Big charities are continuing to suffer a slide in donations from fundraising events like walkathons and bike races. Over all, the funds raised dropped 2.7 percent below 2017 levels, according to a study released today.
The 30 biggest U.S. events raised nearly $1.4 billion in 2018, according to the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum’s annual “Fundraising Thirty” report. Last year was the sixth in a row that saw giving to such events, in which donors support someone who participates in a walkathon or other activity, decline.
But this year marked a slighter drop in donations, which could be a sign that the worst of the falloff is over. Much of the decline last year can be pegged to shortfalls in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the largest event of the year. Giving to the event dropped nearly 20 percent from 2017 levels.
This decline came even as Relay for Life focused on launching fewer and more profitable events. “In general, that idea of really taking a critical look at your event and thinking more about these as development programs as opposed to as community-building programs is a refrain that we hear very frequently,” said David Hessekiel, president of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum.
Notably, this year’s top-30 events included a newcomer on the landscape of traditional athletic events. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ Extra Life campaign, a video-game tournament, chalked up a 24 percent increase in donations last year and ranked 30th in the study.
The bulk of the top-ranking events, however, are traditional athletic events. The Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, for example, was the third-highest ranking one in the study. Income from that event increased by more than 8 percent from 2017 levels.
Among the other findings:
- Excluding Relay for Life, the other 29 events together raised almost $6.4 million more than they did last year.
- The Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike race in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, grossed more than $59 million, beating its previous record.
- The Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer folded in 2018; it had long occupied a spot in the top-30 fundraising events.
Top 30 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Events in 2018
| 1 | American Cancer Society | Relay for Life | $184,800,000.00 | -19.7% |
| 2 | American Heart Association | Heart Walk | $122,654,921.00 | -2.0% |
| 3 | Alzheimer’s Association | Walk to End Alzheimer’s | $96,898,684.00 | 8.8% |
| 4 | American Heart Association | American Heart Association Youth Programs | $84,267,440.00 | 6.5% |
| 5 | Leukemia & Lymphoma Society | Light the Night Walk | $76,970,400.00 | 4.0% |
| 6 | National MS Society | Bike MS | $65,519,000.00 | -4.2% |
| 7 | March of Dimes | March for Babies | $65,457,000.00 | -11.5% |
| 8 | American Cancer Society | Making Strides Against Breast Cancer | $63,500,000.00 | 2.4% |
| 9 | JDRF | JDRF One Walk | $63,299,938.00 | -1.2% |
| 10 | Pan-Mass Challenge | Pan-Mass Challenge | $59,250,000.00 | 4.9% |
| 11 | Susan G. Komen | Komen Race for the Cure Series | $54,000,000.00 | -11.4% |
| 12 | Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals | Dance Marathon | $43,541,124.00 | 11.7% |
| 13 | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | Cycle for Survival | $39,000,000.00 | 14.7% |
| 14 | Cystic Fibrosis Foundation | Great Strides | $38,282,608.00 | -4.3% |
| 15 | National MS Society | Walk MS | $37,741,000.00 | -5.4% |
| 16 | St. Baldrick’s Foundation | St. Baldrick’s Head-Shaving Events | $31,841,090.00 | -5.3% |
| 17 | Pelotonia | Pelotonia bike ride | $27,400,779.00 | 4.5% |
| 18 | ALS Association | Walk to Defeat ALS | $25,452,225.00 | -1.3% |
| 19 | Leukemia & Lymphoma Society | Team in Training | $23,300,000.00 | -4.1% |
| 20 | American Foundation for Suicide Prevention | Out of the Darkness Community Walks | $22,600,000.00 | 17.1% |
| 21 | Alsac/ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital | St. Jude Heroes | $21,600,000.00 | 22.8% |
| 22 | Big Brothers Big Sisters of America | Bowl for Kids’ Sake | $18,158,343.00 | -9.2% |
| 23 | American Diabetes Association | Tour de Cure | $17,810,100.00 | -11.9% |
| 24 | Autism Speaks | Autism Speaks Walk | $17,513,100.00 | 3.3% |
| 25 | AIDS LifeCycle | AIDS LifeCycle | $16,695,018.00 | 9.8% |
| 26 | Movember | Movember mustache-growing event | $15,820,530.00 | -15.8% |
| 27 | Susan G. Komen | Komen 3-Day | $15,100,000.00 | -5.6% |
| 28 | Junior Achievement USA | Junior Achievement Bowlathon | $14,776,156.00 | -2.2% |
| 29 | Pancreatic Cancer Action Network | PurpleStride | $14,197,318.00 | 4.0% |
| 30 | Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals | Extra Life | $13,500,000.00 | 24.2% |
Source: Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum
