Virgin Money Givingperformance report

for the Virgin London Marathon 2013

Private and confidential

Private and confidential

ContentsIntroduction 1

Overview 2

Fundraising through Virgin Money Giving 3

Fundraiserprofile 3

Agreatteameffort 4

Making fundraising easier 4

Get a head start 5

Aim higher, achieve more 6

Maturitypaysoff 7

Donations 8

Valueofdonations 8

Timing of donations 9

Fundraiser feedback 10

Website performance 12

VirginMoneyGivinggoesmobile 13

2013 Virgin London Marathon runners’ survey 15

Runnerprofile 15

Fundraising facts 15

Charity support counts 16

Top fundraising tips 18

Summary 20

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IntroductionThe Virgin London Marathon continues to be one of the biggest fundraising events in the world,welcomingrunnersfromfarandwidetotakepartandraisemuch-neededfundsfortheir chosen charities.

AsofficialonlinefundraisingpartneroftheLondonMarathonoverthelastfouryears,we’repleasedtosayVirginMoneyGivinghashelpedthousandsofpeopleraiseover£200 million in total.Andbecausewe’renot-for-profit,anextra£6 millionhasreachedgoodcauses.*Nearly£60millionhasbeenraisedspecificallyformarathonrunners’charities,throughour not-for-profitonlinefundraisingsite.

We’veputtogetherthisreporttogiveyouasummaryoffundraisingthroughvirginmoneygiving.comforthe2013VirginLondonMarathon.Thereportalsoincludestheresultsfromourpost-racerunners’survey,whichgivesavaluableinsightintohowthisyear’srunnersfoundtheirMarathonexperience.

Wehopeyou’llfindthefacts,figuresandfeedbackusefulinhelpingyoureviewyourowncharity’sperformanceandplanyouractivityforfutureraces.

Virgin London Marathon 2013 – the highlights

Despite challenging economic times, we’ve continued to see phenomenal fundraiser commitment and donor generosity. Herearesomeofthisyear’shighlights:

› Although2,000fewerrunnerscompletedthe2013VirginLondonMarathonoverall(34,000comparedto36,000in2012),thenumberandvalueofdonationsreceivedbyVirginMoneyGivingfundraisersactuallyincreased.

› Runners who fundraised through virginmoneygiving.com, have raised a fantastic £18.8 million forcharitythisyear,includingGiftAid,andthemoneyisstillcomingin.

› The number of donations made through Virgin Money Giving has grown by 86% since our first London Marathon in 2010.

In2014,theracewillbecometheVirginMoneyLondonMarathon.OurteamsatVirginMoneyandVirginMoneyGivingarealreadyworkinghardwiththeLondonMarathontomakeitanevengreatersuccess.Welookforwardtosupportingyourcharityagainnextyear.

Best wishes

Jo Barnett Hugh Brasher

Executive Director – Virgin Money Giving Race Director – Virgin London Marathon

* Figures based on a comparison of the cost of service and transaction costs of Virgin Money Giving with JustGiving,basedonVirginMoneyGiving’sfundraisingtotalfromitslaunchto31May2013.

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Overview› AstheVirginLondonMarathon’sonlinefundraisingpartneroverthelastfour

years,we’vehelpedLondonMarathonfundraisersraisenearly£60 million for goodcausesthroughournot-for-profitfundraisingsite.

› Thisyear’sMarathonfundraisershavesofarraised£18.8 million through Virgin Money Giving.

› 508,613 donations were received through virginmoneygiving.com compared to 485,779 in 2012.

› The average donation amount including Gift Aid was £36.58 and Gift Aid wasreclaimedon86.5% of donations.

› Despitefewerrunnersinthisyear’sMarathon,VirginMoneyGivingsawa5.9% growth in the average amount raised per fundraising page in 2013.

› And,whilewe’veseenanincreaseinfundraisersfromthe18-25yearoldagegroupusingVirginMoneyGivingthisyear,it’stheover45swhohaveactuallyraised the most money for their charities.

› Startingfundraisingactivityearlycanmakearealdifferencetothetotalraised–overthelastfewyearsearlybirdsraisedupto37% more than those wholeftitlate.

› Charitieswhoactivelysupporttheirfundraisersreaptherewards.Fundraiserswho received support and advice from their charities raised 51% more than thosewhodidn’t.

