We’re so excited to announce the launch of the Virtual Fundraising Monitor 2021!
Created in partnership with massive, it’s a report that focuses on virtual fundraising and is packed with stats and info from charities just like yours.

The report was first launched last year and covered the changing landscape of mass participation fundraising, and how charities were adapting to the new world of virtual events.

So, this year’s report gives an update on what has been happening in the sector over the last 12 months and includes insight from 150 virtual campaigns with 450,000 participants raising £39M for 93 charities of different sizes and causes combined with JustGiving’s insight and research.

You’ll also find stories and quotes from some excellent charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Alzheimer’s Society, and Refuge, who have all kindly contributed their experiences.

You can download the full report here, and below we have a few of the key findings to share now…

Events are raising more in 2021

The data shows that virtual events are on average raising more than in 2020. Almost half of the 150 virtual campaigns we looked at raised over £100K in 2021 – twice as many as in 2020. The number of events raising more than £1M has also doubled.

It appears that this growth is driven by volume, not value, with participant numbers having risen significantly since last year; average participant numbers have more than trebled from 893 in 2020 to 2,921 in 2021.

This suggests that after the initial rush to take fundraising events virtual, charities now better understand what works, and are able to design, deliver and market their virtual events more effectively.

Virtual events have a shorter lifespan  

JustGiving data shows that established events having to work harder to acquire participants, with less than a third of this year’s events being repeat campaigns from 2020.

Among those that were repeat events, more than half reported flat or falling numbers of participants, income, and active pages. One campaign raising more than £1M in 2020 saw its income fall by more than 75% when it was repeated in 2021.

New virtual events on the other hand are on the rise, accounting for more than half of our 150 this year. These include Dementia UK’s March Dog Walking Challenge, which surpassed £2M fundraised in its first year. 7 of the 10 most successful events in 2021 were new to the market.

This suggests that when it comes to virtual events people seem less committed to repeating experiences than they do for physical events, trying things out then looking for the next new experience. 

Read the full report

We hope that the report findings help you to plan your charity’s events and campaigns for the year ahead, and test new activities.

Click here to download your copy of the Virtual Fundraising Monitor 2021.