Founded in 1948, Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity. A household name within the sector, Marie Curie has supported people living with terminal illness and their families for over 75 years. The charity prides itself on delivering a better end of life for all, treating patients with dignity and the best possible care.
By 2048, the need for end of life care will have increased by up to 25%. In response to this, Marie Curie’s mission is clear: to double the number of people it provides care for over the next five years.
The iconic Marie Curie brand on full display at the 2026 TCS London Marathon
The need
Early fundraising for the 2026 TCS London Marathon
Like all charities that take part, Marie Curie was keen to make the most of its TCS London Marathon places. Maximising the average fundraising page value was a priority for the charity but it also wanted to use the occasion to grow awareness of the brand and educate the public on its services. And as the Charity of the Year for the 2026 event – the potential impact was that much greater.
As the official fundraising platform for London Marathon Events, Enthuse was at hand to help Marie Curie hit the ground running.
The Enthuse approach
Maximising the impact of the event
Research from Enthuse shows the first few months of fundraising to be crucial; those who start collecting donations in May and June raise £638 more on average. To ensure early momentum and the timely activation of fundraising pages, Marie Curie used the Pre Console Registration offering from Enthuse. Crucially, Pre Console Registration enables good causes to manage charity place applications, registrations and fundraising page set-up in one place, before the official event console opens. This gives charities a clear oversight of their participants’ progress and the tools they need to ensure fundraising gets off to the best possible start.
Marie Curie used Pre Console Registration to great effect, inviting potential participants to fill out a charity-branded application form with all the essential information; from name, address and contact details to running vest size, dietary needs and registration fee. The charity also used the form as an opportunity to collect a story of why the participant was running for their cause.
Once runners had been allocated their place, they had an official fundraising page created for them automatically, ready to personalise and share. This was central to the charity’s approach for the event.
Making it easy for participants to fundraise is a key starting point. The automatic creation of an official event fundraising page upon sign-up removed any friction to fundraising. But it’s one thing for a fundraiser to have the tools, it’s another to encourage the behaviour you want to see. Marie Curie did this really well, using the application form to set a pledge. When applying for a place, Marie Curie’s fundraisers agreed to raise 25% of their target by the 6 January. This helped to set expectations and encouraged participants to start fundraising as soon as possible.
In addition to early fundraising, Marie Curie was keen to use the TCS London Marathon to spread awareness of the brand and the services it provides. Given the charity is named after a pioneer of radiology, there’s a common misconception that it only serves those suffering from cancer. The reality is the charity provides end of life care for all and Marie Curie wanted to use its time as Charity of the Year to educate people on this point.
The official fundraising pages were particularly useful for this purpose, showcasing the iconic yellow and blue Marie Curie brand alongside the TCS London Marathon. In addition, the pages were pre-populated with a message about the charity, outlining the work they do and why they needed donations from the public. This made it clear to anyone donating which cause they were supporting.
As well as being charity branded, the pages allowed participants to add their profile picture and their story while being able to thank supporters who left donations directly on their page. There was also a fundraising leaderboard for the charity to help cultivate a sense of healthy competition among participants.
The charity customised their checkout to increase average donation value. The donation page was branded to the charity for a consistent supporter journey and Marie Curie added tangible descriptions, showing the potential impact. For instance, £23 could help provide an hour of expert nursing care for someone living with terminal illness at home or £52 could provide two hours of bereavement support by phone or webchat. This gave supporters a strong sense of purpose at the point of donation and tied it into the education element that was so important to the charity.
The charity demonstrated the impact of a donation to great effect
Lastly, Marie Curie did an excellent job of building a connection with its participants through its stewardship programme. One way of staying in touch with participants was through Enthuse’s email functionality. The charity used this to communicate its Winter Bundle prize – an incentive to encourage fundraisers to hit the 25% fundraising milestone in the cold months.
Marie Curie also used the emails to promote fundraising page best practice, asking runners to add a profile picture, tell their story, connect Strava and self donate. This was very effective, as demonstrated by the adoption of these behaviours from fundraisers that raised £2,500 or more. By event day, 99% of these fundraisers had a profile picture, 84% had added a story and 86% self donated to their page.
Another powerful initiative was the Grief Run Club, which participants could register for via the Enthuse Events solution. The Grief Run Club, through a partnership with Run Your Mind, provided a safe space for participants to meet, run and talk openly about grief, in person, in the lead up to the 2026 TCS London Marathon. This brought supporters, the cause and the event together.
Customising the checkout with strategic donation amounts and tangible descriptions really helped to show the value in what a donation can do. It also helped to educate the public on how we support people on a daily basis. Lizee Holdstock – Senior Event Lead at Marie Curie
Results
Marie Curie set out to maximise fundraising at the 2026 TCS London by having their participants start early, and they certainly achieved that. Overall, the charity raised a fantastic £2m, hitting its fundraising target.
The charity saw an activation rate of 16% on its fundraising pages by July 2025, leading to a healthy average engaged page value of £1,444 by the end of January 2026. This grew to £3,708 post-event, with an average donation of £50. A brilliant result for the charity and a great example of how to maximise event fundraising.
By using Pre Console Registration, Marie Curie was able to ensure its fundraisers hit the ground running, all while educating the public on the comprehensive end of life care it provides. A hugely successful Marathon from #TeamMarieCurie.
We’re really pleased with the average page value we achieved. Having participants collect donations as early as possible meant fundraising was front of mind from the off. Lizee Holdstock – Senior Event Lead at Marie Curie
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