› Beingpartofateamalsohelpsmotivatefundraisers.Overthepastfewyearswe’veseenfundraiserswhoarepartofateamraise92%morethanindividuals.

› Thisyearsawthelaunchofourmobilesite,givingfundraisersandtheirsupporters access to virginmoneygiving.com from anywhere, at any time.

› virginmoneygiving.com had 100% site availability throughout themonthleadinguptoandduringtheVirginLondonMarathon.

All data in this report is correct up to the end of June 2013.

“Fundraising makes you feel so involved and even more

passionate about your chosen charity. Having fundraised for the 2013 Marathon, I

feel 2014 is going to be even bigger and better.”

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Fundraising through Virgin Money GivingWeknowpreparingfortheMarathonishardworkanddoesn’tleavemuchtimeforanythingelse.That’swhywe’vemadeitaseasyandasfunaspossibleforfundraisers to promote their charity and raise money through Virgin Money Giving.

Fundraiser profileThe majority (68%) of Virgin London Marathon fundraisers using Virgin Money Giving fallintothe26to45agebracket.

However,wehaveseenanincreasein18-25yearolds,from12%in2012to 16% in 2013.ThisisconsistentwiththeageprofileofrunnersacrosstheMarathonasawhole.

Thepercentageoffundraisersbyregionremainsrelativelyunchangedfrom2012.Asyoumightexpect,Londoncameouttopwith29% of all fundraisers,followedbythe South with 18%.

Age profile30

25

% 20

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2012 20132011

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66+

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Percentage of fundraisers by region

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onSo

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nds

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-West

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s

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tish B

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2012 20132011

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A great team effort

Raising money for charity is a huge motivator for Marathon runners, but it seemsthatsharingthisexperiencewithothersmakesabigdifferenceintheamounttheyactuallyraise.

Overthelastfewyears(2011-2013)we’veseenfundraiserswhoarepartofateamraisenearly92% more, compared to the average amount raised by an individualfundraiser.Intotal,thisyear’steamsraisedafantastic£4.1 million for charity.

456teamstakingpartinthisyear’sMarathonusedVirginMoneyGivingtoraisemoney for their charities, an increase of 2%onlastyear.15%ofallfundraisingpageswereteampages,with2-personteamsbeingthemostpopular(69%ofallteams).

Thehighestamountraisedbyasingleteamwas £206,000. With 21 members, that’sanaverage of £9,795 per person.

Making fundraising easierSincewesetupVirginMoneyGiving,we’velearnedalotaboutthebehaviourofthemostsuccessfulfundraisersandhowtheyachievethissuccessfortheirchosen cause.

Herearethekeythingswe’vetakenfromMarathonfundraisingthisyear–wehopeyou’llfindthisusefulinhelpingyoursupportersraisemoreforyourcharity.

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02 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 21 35

Number of people in a team

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Get a head startWeknowthateverypennycountswhenitcomestofundingthevaluableworkthat charities do and the more donations fundraisers can bring in, the better.

Overthelastfewyears,we’veseenthatthosewhosetuptheirfundraisingpagesearlycanraiseupto37% moreindonationsthanthosewholeaveituntilthelastminute.

Fundraisers who set up pages in 2012 for the 2013 race raised, on average, 12% more than those who set up their pages in 2013.

FundraiserswholeftitlaterstillandsetuptheirpagesinMarchandAprilraised39% less on average, than those who set up their pages in 2012.

Toencouragefundraiserstosetuptheirpagesearlierthisyearandmaximisetheamounttheyraisefortheirchosencharity,startinginOctober,wegave a free Virgin Money Giving kit bag to everyone who created a page on virginmoneygiving.com.

Theincentiveprovedpopular–oftheVirginMoneyGivingpagesthatreceiveddonations for the 2013 London Marathon, 46% were set up in 2012. The bulkofthesepageswerecreatedinOctoberandNovember,whenthekitbagpromotionlaunched.

Aswemovedinto2013thenumberofpagessetupincreased,with35%ofrunners setting up their pages in January and February.

Thegraphbelowshowswhenpeoplesetuptheirfundraisingpagesforthe 2013 race.

