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We know raising money is hard, but it’s thanks to your sponsorship that our scientists can keep making their life-saving discoveries. However much you raise, it all helps in the fight against cancer.
And don’t worry if you’re stuck for ideas, because we’re here to help!
Here are some of our tried and tested fundraising ideas, certified as effective by two decades worth of Race For Life participants.
Fundraising ideas:
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Create your digital back sign!
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Who are you taking part in the Race for Life for? Use our creator to make your very own digital back sign, share it on social media with your friends and family, and share a link to your Cancer Research UK Giving Page to get those all-important donations in.
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Host a bake sale!
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Don your aprons and get mixing; we've worked with Tesco to make holding a bake sale a piece of cake. In this pack you’ll find some recipes, a poster to advertise your bake sale and bunting.
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Host a quiz night!
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Who's the Prime Minister of Canada? What's the longest river in the world? Put your friends' general knowledge to the test! Our quiz night pack has everything you need to put on a night to remember, including four rounds of questions, a poster to advertise your event and more top tips.
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Host a girls' night in
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How about combining fundraising with a girly catch up? Whether it’s an evening of pampering or a dinner party, a girls' night in is a great way to fundraise.
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Get together with your friends
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What better excuse to spend quality time with your friends than fundraising? Fill up your sponsorship form while having fun by organising one of the following:
Quiz - fancy yourself a quizmaster? Invite your friends round for an evening of pop-culture knowledge, charge a small entry fee and split the pot between the winner and your sponsorship fund.
Girls' night - we all deserve a bit of pampering, so invite your friends over for an evening of TLC. Charge a small entry fee and kick back with your girlfriends.
Afternoon tea - aprons at the ready! Unleash your inner Mary Berry and treat your friends to an afternoon of cakes, cucumber sandwiches and tea.
Bingo - who doesn’t love a night at the bingo? Recreate the fun in your living room and split the proceeds with the winner and your fundraising pot!
Dinner party - ‘Come Dine With Me’ addict? Create your own version, minus the cameras, and compete with your friends for the best evening!
Cheese and wine night! Take inspiration from our cousins across the channel and host a delicious cheese and wine evening!
Anything else you can think of! You can turn any fun event into a fundraising experience, simply let your friends and family know what you’re up to and they’ll be happy to help!
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Solo fundraising
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If you’d rather go it alone, try one of the following fundraising methods to top up your sponsorship pot:
Auction - spring clean your house and auction off anything you no longer need! You’ll feel freer and you’ll have raised some cash.
Give it up - if you’re training for a run, why not go the whole hog and give up a bad habit until the race too? Get family members and friends to double their sponsorship if you manage to hold off until Race day!
Knitting - dab hand with needles? Whip up some wooly gifts to sell to your friends and family and add the proceeds to your pot! Bonus points if you use CRUK colours!
Dog walking - who doesn’t want to spend more time with our four-legged friends? Why not offer up your services as a dog walker for a few weeks to add some extra cash to your fund - you could even use this as a chance to train for the 5K!
Clean cars - okay, this probably isn’t the most exciting way to raise money, but you’re guaranteed to find interested customers and you could bag a decent amount per car too!
Car boot sale - the classic summer event! Pack up all your old knickknacks and head down to your local car boot. You know what they say, one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.
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Ideas for kids!
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Make fundraising with kids fun. Download our ideas pack for inspiration. It even comes with posters and bunting to decorate your event!
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Publicise your fundraising
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Sharing your fundraising journey is a great way to increase donations, keep you on track and spread awareness about the cause. Confused about where to start? Here are our top tips for telling the world:
1. Start with social media
The easiest way to share your journey is to post about it on your social media - Facebook and Twitter are the most obvious platforms, but for added points why not make some videos for YouTube? Or document any fundraising activities with pictures on Instagram.
Don’t forget to include a link to your fundraising page in all of your posts.
2. Make the most of community spirit
Get in touch with your local community centre, church, religious centre, or school and let them know all about what you’re doing and why - they’ll help you spread the word.
You’d be surprised how willing people are to help you fundraise.
3. Stop the press
Are you taking part in the event with your colleagues or a social club? Is there a story behind your fundraising that you’d like to share? Contact our press team for a press release you can send to your local media - you might make it into the local paper!
4. Contact us!
We love to hear your stories - if you’d like to share yours get in touch.
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Beat those fundraising fears!
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Asking people to sponsor you is a nerve-wracking experience - if you’re worried about taking the plunge, read our strategy for sponsorship success.
1. Share your story
Are you running for a personal reason? Were you touched by the story of a loved one?
Sharing your story can make people much more sympathetic to your cause - and it’ll make you feel more at ease asking for donations!
2. Know your facts
To put things into context, we’ve created a helpful guide to exactly what donations can fund here at Cancer Research UK. Sharing this information with your would-be sponsors is a great way to demonstrate what their money will go towards.
3. Email if you don’t want to ask in person
If you’re too worried to ask in person, consider emailing instead! Spend time crafting the perfect message and send it out to your colleagues, family or friends. This spares you the awkwardness of asking face-to-face and often makes your request more memorable. Posting on social media is another good method for this.
4. Speak to your boss
Some large companies offer fundraising match schemes, where they’ll match however much money you raise for a registered charity. This is a simple way of doubling your money!
5. Offer them something in return.
If you’re still worried about asking for money, offer something in return! Put on a bake sale, a quiz night or a pamper party. You’ll feel much better if you’re offering something in return for funds. Be careful though - donations raised like this are not Gift Aid eligible.
6. Leverage your networks
Do you attend a regular book-club? Are you a member of a church? What about a yoga class? Leverage your networks - speak to those in charge of regular events you take part in to spread your message around, you’ll never know who’ll donate.
