Celebrating Success: World Cancer Research Fund's Walk 100 Miles in February Campaign

The Challenge

World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), a UK-based charity focused on cancer prevention, sought to boost the impact of their annual Walk 100 Miles in February campaign. With growing competition in the charity fundraising space and evolving supporter expectations, WCRF aimed to surpass previous results by increasing participant numbers, deepening engagement, and maximising fundraising with a clear, cause-driven approach and improved technological support.

The Solution

To meet these ambitious goals, WCRF partnered with Social Sync. The decision was driven by the Social Sync platform, offering branded participant pages, unified data management, and integrated multi-channel communication tools. Social Sync also provided strategic guidance on supporter engagement and campaign optimisation.

As Hannah Burgess, Events, Community & Digital Fundraising Manager at WCRF, shared: “The Social Sync team feels like an extension of our own fundraising team and has been as passionate as we have about converting as many leads and helping to raise as much money as possible. Social Sync managed our expectations throughout the challenge and consistently suggested improvements we can make to support the development of the campaign. We know that whatever (sometimes difficult) decisions we need to make, we can trust Social Sync to guide us towards the best path for success. This campaign has raised well over double what last year's did, and this wouldn't have been possible without the guidance and support from Social Sync.”

WCRF launched the campaign with bold, clear messaging, leveraging the Social Sync platform to deliver a personalised and seamless supporter journey from sign-up to mile logging and fundraising.

The Results

The collaboration produced outstanding results: over £137,000 was raised, exceeding the original target by almost 130%. Registrations surged by 55% compared to the previous year, and the average value per fundraiser topped £185. Notably, 25% of participants used Social Sync to log their miles, contributing over 72% of the total campaign income.

Testimonials from participants echoed the campaign's success: “It’s been amazing hope u will have me back again Thank you” and “Have enjoyed the challenge at 82.”

Bold, cause-focused messaging and integrated digital journeys ensured high levels of engagement and maximised income, setting a new benchmark for WCRF's peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.