more on average, which demonstrates why it is so good to keep your page fresh and up to date.

SAY THANK YOU

On your ‘GoFundMe’ fundraising page you can clearly see when you receive a new sponsor or donation. We know you’ll be over the moon with each sponsor you receive, so make sure you reply with a personalised thank you. Each person will be so appreciative of your response, and it is another opportunity to tell them what their donation means to you.

We hope these fundraising tips prove helpful and may encourage some runners to decide to run for charity. It is so easy to set up a ‘GoFundMe’ page - Start yours now.

Good luck with race day and your charity sponsorships!