Ideas for digital fundraisers

1. Maximise your JustGiving Page

If you want to fundraise online, you need a quick and easy way to collect those digital donations. Setting up JustGiving takes a few minutes, and the funds are transferred directly to the hospice without you having to do a thing. Make sure to personalise your page with images and the story of why you’re taking on this challenge, and keep coming back to post updates and check on your fundraising total (don’t be afraid to move the fundraising target if you hit it!) 

Read our guide to setting up JustGiving to get you started!

2. Keep posting

Even with the best of intentions, we’re all very busy and will just forget to donate even if we really wanted to. Make sure you keep your fundraiser in people’s minds and make it easy for them to give by posting, posting, posting! You could share posts from our social media, photos and video of your training or updates about the challenge (such as route maps, new kit you’ve bought or any steps you’ve taken – think “Plane tickets booked for my overseas trek, no going back now!”)

Top tip: You don’t need to do a direct ask for donations each time, but it’s always a good idea to include your JustGiving link at the end of the post.  

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3. Go live 

The magic of livestreaming is its fantastic reach. Because you’re broadcasting publicly, your potential audience is wide; meaning even a quid or two from each viewer will soon add up! You could livestream during training with updates about how you’re doing, or during the event itself (Facebook or Instagram live are great for this, and you can even add a donate button to the video so viewers can give while they watch). Keep talking to your audience as you go to keep them engaged and giving. Whatever your challenge, livestreaming connects with your sponsors in real time and helps them be part of the journey. 

4. Marathon events

Before you skip and read onto the next idea, remember a marathon doesn’t have to mean running!

As well as livestreaming training and events, you could stream or post about an ongoing challenge, like marathon DJ sets, roller skating, nail art sessions, online gaming – the sky’s the limit! Just decide if you want an activity that will take you 26.2 miles or hours (and if it’s something you’d like to invite others to donate to participate in like a dance-a-thon or film franchise viewing party). This is a great option if you don’t like talking to camera; just set up a webcam to capture the whole thing and/or write posts about your progress.  

5. Zoom Quiz

Thanks to the events of the last few years, everybody and their grandmother knows how to use Zoom. A quiz is always a crowd-pleaser, but doing it on Zoom is perfect if you don’t love crowds and it makes the whole thing low-effort for you and your participants (they don’t even have to get out of their PJs!) You can get people to donate to your JustGiving page for their entry fee, Google the questions, and even get a friend to be Quizmaster if you’d rather not be front and centre on the screen!   

6. Work it

If you work from home, chances are that your organisation is set up for sharing information online. Email your colleagues and post on your company intranet about your fundraising challenge, and follow up with the occasional update (without overdoing it and bothering all your work mates!) Make sure you include an email signature that links to your challenge – you never know which client, colleague or customer might be interested in donating… 

7. Online sweepstake

A lot of people like to give when they’re getting something in return, so share a sweepstake online where participants pay to play and receive a percentage of the overall prize pot. You could tie it in with the big TV events of the year, like Strictly, Bake Off or Love Island, where everyone picks a contestant, or world competitions like Eurovision or the World Cup.

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