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0Oct-Dec Jan-Feb Mar-AprPreOctober

Profile of pages set up by date

2012 20132011

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Aim higher, achieve moreWe know from previous years that fundraisers who set a target tend to raise more for their chosen charity. With this in mind, we were keen to encourage VirginMoneyGivingfundraiserstogivethemselvesacleargoaltofocusonanddisplaythisontheirfundraisingpage.

Asanextraincentive,inJanuary,welaunchedaprizedrawforfundraiserstowinoneofeightupgradestothecelebrity‘Green’start.

EveryVirginLondonMarathonrunnerwhosetafundraisingtargetontheirVirginMoneyGivingpagebeforeMarch,wasenteredintotheexclusivedraw.Theeightluckywinnersgotthechancetominglewithcelebritiesonracedayandstarttheir2013Marathonexperienceinstylealongsidesomefamousfaces!

Again, the promotion was a great success, with 77% of fundraisers setting themselvesatargetthisyearcomparedto59%in2012.

Whileonly47%actuallyreachedtheirtargetamount,havingacleargoaltoaimformadearealdifferenceintermsofhowmuchtheyraisedoverall.Overthepastfewyears,we’veseenthatpeoplewhogetneartoorreachtheirtargetarethen motivated to set it even higher, encouraging more donations. For those withasettarget(eveniftheydidn’treachit)theaverageamountraisedwasamassive 73% more than those without.

Evenbetternewsforcharities–thosewhoachievedtheirfundraisinggoalthisyearweremotivatedtogotheextramileandcontinuedtofundraiseevenafterthey reached their target.

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%40

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020132012

59%

77%

Fundraisers setting targets

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Maturity pays offAlthoughwe’veseenanincreaseinyoungerfundraisersfromthe18-25agegroupthisyear,and65%ofthosegottheirMarathonplacesthroughacharity,it’sthemorematureparticipantswhoareactuallyraisingthemost.

Infact,thisyear’sresultsshowthattheover45sracedaheadofyoungerfundraisers,increasing their average fundraising amount by 16%comparedtolastyear.

Increase in average amount raised by age group25

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% 10

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-5

-1018-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66+

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Donations

£31 was the average amount of a donation – or £37 if Gift Aid was added.

£10 and £20 were the most common donation amounts, each accounting for overaquarteroftotaldonations.

We received 508,613 donations through virginmoneygiving.com for the 2013 Virgin London Marathon, compared to 485,779 in 2012.

GiftAidwasreclaimedon86.5% of donations. This is consistent with previous years.

Value of donations

Overthelastfouryears,Marathonfundraisershaveraisedalmost £60 millionindonationsthroughournot-for-profitonlinefundraising site, virginmoneygiving.com.

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Donations by amount

2012 20132011

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02010 2011 2012 2013

Marathon fundraising on virginmoneygiving.com

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However,unlikelastyearwhenwesawalargenumberofdonationsjustafterthe race, this year saw an increase in activity just before the big event, with 182,096 donations worth over £5 million(includingGiftAid)transactedinthe 7daysleadinguptotherace.

Otherspikesindonationstiedinwithkeypromotionalevents,suchasourPayPalGoodFridayfundmatchpromotionon29March,and16April–thedaybeforeExpoopened.

WereceivedthehighestnumberofdonationsinthelasthourbeforetheracestartedonSunday21April–3,347intotal.

Timing of donationsMostdonationsweremadeinMarchandApril,followingasimilarpatterntoprevious years.

Donation timing

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb MayAprMar

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Followingthisyear’srace,weaskedfundraisersabouttheirexperienceofusingVirginMoneyGiving.Over1,700completedoursurvey.Here’sasummaryofwhattheyhadtosay,includingsomeoftheiractualcomments:

› 48%ofpeoplesaiditwasthefirsttimetheyhadusedanonline fundraising website.

› 98%ofpeoplefounditeasytosetuptheirpage.

Fundraiser feedback

“The two reasons I used Virgin Money Giving are ease of use

(took about 5 minutes to set up the page) and my small amount

of research suggested it was the best online service in terms of

percentage of donations that go to the charity (i.e. lowest overheads).”

“Everything from setting up the page to the admin

to the contact from Virgin Money was excellent and

kept me motivated.”

“Virgin Money Giving gave the right level of support and tips throughout the lead up to the Marathon and the prize draws and kit bag giveaways helped build up the excitement.”

