Top tips for setting up your marathon online donation page

Daniel, 22, from Newtownabbey, is running the Belfast marathon on Sunday 5 May in memory of his uncle Steve, who died of bowel cancer in 2018.

I feel that I’ve been insulated from being affected by any serious diseases like bowel cancer. I was in a bit of a bubble, in a way, but then suddenly it became a part of my life when my uncle was diagnosed with it. He died last year, but just four months before I had seen him at a family wedding, perfectly fine and still the same ‘fun’ uncle I’d been hanging about with since forever.

I’ve ran the Belfast marathon for the past three years and have always tried to do it for a good cause, but this year running for Bowel Cancer UK feels significant in a more personal way. Training for the marathon has been tough, as I’m still studying and have been catching up with a lot of work for the end of the semester, so I’ve been cramming in runs at night.

As I’m running the marathon in memory of my uncle Steve, I’ve set up a JustGiving page, which meant I could open it up to friends of his to donate as well.

My personal target is £600 and so far I’ve raised well over £400. I promised everyone that if I hit my target I would do the marathon dressed up, which is now looking like a promise I’ll have to keep. I’ll be wearing my Bowel Cancer UK shirt, but there’s no way you’ll be able to miss me – I’ll be wearing a green fairy costume as well!

Five easy ways to boost your online donations

Setting up an online donation page like JustGiving is an easy and simple way to raise sponsorship for your event. Here’s five top ways to help you encourage people to donate to your fundraising:

Why are you taking part?
Tell your personal story and the reason you’re supporting us. By explaining to people why you are fundraising, they are more likely to want to donate.

Set a target
Pages with a target raise 46% more and if you hit that target, increase it!

Add perspective to donations
Give some examples on what people might otherwise be spending their money on. For example someone could either buy a takeaway coffee for a week, or donate £15 to help you fundraise for an amazing cause.

Share your page regularly on social media
And think about when you are sharing your page. For example, if you share your fundraising page on payday, people are more likely to have some spare cash, than they might at the end of the month.

It’s not over ‘til it’s over
20% of donations come in after an event has happened so tell your supporters when you’ve completed your challenge. Make sure to upload pictures of you running the race and explain what it was like.

Click here to see Daniel’s JustGiving page