How Barnardo’s Raised £375k in London Marathon

Our new London Marathon Masterclass is bursting with insights, inspiration, and fundraising brilliance!

The masterclass was led by particular visitors Polly Debnam from Barnardo’s and Sarah Goddard (aka Fundraiser Sarah).

Now we’re excited to share Barnardo’s successful stewardship technique and how one can apply the identical ways on your charity’s 2026 marketing campaign.

Let’s first look again on the excellent JustGiving fundraising from London Marathon 2025 (or click on right here to skip straight to the Barnardo’s technique).

A glance again at London Marathon 2025

It’s clear as to why JustGiving is the primary selection for London Marathon fundraisers, with over £40 million raised (to date) for good causes…and donations are nonetheless pouring in!

Engagement was by way of the roof as nicely, with a punchy 94% activation fee (the share of London Marathon web page homeowners who obtained at the least one donation).

Now let’s see how Barnardo’s ran a profitable London Marathon marketing campaign as a part of their mission to make youngsters really feel safer, happier, more healthy, and hopeful.

How Barnardo’s Raised £375,000 in London Marathon 2025

Barnardo’s raised a complete of £375,000 (together with Reward Help), had 178 JustGiving Fundraising Pages created for them, and noticed a 93% activation fee from fundraisers. Phenomenal!

The charity’s Occasions Fundraising Officer Polly Debnam gave us a behind-the-scenes take a look at how they turned their London Marathon Marketing campaign Web page right into a fundraising powerhouse.

Setting significant marketing campaign targets

The charity set targets that drove a robust concentrate on personalised communications, sharing their mission, and supporting fundraisers all through their journey.

• Construct a human centred journey. Be sure members really feel supported by exhibiting them simply how a lot of a distinction they make to the charity.
• Maintain their mission entrance and centre. Guarantee all comms are reflective of the charity’s values.
• Encourage long-term engagement. Create an unforgettable expertise to spice up loyalty and future fundraising.

Begin fundraising for London Marathon 2026 at present!
Flip Barnardo’s methods into motion. Go to our London Marathon fundraising hub for every part your charity wants for a profitable London Marathon marketing campaign.

A refined stewardship journey (that begins early)

Barnardo’s will get their workforce excited and fundraising early with a considerate, 15-month stewardship journey that features 4 overlapping electronic mail streams. Each is tailor-made, well timed, and filled with worth.

• Utility Journey (Finish of April – till locations are stuffed)
  Fundraisers get these emails after they apply to boost cash for Barnardo’s in London Marathon. They seize the thrill proper earlier than marathon weekend, plus share the potential influence fundraisers might make.
• Poll Journey (Could – April)
  This collection helps convert profitable poll runners who wish to fundraise for Barnardo’s, plus provides charity locations to those that missed the official poll.
• Console Journey (September – March)
  This journey reminds runners to finish their LM console and keep on monitor with their fundraising.
• Stewardship Journey (June – June)
  That is the center of the marketing campaign’s technique, guiding and motivating fundraisers from the second they join, throughout race day.

That’s not all. Polly is aware of how private connection drives dedication, so incorporates a number of additional contact factors to point out fundraisers how valued they’re:

• Two rounds of telephone calls (together with “good luck” calls)
• Handwritten playing cards for high fundraisers
• Personalised thank-you letters and certificates
• A letter from the CEO for standout supporters

Be sure all of your comms come again round to the charity’s values and what your charity stands for. That may go a protracted, great distance.

POLLY DEBNAM, BARNARDO’S

A thriving on-line and in-person group

Right here’s how the charity helps, motivates, and celebrates its fundraisers.

• Fb Group. A buzzing social media hub of peer help and encouragement.
• Fundraiser meetups. Digital meetups and an in-person coaching day that join runners with one another and the charity’s workforce. In addition they herald previous runners to share ideas and encourage the subsequent group of members
• WhatsApp. Barnardo’s is trialling the usage of WhatsApp to make communication even quicker and extra private in 2026.

Polly additionally personally emails runners to supply additional help (segmented by how a lot they’ve raised), which earns the next response fee than charity-branded emails. Constructing one-on-one relationships along with your fundraisers helps them really feel seen and supported to an entire new diploma!

Milestones that encourage

On high of finishing the marathon itself, fundraisers have an much more significant purpose: reaching their fundraising targets! Barnardo’s helps fundraisers do that with inspiring and achievable milestones:

• Increase £500 by Christmas
• Attain £1,500 raised by March
• Increase 80% of your goal by race day (figuring out 20% usually is available in last-minute!)

Barnardo’s additionally thanks their fundraisers with social media shoutouts, complimentary operating tops, and particular hospitality passes.

The explanation we’ve got these milestones is as a result of it helps runners break down their goal and make it really feel much more manageable.

POLLY DEBNAM, BARNARDO’S

Comply with the confirmed timeline

Timing is every part, particularly for London Marathon success. We’ve spent years analysing how charities increase extra within the yr forward and created a timeline for excellent communication planning.

Discover how there’s not a gradual rise in fundraising exercise to race day. As a substitute, web page creation and activation ideally begin climbing nicely prematurely of the occasion:

With a protracted lead time, your web page worth will improve, and your complete raised will observe go well with! Get the JustGiving Information to London Marathon 2026 for extra on how one can use our confirmed timeline in your stewardship journey.

Make your London Marathon 2026 a breeze

If aren’t already, we invite your charity to boost cash on this planet’s greatest marathon with JustGiving, the primary selection for London Marathon fundraisers.

Right here’s a number of the JustGiving magic you gained’t get wherever else:

• Easy, highly effective on-line fundraising instruments
• Make data-driven choices
• Attain extra individuals
• Leverage JustGiving platform knowledge and insights
• Unique incentives and bonuses
• 1-1 help from begin to end
• High trade efficiency
• Library of fundraising assets

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Impressed? We’re too!

Watch the complete webinar replay to listen to much more from Polly about Barnardo’s successful technique, Fundraiser Sarah’s skilled tips about maximising your marathon, and extra.