The story
About Pancreatic Cancer UK
Pancreatic Cancer UK was founded in 2006 with the aim to transform the future for everyone affected by pancreatic cancer. It provides specialist support and expert information to ensure that no one faces pancreatic cancer alone. The money raised by their incredible supporters goes towards the running of its services, including the Pancreatic Cancer UK Support Line, its campaigning work focused on bringing about change, and research into the early detection of pancreatic cancer to help find better treatments.
For the 2025 TCS London Marathon there was a special focus, where the charity encouraged fundraisers to ‘take on the ultimate test to help develop the ultimate test’. The ‘Our Ultimate Test’ campaign aims to fund a game-changing early detection test for the deadliest common cancer. A breakthrough that could save thousands of lives a year.
The need
Maximising fundraising as the Charity of the Year
The TCS London Marathon is the largest annual one-day fundraising event in the world. Thousands of participants run for good causes and each year, after a thorough application process, one charity earns the right to be the official Charity of the Year for the TCS London Marathon.
In 2025, that honour was given to Pancreatic Cancer UK – an opportunity they were keen to make the very most of! Having invested in a significant rebrand just prior to being named Charity of the Year, it was important to Pancreatic Cancer UK that their brand shone through while fundraising.
The charity ran a campaign encouraging fundraisers to ‘take on the ultimate test’
What’s more, given the scope of the opportunity, the charity was keen to make sure the fundraising process made it easy for participants to get involved and simple for themselves to manage.
Having had previous success fundraising for the AJ Bell Great North Run through Enthuse, the charity was confident the official platform was the best fit for their needs. As such, Pancreatic Cancer UK and Enthuse got to work, looking to raise as much as possible for the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
The Enthuse approach
Managing participants through the official platform
Being the TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year is a rare opportunity, one that puts the charity in the spotlight with increased exposure and attention. Having just undertaken a major rebrand, growing awareness and building long-term relationships with the public was front of mind for Pancreatic Cancer UK.
By opting to work with the official fundraising platform rather than a third party, the charity was able to ensure all of its fundraising pages were co-branded to its cause and colours as well as the TCS London Marathon – putting the charity first and giving the fundraising pages an official feel.
With over 750 participants fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK, easy sign-up and the management of places was crucial for the charity. As such, Enthuse worked closely with Pancreatic Cancer UK to provide a solution that fitted the bill. This solution is called ‘pre-console event registration’ – a portal that allows charities to manage the entire fundraiser journey, from application through to fundraising.
Through Enthuse, prospective participants were able register their interest in a charity place through a Pancreatic Cancer UK branded event form. They were then directed to a page to pay a £100 entry fee, fill out contact details, requirements for a running vest, as well as information on dietary needs for the post-race reception and permissions for marketing opt-ins. This meant the charity had everything they needed to contact participants and help prepare them for the event.
In addition, Pancreatic Cancer UK decided to implement a minimum sponsorship target and within the form the cause was able to outline milestone amounts to hit by certain dates. This was a great way to get buy-in and ensure fundraisers knew the charity’s expectations.
The Enthuse team volunteering at the cheerpoint
Using Enthuse Events in conjunction with the official TCS London Marathon platform, Pancreatic Cancer UK was also able to allocate its charity places to successful applicants. This meant participants automatically had official fundraising pages created upon confirmation of their charity place, so they could start sharing their page for donations right away. As a result, the charity could focus time on helping participants fundraise rather than chasing them to get set up. It also minimised the possibility of duplicated pages too. Overall, this made it far easier for the charity to monitor fundraisers’ progress.
This tied in nicely to the organisation’s stewardship journey where the charity did a brilliant job of keeping fundraisers informed and motivated. The charity made use of email, text and phone calls to ensure their participants were on track. This included sharing insights, tips and tricks from Enthuse on how they could raise as much as possible. Pancreatic Cancer UK also made a point of hosting multiple in-person events for their participants to build that sense of community among its fundraisers. This was cemented by some well-used WhatsApp groups where the runners could support and encourage each other. A great way to keep morale and engagement high.
Lastly, when it comes to the official fundraising pages themselves – as well as being branded to the cause – the pages allowed participants to add their profile picture, why they’d chosen the cause and a customisable target where they could see donations come in and thank donors directly on their page. There was also a fundraising leaderboard for the charity to help cultivate a sense of healthy competition among participants.
By making excellent use of the official fundraising platform and providing a brilliant stewardship journey, Pancreatic Cancer UK was able to run an incredibly successful Charity of the Year campaign for the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
Having the brand at the heart of fundraising was important to Pancreatic Cancer UK
Enthuse fundraising pages allow us to have more ownership of our digital fundraising. We are able to brand the pages to be more representative of Pancreatic Cancer UK, which helps us to stand out and be more memorable to donors.
Lauren Hunt – Senior Events Project Manager, Pancreatic Cancer UK
Results
Raising £2.5 million as Charity of the Year
The charity had a very successful 2025 TCS London Marathon as the Charity of the Year, raising over £2.5 million (and still counting) – exceeding its ambitious fundraising target by 25% in the process!
What’s more, thanks to the automatic fundraising page creation, the charity saw a brilliant 78% of the fundraising pages created receive donations. This led to an impressive average page value of £3,178. This jumped to a brilliant £3,705 for pages where fundraisers customised their profile. The amount raised was even higher for charity place participants on Enthuse, where the average rose to £4,212.
And with over 13% of donors opting into marketing permissions, the charity now has a chance to build long-standing relationships with those who supported their cause at the Marathon this year.
Pancreatic Cancer UK well and truly made the most of its opportunity as the 2025 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year.
Ensuring our brand shines through and helps donors remember us after they’ve donated is a great way to help build long term relationships with our supporters.
Lauren Hunt – Senior Events Project Manager, Pancreatic Cancer UK
