What Actually Worked in 2025: Key Lessons for Your Next Virtual Challenge
If you’re planning your next campaign and want to know what last year’s data actually shows, here are the four patterns from 2025 that are consistent enough to build around.
1. Fundraising is seasonal — budget accordingly
In 2025, fundraising wasn’t spread evenly across the year. October dominated, accounting for 18.18% of all campaigns and leading on both registrations and total funds raised. Spring formed a strong secondary peak, with February, March, and May all performing consistently well. February was the standout: the highest average registration count of the year at 1,119 per campaign, and the highest page activation rate at 61%.
July, by contrast, hosted just 2.27% of all campaigns. Most charities slow down over the summer, which also means less ad competition for the ones that don’t.
The implication for your calendar: concentrate your biggest budgets around October and the spring window. Quieter months like July are better suited to targeted, lower-cost challenges than high-volume acquisition pushes.
2. JustGiving and Facebook serve different parts of your funnel
The data makes a strong case for running both platforms rather than choosing between them. JustGiving delivered an average of £275.60 per Active Fundraiser, in comparison to Facebook, which delivered £147.23. That’s an 87% difference in value per fundraiser!
But Facebook consistently outperformed on activation — getting supporters to actually set up a page in the first place. The picture that emerges is straightforward: Facebook helps to bring supporters through the door, JustGiving maximises what they raise once they’re active.
Lead your registration forms with JustGiving to capture the higher average value, but keep Facebook available for supporters who need a lower barrier to entry.
3. Your activity mix matters as much as your calendar
Not all challenge types perform the same way. Walking challenges accounted for 40.30% of all funds raised in 2025 — close to half of all virtual challenge revenue from one activity type! Their strength is reach: accessible to almost anyone, they perform reliably across demographics and throughout the year.
Press-up challenges told a different story. They generated the highest average funds raised per campaign at £153,552, despite lower overall participation. The audience tends to be younger, fitness-focused, with highly engaged networks — and so is the return.
The most effective calendars use both deliberately: walking challenges during peak months when you’re going for volume, then higher-yield fitness challenges during quieter periods when you’re targeting a more motivated, specific audience.
4. December is for stewardship, not acquisition
December and January recorded the lowest average registration counts of the year — 234 and 237 respectively. Cold acquisition in those months tends not to perform as well as at other points in the year.
But December recorded a 48.83% JustGiving activation rate! The supporters already in your database are primed to fundraise during the festive season. Use your automated email journeys to send them encouragement, fundraising tips, and target-based nudges rather than trying to recruit new supporters from scratch.
Putting it together
Concentrate acquisition spend in October and spring. Use quieter months for testing and targeted challenges. Run JustGiving and Facebook with a clear role for each. Shift December and January to stewardship mode.
The charities that do this consistently don’t just have good months — they have a programme that builds year on year.
Want to see how this works in practice? Book a demo at givepanel.com/demo to see how GivePanel’s registration forms, automated messaging, and reporting dashboards can help you put these lessons to work.
Already a GivePanel customer? Log into your account to compare your own 2025 data against these benchmarks and identify where your peaks and opportunities sit.