Best Mass Participation Event
Battersea – Muddy Dog Challenge
The Muddy Dog Challenge is a 2.5k or 5k obstacle course that gives people the opportunity to do something fun and rewarding with their dog, for other dogs. The event has seen significant growth since it started five years ago. In 2019 over 8,000 people tackled obstacles across nine venues around the country and for the first time ever, the event raised over a million pounds for Battersea.
The creation and success of the Muddy Dog Challenge has been incredibly important to Battersea. It has allowed the charity to diversify its fundraising portfolio, attract a new audience profile, in terms of age and location, and really engage the public with Battersea’s work.
The series has provided opportunities to explore new marketing channels as well as introduce new and innovative ways of working across fundraising and the wider organisation. Collaboration across the entire organisation has been key to its success and the genuine eagerness to work as one-team enables Battersea to continue to grow the series.
The Muddy Dog Challenge really is a Mass Participation event like no other, which is proven by its continued success and extremely positive feedback from participants and volunteers year on year.
Centrepoint – Sleep Out
Sleep Out is Centrepoint’s annual flagship fundraising event. Launched in 2005, the challenge aims to raise awareness of youth homelessness, generate funds for Centrepoint services and strengthen relationships with donors. Participants swap their bed for a sleeping bag for one night and create real change for homeless young people.
Initially, 50 participants from London businesses slept out in Covent Garden Market. The event was an innovative challenge that attracted businesses looking to engage employees. Now the market is booming and Centrepoint face increasing competition each year. However, the event brand continues to attract new sleepers while retaining a loyal following.
Over its 15 year history, Sleep Out event income has increased from £66,000 to over £1million (FY 19/20). Initially a stand-alone challenge in London, Sleep Out is now a national campaign – incorporating events in Yorkshire, the North East and Manchester. Centrepoint also promotes the ‘Hold Your Own Sleep Out’ model for schools and community groups.
To re-establish Centrepoint Sleep Out as the original Sleep Out, 2019 saw Centrepoint invest in digital marketing and agency support to refresh and rebrand as a national campaign with success, experiencing its most successful year to date – generating £70,000 more than 2018/19 (gross).
Crohn’s & Colitis UK – WALK IT
Walk It is a series of eight 5 and 10k walking events across the UK raising crucial funds for and boosting vital awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis UK and the thousands of supporters they serve. massive have been working with Crohn’s and Colitis UK since 2017 to deliver their Walk It series. As well as fundraising, it is essential for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, and more importantly its supporters, to be visible and seen in their community, bringing these often hidden diseases into the open and giving supporters the opportunity to feel less alone. All our Walk It events feature city-centre venues and high profile routes to ensure that participants are walking through the centre of their communities. Through innovative event design, from giant inflatable colons to volunteer-led community marketing, these events ensure that raising awareness of both IBD and of Crohn’s and Colitis UK as a charity is embedded in the very nature of the events themselves.
Macmillan Cancer Support – World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan’s flagship fundraising event and 2020 marks the event’s 30th anniversary! Started in 1990 by a group of local volunteers, it has grown to be the largest and most profitable event of its kind, raising over £275m since it began.
Behind the event’s success is a simple ask. It is about coming together to enjoy good company and delicious food, and raising money to support, celebrate and remember anyone who is, or has been, affected by cancer. It’s why millions of people all over Britain gather. It’s what makes our nationwide event as diverse as the people who host it.
But Coffee Morning has not been without challenges. Since a record-breaking year in 2016, the event has seen fewer hosts taking part each year and income dropping in the face of a difficult fundraising environment. A shift in strategic approach to this long-running event has helped the team to reverse this trend, with participant numbers and income growing in 2019 for the first time in three years.
As the 30th anniversary approaches, there has never been a better time to celebrate everything Coffee Morning hosts have achieved together.
Mind – Crafternoon
Back in 2013, Mind joined the race to find the “next big” mass participation event. Since, a strategy that focused on development through audience insight has seen the growth of their mass participation product Crafternoon.
Crafternoon asks supporters to get together with their favourite people in an afternoon of crafting, whilst raising money for Mind and better mental health.
A innovation cycle of testing, adapting and learning has seen this product grow from an MVP offer in 2014, raising £4629, to becoming a firm contender in the over saturated market of charity mass participation products, raising £130,00 in 2019.
Tommy’s – London Landmarks Half Marathon 2019
The second year of London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM), organised by Tommy’s, took place on 24 March 2019. Building on the incredible success of the inaugural race in 2018, which raised £4m for charity, the event returned smashing all targets and raised an outstanding £7.03m for charity.
Due to the incredible feedback from all stakeholders involved, the event capacity was increased from 10,000 starters in 2018, to 12,000 starters in 2019. With high demand for places from charity partners, all additional places were granted to charities. Consequently the number of charities benefiting increased from 101 charities in 2018 to 180 charities in 2019.
Due to the continued popularity of the race, a public ballot was introduced for the 2019 race. The ballot was 8.5 times oversubscribed with 43,000 people applying for the 5,000 available public places.
The event is unlike any other half marathon. As well as an iconic, central London course, runners experienced ‘The Grand. The Quirky. The Hidden’ of the capital. In total, 278 activations lined the route, giving runners an experience like no other. Feedback from runners was once again exceptional, with huge praise for the event’s organisation and atmosphere.
