Fundraising questions (including online sponsorship)

We have to charge an entry fee to cover the costs of organising our events. By charging an entry fee, we make sure that every penny of your sponsorship money goes straight to Cancer Research UK. We do everything in our power to keep costs as low as possible. Here are a few examples of what Cancer Research UK needs to pay for using the entry fee:

- barriers and staging
- venue hire
- PA system
- toilets
- race numbers
- medals
- marquees
- van hire
- signage
- postage of entry packs
- call centre operators

Entering Race for Life online saves us money, which means that even more of the money you raise goes towards our life-saving work.

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The entry fee only covers the event organisation and participant communication costs. We ask all participants to try to raise as much money as possible for their event to fund our vital work. A quick and simple way of raising your sponsorship money is to set up an online sponsorship page.

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The money you raise goes directly to help fund the pioneering work of Cancer Research UK, the world's leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research.

Cancer Research UK funds over 4,800 scientists, doctors and nurses based throughout the UK. They are carrying out world-class research into all aspects of cancer, from understanding the causes and biology of the disease through to developing better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it.

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Online - you can pay securely online using a credit or debit card. To receive an email receipt you will need to provide an email address.

By phone - via the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111, using a credit or debit card. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

By post - Please make cheques made payable to "Cancer Research UK" and send to Race for Life, PO Box 442, Northampton, NN3 6UU. We recommend that you do not send cash, as the postal system is not always secure.

IMPORTANT
Please ensure that you include your full details on the back of your cheque. We will need your full name, address, event venue, running number and Unique Reference Number (URN).

However you choose to pay, please remember to post your sponsorship form to us to the address above. It is vital that we receive this so we can claim Gift Aid, which means that we can claim at least an extra 25p for every pound that you raise.

Please ensure you return your sponsorship money to us by the end of September 2010.

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Gift Aid is a government scheme which allows Cancer Research UK to claim at least 25% back from the Government on every sponsorship donation, without it costing your sponsors a penny extra. That means for every £100 you raise, the Government will give us at least £25 more.

As long as your sponsors are UK taxpayers, all we need is for you to ask them to:

- tick the box on your sponsorship form
- make sure that we can read their full name
- make sure we can read their full home address including postcode

Then we can claim at least an extra 25% of your contribution from the Government.

In order to claim Gift Aid, we must have a copy of your sponsorship form, so please remember to return it to us after your event. We can also claim Gift Aid on any donation that you make personally if you are a UK taxpayer.

Using an online sponsorship form to raise money for your Race for Life event is the easiest way to fundraise and Gift Aid can be added for all donors who are UK taxpayers and tick the Gift aid box.

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As much as possible! All the money you raise will help us to get closer to our vision of beating cancer. We are aiming to raise over £60 million from our Race for Life series this year. But whatever contribution you’re able to make, you will help us to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

As a charity we rely overwhelmingly on the success of fundraising events like Race for Life to continue our life-saving work to beat cancer. Sadly more than one in three people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime, so every penny received really does make a difference.

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If any of your sponsors have ticked the Gift Aid box it is essential we have a copy of your sponsorship form.

Without this we will not be able to claim Gift Aid on any of your donations, which could increase your contribution to Cancer Research UK by at least 25% without any extra cost to you or your donors.

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You can return your sponsorship money in batches, although this does cost us more to process as we will send you a letter to confirm receipt each time you send a donation.

Please ensure that you include your details with each batch so that we can thank you for each amount sent in.

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We advise that you complete the event before you send in your sponsorship, to reassure your sponsors that you have participated fully.

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Race for Life events are exclusively in aid of Cancer Research UK. All participants entering Race for Life agree to the Race for Life rules that state that all participants have a legal responsibility to ensure that all sponsorship monies and donations received for Race for Life are paid to Cancer Research UK.

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Yes. You can either pay in their sponsorship money online or by post, but in both cases please ensure that you include their full details with your payment. We will need their full name, event venue, running number, Unique Reference Number and the amount they raised. Otherwise we will not be able to thank them for their generous contribution and they may receive unnecessary correspondence.

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Yes, of course! You can donate now online, by post or on the phone.

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Justgiving is a private company that specialises in providing online tools to enable online collection of donations. Cancer Research UK has worked with Justgiving since 2002 to allow its supporters to fundraise online for the charity.

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- Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".
- Click on the "Forgotten your password" link.
- Enter your email address and your password will be emailed to you.

If you are still having problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' costs may vary.

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- Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".
- Enter your email address and password and then click the "Continue using our secure server" button.
- From the homepage of your account, click on the "Your details" tab.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page until you see the "Change your password" box. Enter your "Old password," "New password" and "Confirm new password".
- Then click the "Update" button.

If you have any problems, you can call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' costs may vary.

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- Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".
- Enter your email address and password and then click the continue using our secure server button.
- "Your account at a glance" page will be displayed.

If you are still having problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' costs may vary.

