How Pancreatic Cancer UK raised over £140,000 with a Facebook Cycling Challenge
How did Pancreatic Cancer UK harness the power of Facebook to raise £146,905 and create a community of 1,500 members?
Key results
Driving impact, making a difference
Like many other charities, Pancreatic Cancer UK relies on income from in-person events to fund vital research and provide support services. Therefore, when the UK went into national lockdown and all in-person fundraising events were canceled, we had to go back to the drawing board.
Who is Pancreatic Cancer UK?
Pancreatic Cancer UK supports people who have been affected by pancreatic cancer. Their vision is that ‘everyone with pancreatic cancer survives to live long and well.’ To achieve this, PCUK support those who have been affected with resources and information, fund research breakthroughs and campaign for change, calling for more investment in research and ways to improve and speed up diagnosis.
Having joined GivePanel in 2019, PCUK are no strangers to a Facebook Challenge and have experimented with various formats, including step and squat Challenges, to engage their audience to fundraise.
“GivePanel has helped us build our portfolio to a level where we are gaining important insights day to day that allow us to learn and develop in the world of Facebook fundraising. It is a fantastic bonus that the staff at GivePanel are very encouraging, efficient and passionate about every project our charity has developed.”
– Megan Smart
Cycle 250 Miles in August
A Facebook Challenge is a virtual event that runs solely on Facebook and leverages the power of social networking through ads, groups and fundraisers. This means:
- Lower acquisition costs
- More fundraisers
- And a chance to meet supporters where they already are!
During lockdown, many people spent more time on social media.
With this in mind, they leveraged their Facebook and other social media channels, to acquire new supporters and create a community, who would come together to take on fundraising Challenges.
Together we created the “Cycle 250 miles in August” Challenge. All of the supporter acquisition and stewardship took place over Facebook which was an incredibly effective way of working for the charity.
Why did we do it this way?
Facebook is already a familiar platform for supporters and, during lockdown, many people were turning to social media to keep connected to their family and friends. Facebook also allowed supporters to share the Challenge with their networks, helping the charity to reach thousands more people. The platform enabled us to interact with people individually and help grow a thriving online community.e fresh audiences.
Meeting supporters where they are
With GivePanel, you can run virtual events and challenges entirely on Facebook. Furthermore, you manage all your data with ease. Our Facebook Group event registration forms sync directly with Facebook transaction data. This process means you keep all your vital data in one centralized place. Consequently, our fundraiser engagement and messages tools deliver the experience supporters deserve. This ultimately results in more contact details collected and increased funds raised.
GivePanel gives you the analytics and reports you need to track campaigns and enables you to build custom imports for your CRM. All of this saves significant staff time, allowing you to focus on what matters – fundraising!
As well as our online platform, GivePanel offers a range of consultancy and outsourcing services for nonprofits to help them get to the next level with Facebook fundraising.
The Challenge in numbers
2,152
Facebook Leads
£1.87
CPA
1142
Registrations
535
Fundraisers
£146,905
Total Raised
What did we learn?
- Build your tribe. Use your Facebook Group to communicate with your Fundraisers, find out what they need from you and nourish a sense of community
- Make your Challenge easy and accessible
- A short and simple journey to join the Challenge is best!
Other case studies
Lifeline launched their first Challenge in 2022 with 10,000 Steps a Day in May to raise funds for their crisis support and suicide prevention services to help save lives.
New to Facebook fundraising, but keen to fill a gap in their events calendar, Ronald McDonald House Charities Greater Western Sydney launched their first ever Facebook Challenge in August 2022 with Marathon in a Month.
Like several organizations, Roswell Park Alliance Foundation felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
By following GivePanel’s Facebook Challenge guide, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance raised over £70,000 and had its best acquisition campaign to date.
Stroke Association, a prominent charity in the UK dedicated to supporting stroke survivors and advocating for quality care, took their fundraising efforts to new heights with their Skip for Stroke Facebook Challenge in February 2023.
Surfers Against Sewage revolutionized their community fundraising with their first ever Facebook Challenge; Dip a Day in October. But how did they do it?