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› 42%offundraisersheardaboutourPayPalGoodFriday‘MatchYourDonation’ promotion and 39%ofpeoplefeltthekitbagtheyreceivedonsettinguptheir page,madethemmorelikelytofundraisethroughVirginMoneyGiving.

› 79%ofVirginMoneyGiving’sfundraisersuseeitherFacebookorTwitterand69% ofpeoplesurveyedthinktellingtheirdonorsabouttheirfundraisingpageon FacebookorTwittermadeadifference.

› 61%offundraisersconfirmedtheywouldraisemoneyfortheirchosen charity/charities in the future.

Weusethefeedbackfromfundraisersandcharitiestocontinuallyimprove anddevelopourwebsite.Ifyouhaveanyfeedback,pleasedropusalineat feedback@virginmoneygiving.com

“On the whole, I think I wouldn’t have reached my target without the site. It was so easy to keep

everything in one place and have a running total that I could share via social media.” “The service is great – fun and easy to use. I would

definitely recommend it, in fact, I have already told

friends about it.”

“I have used Virgin Money Giving for several years now, this was my 10th London

Marathon – your service and professionalism is amazing – keep up the great work ”

“I found it easy and straightforward – with all the training going on that was definitely

what was needed.”

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› virginmoneygiving.com had 100%siteavailabilitythroughouttheperiod leadinguptoandduringtheMarathon.

› The site received 4,163,711 page views in the 7 days before the race.› 182,096 donations were made and over £5 million(includingGiftAid)was transacted through virginmoneygiving.com in the 7 days before the race.

› At peak periods, nearly 1,200 donations were transacted each hour through the site.

Website performance

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Virgin Money Giving goes mobileUsingmobiledevicesforonlineactivityisontheincreaseandwefeltit wasimportanttohelpcharitiestapintothis,byprovidingfundraisersandtheir supporters access to virginmoneygiving.com at any time, wherever they may be.

WelaunchedourmobilesiteinMarch2013andfundraiserstooktoitstraightaway.

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1 82 9 153 10 164 11 17 215 12 18 226 13 19 237 20 24

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Donations via mobile site

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Whilestatisticsforourwebsiteshowdonationsaremainlymadethroughouttheday,asthegraphbelowshows,themostpopulartimeofdayfordonationsviaourmobilesiteisintheevening,peakingat10pm.

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TogetherwiththeVirginLondonMarathonteam,weaskedallthosewhoranthisyear’sracetoletusknowhowtheyfoundtheirMarathonexperience.Over3,600runnerscompletedthesurvey.Wehopetheresultsareusefulinhelpingyouplanfornextyear’srace.

Runner profile59%of2013LondonMarathonrunnerswhoansweredoursurveyweremaleand 41%werefemale.

71%ofrespondentswererunningtheMarathonforthefirsttime.Nearlyathird (30%)hadtakenpartintheracebefore.Ofthese,4% had run it 6 or more times.

50%ofrunnersgottheirMarathonplacesthroughacharity,28% through the ballotand 9%throughtheirathleticsclub.

68,000peoplecametoExpooverthe4days,withFridayandSaturdayprovingbusiest.

64%ofthosesurveyedattendedtheExpoeventandenjoyedit.Afurther25%attendedandwouldhavelikedtospendmoretimelookingaround,butcouldn’t.

91%agreedthattheoverall2013Marathonexperienceexceededtheirexpectationsandtheyenjoyedtakingpart.

Fundraising facts94%usedanonlinefundraisingwebsite.

83% had a fundraising target and of those, 50% said their minimum target was set by their charity.

Aswe’veseenfromtheVirginMoneyGivingfundraiserresearch,havingacleartargettoaimforcanhaveabigimpactonthefinalamountraised.ThisismirroredacrossMarathonfundraisersasawhole,wheretheaverageamountraisedbythosewithasettargetwasdoubletheamountraisedbythosewithout.

2013 Virgin London Marathon runners’ survey

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Charity support counts85%oftherunnersrespondingtothesurveyranforcharitythisyear.Ofthose, 34%choseacharitythathassupportedsomeoneclosetothemand36% opted for a charity whose work they admire.

Gettingfundraisingadviceandcommunicationsfromtheircharityintheleaduptotheracereallydoesmakeadifferencetofundraisers.

