Exhausted runner — Posting a picture of your training pain can help boost donations. Photograph: Kai-Otto Melau/Getty Images

Forget about your PB – here are 26.2 ways to smash marathon fundraising

This article is more than 8 years old

Raising money for charity can require just as much time and hard work as training for the race, but there’s lots you can do to boost your contributions

Training season may be in full swing, but getting those miles in isn’t the only aspect of racing that can be hard work: the fundraising can be just as stressful, especially if you have a charity place and have committed to raising serious dosh in return. So, how can you smash your charity total as well as your PB? Here are the secrets to fundraising success.

1. Build a fundraising page

It sounds obvious, but this is a very good place to start, on a platform such as Virgin Money Giving or JustGiving. Old-school pledge sheets were a massive pain that involved you collecting the cash after you had actually completed your achievement. Now you receive the money in advance, so there is no excuse for failing to cross the finish line.

2. Have a target

According to Emma Rose of Virgin Money Giving, pages with a totaliser raise on average £500 more than those that don’t. Even if you don’t have to raise a certain amount, give your page a target to encourage people to donate more.

3. Personalise your pledge

Pages with a profile picture also raise more. A shot of you running, ideally looking like you’re in agony, will probably have greater impact than your hottest selfie or a pair of trainers.

4. Tell your story

Many people have a personal reason for taking part in an event, be it an experience or that of a loved one. Although it might be hard, share your motivation for running and fundraising, like Craig – who is running for the NSPCC at the London Marathon – did so powerfully.

5. Believe in your charity

If you don’t have a personal connection to your charity, educate yourself about it and make sure you believe in the cause.Steve Chalke, who holds the record for the most money raised in the London Marathon, more than £5m to date, says: “If you’re not passionate about your charity, no one else is ever going to be.”

6. Identify the high-rollers you know

This can raise the bar on your fundraising page, as Chalke says: “You can always see the last few people who donated. If they’ve all given you a fiver, I’ll give you a fiver. If they’ve all given you £10, I’ll probably give you £10. If the last person gave you £200, I might not be able to afford £200, but I will give you £25. Part of it is to do with telling people the message with the money you’re already getting.”

7. Email everyone you have ever met – and their gran

Send an email to everyone in your address book. Simple. Personalise it if you have time.

8. Even better, go and visit them in person ...

Who can say no to your face?

9. ... or send a handwritten letter

If you can remember how to use a pen and paper, this goes along way.

It’s easier than ever to promote your fundraising efforts, so make the most of it. Thank those who have donated publicly to plant the idea in others’ minds that they could give, too.

11. Do it on a Sunday

Most donations happen on Monday morning, presumably when people are avoiding doing work. So, Sunday evening is the peak time for a spot of shameless promo.

12. Ask strangers

In 2015, Josiah Carrier ran the London marathon for the NSPCC. While training, he carried business cards with a link to his fundraising page and handed them out to passers by, just on the off chance any of these strangers were feeling charitable. Imagine his shock and delight when an anonymous person donated £1,000.

13. Get others to fundraise for you

If friends and family can’t spare any cash, the chances are they would love to help in another way. Get them on board to organise events and generally badger people while you are busy training.

14. Don’t be embarrassed

Come on, it’s for charity, and it’s not like you’re out chugging all the time. Most of us don’t give enough.

15. Fundraise positively

People are often just looking for a good reason to give, as Will MacAskill, author of Doing Good Better, believes: “Most people, as part of their identity, want to use their time on Earth to help others. The best ways of helping others are extraordinarily effective: you can provide two children with a bed net to protect them against malaria for two years for just £5; you can cure one child of intestinal worms for less than £1. We ask people: given that we have such an amazing opportunity to help others, why not take it? We’ve found that this positive approach is the most effective way of inspiring people to give.”

16. Capture your pain

There is nothing like a really gruesome picture of a blister to convey the efforts you have been going to. Or a taped up leg. Or your best drowned rat look after going out in the rain for three hours.

17. Cake

No one can say no to parting with sugar for cash, and it’s a subtle way to harangue colleagues for support. Plus, you can eat as much you like guilt-free, given all the training you’ve been doing.

18. Payday, payday, payday

It’s obvious, really – approach people on the day of the month they feel a bit less broke for five minutes.

19. Aim high

In 1988, Anna Jacobs and her boyfriend were so appalled by the Kosovan refugee crisis that about 10 days before the London Marathon they persuaded Nick Bitel (the race’s CEO) to let them create an appeal called Kosovo Golden. “At our meeting, he gave us a room and a phone and 24 hours to get it sorted,” she says. “He said that, if we did, he’d let us go ahead. We did it, and had our appeal phone number flashing on the screens of the BBC’s coverage of the marathon, as well as celebrity endorsement. We persuaded lots of the elite athletes to wear ribbons, and ended up raising £500,000 in 24 hours, which was distributed through the Disasters Emergency Committee.”

20. Check your employer’s fundraising policy

Most companies have one, and many will match your fundraising up to a certain amount; it’s definitely worth finding out.

21. Make sure people include Gift Aid

Even though it won’t be included in your totaliser, it’s gratifying that you are raising even more money for your charity.

Most training apps have the facility to do this easily, and some nosey parkers will be eager to check out your statistics. Extra points if you can run in a route that spells out your fundraising page URL.

23. Capitalise on the race-week buzz

There is something magical about the week of a marathon in a big city, when it feels like everyone knows about it, if only because of the road closures. In the final build up, and on the big day itself, watch the money roll in.

24. Dress up

Running a marathon is so tough that, by mile 15, you probably won’t remember you are dressed like a pantomime horse. And if that’s what makes people give, so be it.

25. Party

Reward your backers and yourself by organising a soiree at the end of the event so they can come and laugh at you in a wreck. No need for them to show up unless they have coughed up.

26. Keep plugging away after it’s over

Some people might not satisfied you can actually do it until you have, so it’s worth a final push when you can brag about your PB and share some fun/hideous anecdotes from the day. Just like delayed onset muscle soreness, the marathon fundraising buzz can last a few days.