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The Virtual Challenge Playbook

A free, step-by-step guide to recruiting more fundraisers, building community and raising more from your virtual challenges, with Bluestep Solutions, Social AF and the Digital Fundraising Academy.

  • The Virtual Challenge funnel, from first lead to lifetime supporter
  • Meta Lead Ads, targeting and incentives, with Bluestep Solutions
  • Facebook Groups, on-page messaging and email journeys, with Social AF

Free PDF, 6 chapters, updated October 2026.

Cover and pages of GivePanel's Virtual Challenge Playbook

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    Used by 400+ charities in 16 countries

    Heart Foundation logo
    Parkinson's Foundation logo
    Black Dog Institute logo
    American Foundation for Suicide Prevention logo
    American Cancer Society logo
    The Salvation Army logo
    WaterAid logo
    Irish Cancer Society logo
    Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity logo
    Macmillan Cancer Support logo
    Pieta logo
    LauraLynn Children's Hospice logo

    Inside the playbook

    Set-up

    • Build a high-converting funnel: Learn the secrets of the Virtual Challenge funnel. It’s designed to guide supporters from initial lead to long-term advocate for your cause. We cover everything from lead generation with Meta Ads to nurturing supporters through effective stewardship.
    • Design challenges that inspire action: Find out what types of challenges work best. From distance-based activities like running and walking to fitness challenges like squats and push-ups. We’ll show you how to strike the perfect balance between achievability and sponsorship-worthiness. Plus 2026 results from UK challenges on GivePanel, showing which challenge types raise the most per sign-up.

    Acquisition

    • Master acquisition with Meta Ads: Get expert guidance, in partnership with Bluestep Solutions. Learn how to create and manage Meta Lead Ads that drive recruitment, including Meta’s latest changes to detailed targeting. You’ll discover best practices for:
      • Ad creative and copy
      • Targeting strategies
      • Budget allocation to ensure strong return on ad spend
    • Use incentives well: Learn which incentives, like t-shirts and welcome packs, drive registrations and keep people engaged, from Bluestep Solutions. You’ll get strategies for fulfilment, including how to offer rewards only to active fundraisers to save on costs.

    Stewardship

    • Master stewardship and build a thriving community: Learn how to build an active community around your challenge, with the experts at Social AF. You’ll get tactical advice on everything from:
      • Setting up high-engagement Facebook Groups with the correct technical settings
      • Deploying a proven content strategy that balances fundraising asks with community-building
      • Implementing powerful on-page messaging sequences to personally welcome and celebrate your fundraisers
      • Designing automated email journeys that deliver timely, personal communication at every stage
    • Monitor, optimise and wrap up like a pro: Learn which KPIs to track daily to keep your campaign on track. Discover how to make data-driven course corrections when needed. Plus, our guide to off-boarding will help you turn one-time participants into lifelong supporters.

    A look inside

    Page from the Virtual Challenge Playbook showing the Virtual Challenge funnel, from leads to lifetime valuePage from the Virtual Challenge Playbook on launch timing, with 2026 results from UK challenges on GivePanelOpening page of the playbook chapter on stewardship strategies, in partnership with Social AF

    Who it’s for

    Whether it’s your first virtual challenge or you’ve run them for years.

    • Charity leaders and fundraising managers: a plan for your next challenge, from set-up to wrap-up.
    • Digital marketing and social media teams: Meta Lead Ads, Facebook Groups and email journeys, step by step.
    • Anyone launching or improving a virtual fundraising programme: each chapter works on its own, so start with the one you need.

    Don’t just
    take our word for it…

    … here’s what our customers say

    “GivePanel is a godsend. We manage Run 31 and other virtual fundraising through it.”

    KSS Air Ambulance Charity (Kent, Surrey, Sussex) logo

    Lola Inge

    Running and Challenge Manager at Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex

    “GivePanel is a key strategic partner to JustGiving. We work in close collaboration to ensure that, in an ever-evolving fundraising landscape, their platform continues to set the standard for excellence. Their unwavering focus on supporter experience, combined with a data-driven approach, consistently delivers outstanding results for charities. By leveraging clear performance metrics, including insights from JustGiving data, GivePanel empowers charities to optimise campaigns and measure success with confidence. Their innovation and commitment make them a leader in the sector.”

    JustGiving logo

    Suzy Edington

    Head of Partner Programs – JustGiving

    “GivePanel is our one stop shop for all things virtual challenge management. We appreciate the sophisticated functionality, ability to have an incredible amount of data at our fingertips to make strategic decisions and love the user friendly interface for ease of use. In particular, our favourite piece of innovation from the team at GivePanel has been the integration with JustGiving which has been game changing for our virtual fundraising. The team are on hand, quick to support and reactive to any suggestions to further improve the user experience.”

    BTR logo

    Brain Tumour Research

    “GivePanel has been a key partner in helping us deliver impactful fundraising campaigns for our clients of all sizes around the world. The platform allows us to engage supporters at scale, track performance in real time, and adapt quickly — all of which helps us serve our clients more effectively. What we value most is how responsive and collaborative the GivePanel team is. They genuinely listen to feedback and evolve the product to meet the needs of agencies and nonprofits alike. Their commitment to innovation and partnership makes it possible for us to deliver the best results possible.”

