Cancer Research UK is changing how we fundraise with their new Race For Life app.
Designed by Dare, the Race For Life smartphone app works to support individual fundraising initiatives. All donations go towards finding a cure for cancer.
The series of women-only Race For Life fundraising events attract over 550,000 participants each year with almost 300 events across the UK. These events are essential to Cancer Research UK’s fight to beat cancer and efforts to raise awareness.
A major challenge for fundraising is the ability to keep participants motivated to continue to fundraise in a way that can keep up with their busy lives. Emma Hyatt, head of Cancer Research UK’s Race For Life, from Cancer Research UK said:
“We know that people who sign up for Race for Life often struggle to sustain fundraising momentum and miss out on hitting the personal targets they’d set themselves. What’s more, people find it difficult to promote what they are doing to friends in creative and interesting ways with the little free time they have. The app is designed to fix those problems; it keeps participants motivated throughout by nudging, reminding, and rewarding you whilst making the process of asking your friends for sponsorship faster and more fun.”
This new smartphone app is designed to address such issues related to fundraising and the app accomplishes this by providing a motivational, creative, and promotional space for an individual’s fundraising goals that is easily accessible on-the-go.
How It Works
The app keeps track of donations through its integration with the charitable e-commerce payment engine, JustGiving. An individual’s JustGiving page is an online sponsorship platform that allows friends and family to easily sponsor you and donate to the cause you are supporting (in this case, Cancer Research UK). But it is more than just a donation portal; it is rich with pictures, a personal story, comments, and prompts an emotional connection with the individual and the cause.
Here is an example of a JustGiving page that was created by Chris Nixon, who lost his wife to ovarian cancer when she was just 38 years old. The page is rich with pictures, comments, and stories.
Others have created a JustGiving page “because we all know someone affected by cancer.” The page owner, Ellie Pilkington, is seeking sponsors and donations for Cancer Research UK and is running the Race for Life. Check out her JustGiving page here.
Through the JustGiving page, you can keep track of donations and the money will automatically go to Cancer Research UK about 7 weeks after the event. This is significant since many donations to charities don’t actually reach the charity for months.
Once a JustGiving page is set-up, users can share the link in whatever way they like: Facebook, Twitter, email, and word of mouth. To better manage and increase sponsorships on a JustGiving page, users can download the Race for Life app!
This is where the Race for Life app kicks in:
- Users can link their JustGiving page to the Race for Life app.
- The app provides updates on the latest Race for Life news, which is tailored to the specific race you are participating in.
- Receive hints and tips for reaching your sponsorship goal.
- You can check race information and view a countdown to your event.
- The app has a social function where you can share personalized images and messages to friends and family.
- Share your JustTextGiving code to increase sponsorships through text (SMS).
Check out the Race for Life app here.
Join the fight against cancer and find out how you can support Cancer Research UK.
