Fewer people are fundraising through endurance challenges, a report has found.
Fewer people are fundraising through endurance challenges such as Tough Mudder, according to research by an events management company.
Massive said events involving mud, obstacles and/or beer (MOB) accounted for 2% of sporting event fundraisers in 2018, down from 4% the previous year.
The number of people fundraising through MOB events has also dropped for the third year in a row, the report found.
Massive’s Sports Fundraising Market Snapshot report states: "Our sense is that, after a meteoric rise in the popularity of these events for fundraising, the market is settling down and, as a result, MOB events’ best years as significant fundraisers may have passed.”
According to the report, the fastest growing activity in the past year was half marathons, followed by treks and full marathons.
Running in general accounted for 62% of all online sports fundraising pages.
The report also suggests sponsors may be less likely to donate large amounts to friends or family taking part in events that might be seen to pose a smaller challenge.
Researchers found that runners taking part in marathons, for example, had seen an increase in average value of donations while those taking part in 10k runs had seen a drop of up to 25%.
The report said: “In a world where almost 200,000 people run a parkrun every week, peers are less inclined to sponsor those completing shorter distances.
"Our sense is that those charities who can support and inspire runners to feel safe to step up to higher-value more challenging distances will have the potential to unlock significant levels of fundraising activity."
John Tasker, from Massive, said: “Outside of the big events we’re seeing participation grow but that’s not always being matched by an increase in amounts people are fundraising
“Over the last five years, we’ve seen the potential of events to excite and engage people in the work charities do. It’s great to see even in tough times for fundraisers, new and existing events still have the power to help charities do more”