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You can edit elements of your sponsorship page in your online user account, which can be accessed via the "My account" link on the top of all pages on our site. The following step-by-step guide will show you how you can keep your sponsorship page up to date:

- Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".
- Log into your account using the email address and password you gave when you created your page. If you’ve forgotten your password, click the "Forgotten your password?" link and we’ll email you a reminder.
- You are now in your online account. To edit your sponsorship page, click the "Your fundraising pages" tab.
- You will then see a list of sponsorship pages you have created. Click "Go" next to the one you wish to edit.
- On the following page you can see all the various options available to you. To edit your page, click the "Do some basic page editing" link.
- Your sponsorship page will then appear in editable form. You can update any areas highlighted in yellow - including the main message, your target amount and offline total. Scroll down to the bottom to find the offline total. If you want to paste text from a Word document into the personal message box, please paste it into a notepad file first, then copy and paste it from there - see "instructions".
- Once you have made the required changes, please click on the "Update and preview" button. The next page allows you to review the changes you have just made. Click on "I'm happy with my changes" to confirm your amendments or "I want to change something" to edit your page further.
- Once you are happy with your changes, you will be invited to email your updated page to your friends.

If you are still having problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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If you have already created and saved your sponsorship page, it is very easy to add a picture. All you need is a digital picture on your computer. Then follow these instructions:

- log into your account using the link at the top of your sponsorship page
- click on the "Your fundraising pages" tab
- click on the title of the page you want to edit
- click on "Do some basic page editing"
- scroll down the page and click on "Change this image" under the photo
- select "Upload your own image"
- click on "Browse" and find your photo from your computer
- once you have selected the right photo, click on "Upload"
- you’ll be asked to wait while your picture is being uploaded. It can take up to two minutes.
- you should see your image on the screen. If you're happy, click on "I'm happy with my image". Otherwise go back and repeat the above steps to try out different pictures
- you can now see your image on your sponsorship page
- you must now click on the "Update and preview" button
- click on "I'm happy with my changes" to finish the process

This is a good time to email your page to your friends and family again to remind them to sponsor you.

Please note: maximum image size is 1500k. JPG images will be resized to fit on your page. GIF images cannot be resized, so please make sure they are no larger than 250 pixels by 250 pixels.

You can return to your page and make further changes at a later date.

If you have any problems, you can call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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Yes, you can. You can access this information in two different ways — by opting to receive an automatic email each time someone donates, or by logging into your account, where you will find a comprehensive list of all your sponsors.

To access this list:

- Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".
- Log in using your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, don't worry. Click on the "Forgotten your password?" link and we'll send you a reminder.
- From the homepage of your account, click on the "Your fundraising pages" tab.
- You will then see a list of all your sponsorship pages to date. Click on the “Go” button next to the relevant page.
- On the next page, click on "See who’s donated". In this section you can find out more about those who have sponsored you.

If you have any problems or questions about this, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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Before you do anything else, please cancel your sponsorship page as soon as you can. This will ensure no further donations can be made to your page.

To cancel your sponsorship page, please follow these simple instructions:

- Log in to your account by clicking on the "Your Account" link at the top of your sponsorship page.
- Click on the tab called "Your sponsorship pages".
- Then click on the name of the page you want to cancel.
- At the foot of the next screen you will see an option to cancel your page.

If you already have donations on your page, we regret that these cannot normally be refunded. Any donations made to your sponsorship page are collected immediately and paid promptly to the charity.

If you have any problems or questions about this, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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Online sponsorship pages are the most efficient and secure way of collecting sponsorship.

Our online sponsorship partner, Justgiving, transfers all donations made to a sponsorship page to Cancer Research UK each week.

Within a month, Gift Aid is reclaimed on all eligible donations and is also sent to Cancer Research UK.

This means that the charity receives sponsorship money much earlier than through traditional fundraising methods.

If you still have a query, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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Yes, people can donate to your sponsorship page from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a credit card.

Please note, however, that donations on our site can only be made in pounds sterling (GBP), so your friends will have to work out for themselves how much the donation they are making will cost them in their local currency. There are many currency conversion websites that can help them do this.

Local credit card companies may charge additional fees for international transactions. If in doubt, your overseas friends should check with their credit card company before donating.

If you have any further questions about this, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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The following step-by-step guide will show you how to email donors who have donated through your sponsorship page and who have chosen to make their email addresses available to you:

- Please click on the "My account" link, which can be found at the top of your sponsorship page.
- Log into your account using the email address and password you gave when you created your page. If you’ve forgotten your password, click the "Forgotten your password?" link and we’ll email you a reminder.
- You are now in your online account. Click the "Your sponsorship pages" tab.
- You will then see a list of sponsorship pages you have created. Click "Go" next to the one in question.
- On the following page you will see all the options available to you. Click the "See who has donated" link.
- Now click the "See which donors want to be kept updated about your fundraising" link.
- Follow the prompts to email your sponsors.

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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You can set up an online sponsorship page at any time for up to seven weeks after your event.

Your sponsorship page will be open for donations until seven weeks after your event. After that date, you and your friends will still be able to view your page, but it will no longer be possible for people to donate.

We regret that pages cannot be re-opened after that date. Thank you for your understanding.

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