In honour of the thousands of sporting events worldwide put on hold as a result of COVID-19, the UK’s mass participant events industry has come together in a colossal attempt to raise money to save the UK’s charities…
The UK charity sector estimates that it will lose a staggering £4 billion because of the coronavirus pandemic. Among huge fundraising losses is the money usually raised during the world’s biggest annual one day fundraising event - the London Marathon, which in 2019 alone saw £66.4 million raised for charities.
Because of this, Mass Participation Sports Organisers have called for a nationwide attempt to save our charities by raising £67 million, starting from the day that the London Marathon was due to take place.
The Challenge
The 16th April 2020 marked the launch of the campaign for the Two Point Six Challenge, which aims to raise money from the day that the original 2020 London Marathon was set – 26th April.
Event organisers are asking charities and their supporters, of all ages and abilities, to come up with an activity that: is based around the numbers 2.6 or 26, suits their skills and stays within the guidelines of social distancing. You could get your teams and donors to…
- Cartwheel 26 times
- Run for 2.6km
- Hop for 2 minutes, 6 times
And they don’t need to be sporting events either! Why not try and flip a pancake 26 times without dropping it?
Come up with an activity, market the initiative to your supporters and get them involved either in your activity or one of their own, to raise money through donations to your fundraising page.
Where is the money raised?
As a fundraiser there are three key ways for supporters to donate:
1. The Save the UK Charity fund
This central fund will be managed and distributed by the Charities Aid Foundation. Any charity set up with their own Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving page, and fundraising towards the initiative will be eligible for a portion of the funds raised here.
2. Through your charity’s Just Giving page
Get supporters to donate to a Just Giving page set up for your charity. If you haven’t already, follow these steps to set yours up now.*
3. Set up a Virgin Money Giving page
Another option to create a virtual fundraising hub for your charity is through Virgin Money Giving. Find out how to set yours up here.*
How to raise awareness of the challenge
Challenge organisers have put together a marketing toolkit to help you get started with marketing your activities.
The toolkit includes:
- Template email copy and useful timelines to send your communications
- Social media imagery, logos and graphics to share your involvement in the campaign
- A template press release to get your stories out in the media
- An FAQ page dedicated to the fundraising process and how it works
What do you need to do now?
The fundraising challenge officially started on the 26th April, but it's not too late to get involved!
1. Download the collateral and create a communications timeline to get your teams and donors involved
2. Email your supporters and influencers to get involved
3. Encourage them to share their stories using pictures and videos and the dedicated #twopointsixchallenge hashtag
4. Make sure you’re signposting them to your charity’s fundraising page or to the CAF Save the UK Charities central fund.
To reach the £67 million target, all it takes is:
- 2.6 million people raising or donating £26 each
OR
- 260,000 people raising £260 each
Fundraisers have already raised a huge £7,612,006.24!**
What are you waiting for?
>> Get your marketing materials
>> Stay up to date with new challenges on Facebook & Twitter
>> Find out more about the event
* Any registration fees will be removed for this initiative.
** Correct at 16:15pm 29/04/2020
Author: Aimee Jepson, Content Manager, Wilmington Charities