74%saidtheyreceivedgreatfundraisingadvicefromtheircharityintheleaduptotherace,while18%receivedsomeadvicebutwouldhavelikedmore.8% received no advice from their charity.

92%receivedothercommunicationsfromtheircharitypre-raceand79% receivedsupportandencouragementduringtheraceitself.

Thosewhoscoredtheircharitieshighlyfortheamountoffundraisingadviceand support they received, raised 51% more than those who said they received no support.

Based on average funds raised by supporters of the 10 most supportive charities,comparedtothe10leastsupportivecharities.

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

£ 2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0Least supporting charitiesMost supporting charities

£3,339

£2,206

Value of supporting fundraisers

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Theamountofsupportreceivedalsohasanimpactonfuturefundraising.Weaskedfundraisershowtheyfeltabouttheadvicetheyreceivedandwhethertheywouldsupporttheircharityagain.

67%ofthosewhofelttheyreceivedlotsofgreatadvicesaidtheywouldraisefundsfortheirchosencharityagain.Incomparison,thosewhofelttheydidn’treceiveenoughadviceweremorereluctant–only38%saidtheywouldsupport their charity again.

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%40

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0Yes, I received some advice butwouldhavelikedmore

No, I received no advice from my charity

Yes,Ireceivedlots of great advice

Yes,Ireceivedasmallamount of advice but

wouldhavelikedalotmore

Likelihood to support same charity again

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Top fundraising tipsWeaskedthisyear’scharityrunnersforthetoptipsthey’dliketosharewiththosetakingpartinthe2014Marathon.Likelastyear,thetoppieceofadvicefromthisyear’srunnerswastostartfundraisingearly.

Here’swhatelsetheyhadtosay:

“Leave plenty of time for fundraising. Identify friends/

colleagues who will donate most up front and approach them first. Ask

your employer for a donation.”

“Start early, be brave, ask.”

“Promote yourself. I used social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to raise awareness, and linked these to my training, so that people could

track my progress.”“Say why you’re

supporting your charity – personal stories

encourage people to donate and give more.”

“Make sure as many people as possible know about

your fundraising. You will be surprised how many will

sponsor you.”

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“Never be shy in asking people for money, you never know who will

have a connection with that charity.”

“People are much happier to give when they get something in return.

Hosting an event brings people together, creates good feeling and brings better rewards than just

asking for a donation.”

“Don’t be afraid to ask people more than once.”

“Make fundraising fun… offer prizes (guess the finish time), get people involved (e.g. suggest

motivational songs) and be passionate and genuine about

your experience!”

“Post a thank you on donators’ social media pages – it keeps your fundraising in the news feed without having to say

‘sponsor me’ every five minutes.”

“Spread the work and fundraising is easy. My friend

organised a quiz night, my sister-in-law held a coffee morning and another friend

took sponsor forms to a church group.”

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2013hasprovedanothersuccessfulyearforfundraiserstakingpartintheVirgin London Marathon.

Tosummarise,ourkeypointsfromthisyear’seventare:

› 34,000 people took part in this year’s event. ›Onlinefundraisingisthemostpopularwaytoraisemoney.94% of those who completedourrunners’surveychosethismethodtoraisefundsfortheircharity.

› Virgin London Marathon fundraisers raised £18.8 million through Virgin Money Giving.

› 508,613 donations were received through virginmoneygiving.com.›Startingearlyisstillthekeytoraisingmore–overthelastfewyears,peoplewho setuptheirpagesearlycanraiseupto37%morethanthosewholeaveitlate.

›Havingacleargoaltoaimforisimportant,evenifyoudon’treachit.The average amount raised by those with a set target was 73% higher than those without.

›Keepingintouchwithyourfundraisersmakesabigdifference.Thosewho received support and communications from their chosen charities raised 51%morethanthosewhodidn’t.

Wehopeyoufindthisinsightinto2013fundraisingthroughVirginMoneyGivingvaluableinhelpingyouplanfutureactivityforyourcharity.

Join us for the Virgin Money London Marathon 2014We’realreadylookingaheadtotheVirginMoneyLondonMarathon2014andputtingplansinplacetomakeitanevenbiggerandbetterfundraisingevent.

Welookforwardtoworkingwithyouagainnextyear.

Summary