CRUK’s Dryathlon raises over £3m
Howard Lake | 5 February 2013 | News
Cancer Research UK’s first Dryathlon campaign has raised over £3 million. The campaign adapted the popular effort to abstain from alcohol for a month after the excesses of Christmas and the New Year.
Over 35,000 ‘Dryathletes’ took up the challenge and invited friends, family and colleagues to sponsor them for the month.
Fundraisers could take the challenge alone or the could form a team with others. CRUK’s campaign included various incentives including leaderboards featuring the best performing fundraising teams, and digital badges to mark milestones and achievements during January.
Advertisement
The campaign included humorous elements, such as The Golden Pass, an opportunity to jump off the wagon for one night only – but only if you told your supporters and made a donation yourself. The charity suggested at least £15.
CRUK suggested various approaches to fundraising including:
- acting as a designated driver for friends who were drinking and asking for donations in return
- using a pint glass not for drinking but for collecting donations
- putting on a fundraising event
- getting sponsored to dress in fancy dress down the pub
It also provided a range of images for printing out and using online.
Dryathlon™ Mobile/SMS Text Donation Card
Dryathlon™ “Facebook” Support Me Banner
Dryathlon™ Facebook Banner
At the end of the campaign it summarised the campaign’s success in an infographic:
You did it Dryathletes! Over £3,000,000 raised for @dryathlon 2013 – you rock!! Now RT to tell the world #Dryathlon twitter.com/dryathlon/stat…
— CRUK’s Dryathlon (@dryathlon) February 1, 2013
It is clear that the campaign will be run again in 2014 and probably as an annual event.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.