Runners who will be joining you on the Start Line share their fundraising journey and three tips to help you hit your target before Event Day.

Fundraiser of the Week, Kirsty Wilson, on making her mum proud.

The London Marathon has a special place in Kirsty's heart, as her dad ran the first edition of the world-famous event in 1981. Around 7,000 people took part that year, and now Kirsty will be one of the 50,000 participants on the Start Line in April.

Last year, Kirsty’s mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and that was when she approached Dementia UK.

“When mum was diagnosed, I thought this is the right time to do it. It feels like it fell into place and happened for a reason,” Kirsty says.

“As a family, we wanted to try and focus on something positive around the diagnosis. This is such a special opportunity, and I want to make my mum proud, while she still is able to know us all.”

Kirsty is a single parent with two young daughters under 10, so she has to be creative in order to incorporate fundraising and training into her working day. 

However, it has given her something positive to talk about with her mum.

“Whenever I talk to my mum, dementia is the main thing we talk about and that is a lot,” Kirsty says. “The marathon gives focus to something else and for me to be able to talk to her about something I’m doing for her.”

Kirsty has been great at compartmentalising her fundraising and thinking how she can utilise the different areas of her life. Whether that’s considering what she can do with her daughter’s dance group, to which social media platforms she will use to document her journey.

Here are Kirsty’s top fundraising tips.

1. Video, video, video

Posting your Enthuse page on social media once doesn’t mean everyone will see it. With so many social platforms to choose from you need to think about which you are going to use and how you’re going to use that channel to promote your fundraising. 

Luckily, Kirsty works at Instagram, so we will take her steer when it comes to social media! “Think about how to tell your story in an emotive way,” she says. “It’s not just posting an update of a run. It is why you ran, or how hard it was, and what your challenges are.”

Kirsty also says you can bring your story to life with video. “Video is so important as a photo doesn’t necessarily convey emotion,” she explains. “People will support you if they believe in why you are doing it, or if they relate to it. A lot of people who sponsored me on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn aren't in my close circle. It was people in the outer sphere of my life because it spoke to them in a certain way.”

And don’t forget LinkedIn. “There’s been a turn to see more personal posts on LinkedIn. I’ve had good feedback there,” Kirsty says.

2. Double your money 

Tell your employer you’re running the 2024 TCS London Marathon because some companies match your donations to your chosen charity. Yes, really!

Kirsty believes it’s definitely worth asking. “Not all companies do this but they might let you do a bake sale,” she says.

Some companies will offer what is known as matched giving or match funding, where they match the money you’ve raised on a pound-for-pound basis, or they have a certain amount they allocate to employees. Sadly, not all companies are able to do this, but they might be able to support you in a different way.

If you’d like to know more, Enthuse has everything you need to know about match funding here.

3. Sell things you no longer need

Do that job you’ve been putting off and fundraise in the process. Ingenious.

Kirsty says: “I’m decluttering my place by getting rid of clothes and the kids’ toys on Facebook Marketplace, and topping up my page.”

It might be time to embrace the KonMari method, and if that item doesn’t bring you joy, just think, it might bring in cash to use as a donation to your page.