The story
About Children’s Cancer North
Children’s Cancer North was first formed in May of 2021 after the merging of two existing charities (North of England Children’s Cancer Research and Children’s Cancer Fund). Collectively, the two charities have raised over £40 million to support children with cancer in the North East and Cumbria since 1979. That shared vision is a common thread in the charity’s work today as they look to ensure children and young people with cancer live better lives.
The support the cause provides includes the funding of revolutionary research, which is carried out at the Wolfson Childhood Cancer Research Centre in Newcastle. Children’s Cancer North also plays a big role in helping children and their families navigate the challenging circumstances that revolve around a diagnosis and treatment. This includes funding a variety of financial support funds, activities on the wards, socials for teenage patients and Christmas parties for all ages. The cause’s flagship fundraising event, the Children’s Cancer Run, (which also utilises the Enthuse platform) is a key way in which the charity engages with the local community to fundraise and raise awareness of the prevalence of childhood cancer in the region.
The need
An easy to use solution that helps fundraisers raise more
The AJ Bell Great North Run is an important date in the fundraising calendar for many good causes, particularly those who operate in the North East of England, like Children’s Cancer North – with many people wanting to raise money for local charities that they have a connection to.
As such, making the most of the world’s biggest half marathon was, and continues to be, a major priority for the charity. That meant maximising income from the event but also ensuring the fundraising experience was as intuitive and easy to use for its participants as possible.
The Enthuse approach
Maximising fundraising for the AJ Bell Great North Run
When it comes to a major event like the AJ Bell Great North Run, good causes want to control as much of the fundraiser journey as possible, all the way from registering interest to the fundraising itself. As an Enthuse Event Registration customer, Children’s Cancer North was able to use pre-console registration – a tool that helped control as much of the fundraiser journey as possible, all the way from registering interest to the fundraising itself.
This meant the charity was able to create a Children’s Cancer North branded registration page where prospective runners could express their interest and pay the participation fee. This then led the prospective participant through to register for the event by filling 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. As a result, the charity had everything they needed to contact participants and help prepare them for the event.
Using Enthuse Event Registration in conjunction with the official AJ Bell Great North Run platform, Children’s Cancer North was also able to allocate its charity places to successful applicants. This ensured participants automatically had official fundraising pages created upon confirmation of their place, enabling them to start sharing their page for donations right away. With that taken care of, the charity could focus its time on helping participants fundraise rather than chasing them to get set up.
This is something that was apparent from the charity’s brilliant stewardship approach. Pre-event, Children’s Cancer North sent emails that showed how sponsorship would make a difference, details about their run pack and a prompt to use the official fundraising page provided by Enthuse, as well a reminder of the AJ Bell Great North Run breakfast, where fundraisers could meet other runners and fuel for the event.
The runners who joined Children’s North Cancer morning breakfast
Additionally, the charity made sure to have a dedicated cheer point on route as well as a tent at the finish with snacks, drinks and free massages for participants. Post-event, all fundraisers received a ‘thank you’ email and a repeat runner discount code to encourage them to fundraise for the cause again in the future. The top 10 fundraisers got a personalised ‘thank you’ phone call and everyone who raised over £1,000 received a certificate. A great way to show appreciation and build those longer term supporter relationships.
With the AJ Bell Great North Run being as important as it is for causes like Children’s Cancer North, the charity was pleased to make use of the co-branded platform, which ensured that fundraisers’ pages showed off the charity’s logo and colours as well as those of the event organisers – helping with brand recall while also having an official feel.
The Children’s Cancer North team joining in celebrations at the finish
The charity’s fundraisers made good use of the best practice page tips provided by Enthuse, which encouraged them to ensure profile pictures were added, as well as the reasons behind why they were taking part, and a fundraising target to work towards. Fundraisers were also able to post ‘thank you’ messages to donors who gave underneath the donations on their page too. A great way to show potential donors that their generosity wouldn’t go unnoticed. Lastly, the individual and team leaderboards helped to provide a sense of healthy competition to see who could raise the most.
By making use of the official AJ Bell Great North Run platform, Children’s Cancer North was able to accept applications for places, confirm who the lucky recipients were and set them off with a branded fundraising page automatically, so they could collect donations from the word ‘go’.
The automatic fundraising page creation is really helpful, it means we don’t have to spend time chasing participants to set up their page.
Emma Carson – Community and Events Fundraising Officer
Results
£130,000 raised through Enthuse!
The 2024 AJ Bell Great North Run saw a greater number of Children’s Cancer North’s fundraisers make use of Enthuse, the official fundraising platform – resulting in a strong fundraising growth of 22% from 2023.
Overall, the charity raised a fantastic £130,000 through Enthuse at the 2024 event – with its top fundraiser managing an incredible £6,000. A superb contribution to the charity’s vital work.
And with the increased prominence of the charity’s brand and ability to ask for fundraisers’ contact details, Children’s Cancer North is well placed to grow those supporter relationships and build on the event’s strong fundraising performance.
It’s great to have the charity branding built into the fundraising page, it helps make us more memorable to donors which will hopefully lead to repeat giving in the future.
Emma Carson – Community and Events Fundraising Officer
