Fundraising income from the largest 25 mass participation events fell by 4% in 2022 despite a return to mostly in-person events.
According to Massive’s annual report, the top 25 charity-owned mass participation events raised £114m last year compared to £119.5m in 2021.
Despite being the first full year without any Covid-19 restrictions in place, fundraising in 2022 did not return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, when the top 25 events made £143m.
Massive said the cost-of-living crisis may have contributed to the “slower than expected recovery from the pandemic”.
Race for Life raises the most money
Like in 2021, the fundraising event that raised the most was Cancer Research’s Race for Life with its gross income totalling £22.4m for 2022. This is a 14% increase on its 2021 total.
In second place was Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, which raised £15.6m in 2022 – an increase of 18% on the year prior.
Movember takes third place by raising £12.5m for the charity.
Virtual events start to lag
Virtual events making it into Massive’s top 25 study dropped in 2022, with there being 14 virtual events in 2021 compared to nine last year.
The report states that overall, virtual events saw income drop by more than 50% on average.
It reads: “In contrast in-person events saw income grow as a group, reflecting the desire and ability of people to get out and take part in real-life events again.”
Most virtual events experienced a drop in the average raised per participant while many in-person events saw this value increase.
Events that saw the biggest growth
The event that saw the biggest growth from 2021 was Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day, which was up by 67% on the year prior.
It raised £5m in 2022 putting it in the seventh place. It sat at eleventh place in 2021 and raised £3m. CRUK’s Relay for Life also experienced growth of 53%.
John Tasker, partner at Massive said: “While Covid and the cost-of-living crisis have created a difficult climate for fundraising, it’s hugely positive to see so many events getting back on track.
“Mass participation fundraisers know that these events provide so much more than in-year income. In these difficult economic times, building sustained, authentic connection with supporters has never been so important.”
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