Charities could be set to benefit from an increase in donations thanks to 2024’s new TikTok running trend that’s seen #RunTok clock up more than 68m posts on TikTok.
The 2024 London Marathon raised £67m for charities as more than 53,700 people took part – an average of £1,247 being raised per person.
With record numbers signing up for next year’s event, the Olympics generating even more interest, and videos about running racking up 655m views on TikTok this year, running has become one of the nation’s fastest growing hobbies.
Experts say there is potential for charities to increase their fundraising income as a result.
One charity says the growing interest in running this year saw a considerable increase in the donations they received, with them also seeing a growing interest in their 2025 London Marathon places.
Stephanie Parker, head of mass participation at Young Lives vs Cancer, said: “We have seen a huge increase in interest in our running events this year, which has translated into a 26% increase in fundraising year on year.
“The London Marathon is our largest event every year and 2024 was no exception, we had an amazing team of over 250 runners who pulled out all the stops to raise over £900,000.
“And now, after the success of this year’s event, interest for our charity London Marathon places is up 25% and we’ve had three applications for every place we’ve been able to offer.”
The donations generated by runners at all kinds of events means the charity can provide vital care and support to children and young people with cancer and their families.
Experts at The Access Group’s not-for-profit division, which designs charity management software to help organisations manage their campaigns, supporters and donations, say running events have the potential to significantly impact on charities’ income levels.
Shaf Mansour, product manager at The Access Group, said: “Charities spend a huge amount of time developing their fundraising strategies and many will have a significant amount of data to make sure that they have the best engagement activities in place.
“Events like the London Marathon and Great North Run are already major fundraising events in the calendars of many charities so the continued surge in interest for running and #RunTok could provide a further boost to many good causes.”
This year TikTok has seen a steady rise in posts with #running included, with 106,000 posts since the start of February which peaked on 27 April, the day of the London Marathon.
Google searches for ‘Couch to 5K’ also almost doubled in the first five months of 2024, compared to the whole of 2023 and 2022, and searches for ‘London Marathon’ from January to May this year more than doubled compared to the whole of 2023.
Shaf added: “As more people sign up for running events, charities will need to consider how they can adapt their strategies to maximise the impact. It’s important to make sure that any beneficial effect is considered and felt in the long-term, rather than wasting time and effort by jumping on new trends that risk being flash in the pan trends.
“For example, charities could use their donor engagement systems to vet applications for events such as the London Marathon to ensure those who have a close connection to the cause gain their valuable place. This would lead to much higher engagement and return on investment per runner, as well as reducing the effort required by the charity to chase fundraisers who are inactive or not as motivated.”
For more information about The Access Group’s not-for-profit division and how it could support your charity’s strategy or fundraising campaigns, visit www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/not-for-profit.
Information about running events and joining Team Young Lives can also be found at: https://www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/events-category/runs/
