More than 750 charitable organisations have won additional places for next year’s one-off, two-day London Marathon, but some concerns have been raised about the terms and conditions.
Around a third of organisations that entered the Saturday Charity Ballot, launched after the two-day event was announced last month, were successful.
All applicants – including some community interest companies, which were eligible for the first time – are due to be notified by the end of today.
London Marathon Events (LME) said most successful organisations were obtaining places for the first time and that the vast majority of applicants bid for one to eight running spots.
However, some charities have raised concerns about changes to LME’s terms and conditions requiring them to promote the marathon’s official fundraising partner Enthuse to their runners.
‘Heavy handed’ requirement to promote Enthuse
Enthuse has paid to be LME’s official fundraising partner since 2022 and signed a 10-year extension in 2024 but many runners still raise money through other platforms.
Runners for this year’s one-day London Marathon raised more than £90m for charities, a record amount, with both Enthuse and rival platform JustGiving facilitating more than £40m in sponsorship pledges.
Under the new terms, charities with places for the run on Saturday 24 April next year are required to register with Enthuse and maintain an account as organisers hope £150m will be raised overall across the two days.
Charities are compelled to “use all reasonable endeavours” to promote Enthuse to all the runners to whom they award places as well as those who secured their own spots independently but have registered to raise money for the charity.
This means they are required to encourage all their runners to use Enthuse instead of other platforms.
Some charities described the requirements as “heavy handed”, with one telling Civil Society it was a “frustrating situation to be put in with no warning”.
A representative of one organisation said they had a paid subscription with an alternative fundraising platform and were concerned that they would have to buy a separate one with Enthuse to ensure their needs are met as a customer.
Another said they feared that their runners might raise less on Enthuse than other platforms.
Charities with concerns wished to remain anonymous with one stating that smaller organisations in particular were “desperate for places” and so cautious about speaking out.
Nikki Bell, co-founder of Fundraising Everywhere, said: “It’s been disappointing to hear from our community the negative impact these requirements will have on their time, resources, and ability to maximise their fundraising.”
Bell said preparation for the two-day event next year was already stretching some charities’ resources and called on organisers to relax the requirement to promote Enthuse.
Organisers: Enthuse ‘best placed’ to support charities
An LME spokesperson confirmed that charities with approved places for Saturday 24 April 2027 must promote Enthuse to all of their participants as the primary fundraising platform.
They did not respond to questions about how this would be monitored or what repercussions charities that do not promote Enthuse would face.
The spokesperson said charities must set up an Enthuse account but that they do not have to use the platform exclusively.
They also said that Enthuse was “best placed to deliver the support needed for charities and participants to maximise their fundraising potential at the 2027 event”.
Charities with concerns can speak to LME charities team directly, they added.
Eddie Allenby, general manager at Enthuse, said: “As the official fundraising partner, Enthuse is London Marathon Events’ recommended platform for the 2027 TCS London Marathon Double and the only platform capable of accurately tracking and reporting on participants and fundraising across both days.
“This is important for charities as the two-day structure will bring unique reporting complexity, which Enthuse has solved through our integration with the event registration process.
“This also means charities can rely on 100% fundraising page creation. All of these pages are branded to their cause and connected to the official event app so that giving is easy and good causes are always front of mind.
“As with every year, charities can use Enthuse’s fundraising platform for the event free of charge.”