    PNA logo

    Paper Napkin Agency

    “As we continue to build our mass portfolio at the RSPCA, GivePanel has been a fantastic tool – the design is simple and much easier to use than our standard CRM systems. Since using GivePanel we have seen a significant improvement in mass event recruitment.”

    RSPCA logo

    RSPCA

    “We’ve loved working with GivePanel on our 60 Miles in June challenge – it’s been our first time using the platform for Virtual Challenges and we’ve found it so easy to use for managing the challenge and stewarding our participants. The insights they’ve been able to share about best practice and how we can improve our performance have also been great”

    YoungMinds logo

    YoungMinds

    “We’ve worked with GivePanel for a few years now on our virtual challenges, including our most recent June campaign, and they’ve been brilliant throughout. The team take the time to understand our goals, and the platform delivers exactly what we need. They’re responsive to feedback, always looking at improving their tech, and bring real expertise to the table. A pleasure to work with, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. A fantastic team.”

    Diabetes UK logo

    Stephen Sooksalee

    Mass Participation Manager at Diabetes UK

    “Without a doubt the JustGiving integration has been a gamechanger for us. We introduced this some time ago, however each challenge we use it for, seems to produce results even better than the last. It’s significantly helped our average page values as well as being the chosen choice for the majority of supporters.”

    Michelle Batson, Brain Tumour Research, testimonial headshot

    Michelle Batson

    Digital Platform Fundraising Manager at Brain Tumour Research

    “GivePanel has enhanced our connection with fundraisers by providing real-time, accessible data that enables us to create personalised supporter journeys. This is informed by factors such as where participants choose to fundraise, how much they are raising and when they begin during the challenge cycle.”

    Lauren Muldowney, Samaritans

    Lauren Muldowney

    Fundraising Project Lead at Samaritans

    “One of our goals for this year was to improve processes and reduce staff time doing manual processes. We were desperate to have our registration data flow into our SMS platform through an API and this was only made possible by the amazing support from your team. They suggested ways to make it possible as well as working with us at every stage.”

    Olivia Moore, Pancreatic Cancer UK, testimonial headshot

    Olivia Moore

    Senior Events Officer at Pancreatic Cancer UK

    “GivePanel works best for us because personal connection with the donor is what is most important, and GivePanel provides the tools and services to make that happen! I would recommend GivePanel on the fact that they really are the gold standard in terms of personal touches with the donor to engage them and make them feel like they’re involved, and not one of many.”

    Ashly Alberto testimonial headshot

    Ashly Alberto

    National Vice President of Development at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

    “Trusted, reliable and it works! The team are also quick to respond and friendly. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending their services.”

    Matt Lawley Testimonial

    Matthew Lawley

    Senior Community Fundraising Manager – Acquisition at Diabetes UK

    “GivePanel is easy to use and does the job. It is also well-priced and is always launching new things to make stewardship better and more focused. It’s really great how helpful and swift responses are from the team. Really great team.”

    Natasha Day, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

    Natasha Day

    Fundraising Executive, Virtual Events at Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

    “The constant evolution of the feature in the last 12 months has really strengthened our fundraising. Digital Fundraising is ever-changing and unfortunately there is always an element of riding the rough with the smooth wave. Introducing new features offered by GivePanel which has helped better our results, instills more confidence in digital fundraising as a whole and it’s potential for the coming year allowing us to really invest in our portfolio for the new year with confidence.”

    Michelle Batson, Brain Tumour Research, testimonial headshot

    Michelle Batson

    Digital Platform Fundraising Manager at Brain Tumour Research

    “The whole team felt like an extension of our team and no task felt too big. We couldn’t run our virtual challenges without the knowledge and guidance from GivePanel and value their support so highly.”

    Olivia Moore, Pancreatic Cancer UK, testimonial headshot

    Olivia Moore

    Senior Events Officer at Pancreatic Cancer UK

    “Tools like automated email journeys, high-level dashboards and detailed report builder functionality have streamlined event management and made it easier to access the data we need to make timely, informed decisions.”

    Lauren Muldowney, Samaritans

    Lauren Muldowney

    Fundraising Project Lead at Samaritans

    “The GivePanel team have been brilliant, always quick to jump in and help when we’ve needed it, especially during our recent campaign. Their speedy support and practical solutions have really helped us boost our fundraising. What we love most is having all our key information in one place, from sign-ups and average gifts to total raised. It makes it so easy to steward our supporters through GP, knowing everyone’s following the same process, and with the filters we can quickly find exactly what we need.”

    Jerry Green Dog Rescue logo

    Jerry Green Dog Rescue

    More on virtual challenges

    Virtual challenge fundraising: the complete guideRead the guide →Virtual challenge benchmarks, updated every quarterSee the benchmarks →Case study: Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey SussexRead the case study →

    Questions about the playbook

    Yes. Fill in the short form and you can download the full playbook straight away.

    A PDF of around 110 pages: six chapters plus resources and templates. Each chapter works on its own, so you can go straight to the part you need.

    Fundraising, events and digital teams at charities planning or running virtual challenges, whether it’s your first challenge or you’ve run them for years.

    We’ll email you the link to the playbook and a few follow-up emails about putting it to use. Our news, guides and event invites only come if you tick the box on the form, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Our privacy notice explains how we use your details.

    Ready to build your most successful virtual challenge yet?

    Download the free playbook today and get the steps and templates to set up, recruit for and steward your next virtual challenge.

    Cover and pages of the Virtual Challenge Playbook