Virtual Challenges FAQs
Virtual Challenges are an easy way to fundraise and make a difference to children and young people with cancer. Our FAQs will help you be successful in your fundraising.
Simply put, a Virtual Challenge is a challenge, often but not always, fitness based, that you can do at home, or with friends and family. They often run over the course of a month, for example, walk 80 miles in September.
You register online and we will send you a fundraising pack to help you complete your challenge, and will offer lots of support through emails and Facebook groups.
There is no registration fee or minimum fundraising target, however, we just ask that you raise as much as possible to support children and young people with cancer.
Fundraising is done online and you can create a fundraising page when you register. You will also get a sponsor form with your fundraising pack. Any cash donations we suggest you pay in to you page yourself, so all your total will sit together
There are lots of ways you can fundraise towards your target. Our top tips are
- Share your page with as many people as possible. Either through social media, emails, SMS or WhatsApp, or simply telling people when you see them, the amazing challenge you are undertaking
- Be the first to donate to your page with a self-donation. This can show people you are serious about the challenge and gets the ball rolling. People who make a self-donation can raise up to 84% more
- Ask your employer s they offer charitable donations and will support your challenge. Or if they do a match funding scheme, to match your over all end total or a percentage of it
- You can fundraise in other ways for your challenge.
- You could ask people to dare you do to something during your challenge, such as wear a tutu whilst running, and sponsor you for the dare
- Having a clear out, do a car boot sale or garage sale and put proceeds towards your total
- Have a quiz with your work colleagues or put a donation box up in your place of work
Any donations people pay to your page will come directly to us, so there is nothing you need to do. If you have any cash donations to pay in, see below on how you can do this.
Any cash donations we suggest you pay into your page yourself, so all your total will sit together.
There are handy instructions for how to pay this on the sponsorship form. All you need to do is deposit your sponsorship into your own bank account, and then pay this directly to your fundraising page.
If you have used a sponsorship form, you can follow the instructions on the form, to send this to us so we can claim any Gift Aid.
Sometimes donations can take a few hours to show on a page. If after 24 hours, the donation is still not showing, please drop as an email at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk
If you can let us know how much was donated, the date and rough time, the name of the person who donated and how they donated, we can them look into this for you.
It’s a great idea to have all your fundraising in one place so you can see your overall total. The best way to do this, to add money to a page from another platform is adding it as an Offline Donation. This will just show the total on your page, but not physically add money to it.
It’s easy to do, just log in to your fundraising page and find Edit my page. Here you can then see an option to add an offline donation.
If you need any further help, please contact us at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk
When logged in to your fundraising page, you can click on Edit my page, and then change the fundraising target.
They will be set at £150, however, this is just a suggestion and you are more than welcome to change this to what you would like to achieve.
If you reach your target, we suggest going in and upping the target on your page. This encourages people to keep donating to help you hit your target.
When people donate to your page, they will be given the option to add Gift Aid to their donation. If they choose not to, we are unable to claim Gift Aid on that donation.
If people say they are going to donate, we suggest you do ask them, if they are able to, to add Gift Aid, as this allows us to claim a further 25p per pound on their donation.
The initial registration email can take up to an hour to come through. We suggest you check your spam/junk email folder, in case it has made its way there.
Else drop us an email on virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk with your full name and the email address you used to register, and we can check that you are all registered
We post packs out twice a week and these can take up to 10-14 working days to arrive, so please be patient. If they have not dropped on your doorstep after 2 weeks, email us at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk and we can send another one out to you.
If you pack is damaged or you have the wrong size incentive, please let us know at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk and we can sort a new one for you.
When you register, you will get an email with the link to your fundraising page on there. Please check your spam/junk folders, in case it has gone in there.
How to find your page will depend on the platform that is being used.
- Facebook fundraiser – in the search box, type in Fundraisers and then click Your activity to see your fundraiser
- JustGiving – got to the JustGiving home page and click Log in, if you can’t remember your password, simply click Forgot password to reset. Once logged in, you will be able to see your fundraising pages
- Funraisin – go to https://fundraise.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/ and click Log in, if you can’t remember your password, simply click Forgot password to reset. Once logged in, you will be able to see your fundraising pages
We are unable to help you with your passwords if you have forgotten them.
If you need any other help, pop a message in the challenge Facebook group or email us at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk
Each platform does have a way you can share your page directly to various other platforms
- On your Facebook fundraiser, simply click the Share button at the top of the page
- On your JustGiving page, you can click the share button which is located under the Donate button
- On your Funraisin page, click one of the icons to share to that platform, or when logged in, under your name, click Share fundraiser
When you are on your page in your browser, you can also click and copy the address on the top bar of your browser and paste this in to a social post, SMS or Whatsapp, or email
Yes, absolutely. Any fundraising page can be personalised with your own profile image and/or story. In fact, we recommend you personalise your page as this can lead you to raising more money.
When you are logged in to your fundraising page, simply look for the edit button to update your profile image and story
Your fundraising page will typically close around 2 weeks after the end of the challenge month. This leaves plenty of time to shout loud and proud about what you have done and gain further donations.
If you have changed the date of your challenge and would like the page to be open longer, that’s fine, Let your supporters know you have changed the dates you are taking on the challenge.
That is absolutely fine, we understand that circumstances change. Pop us an email on virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk to let us know. If you have already gained donations, we suggest you also let your supporters know you are sadly unable to complete the challenge.
We can then remove you from the challenge and ensure you don’t receive the emails about the challenge.
Under 18s are welcome to take part in challenges.
To set up a fundraiser and to join the Facebook Group, you need to be over 18. However, if you wish to take part and are under 18 please ask a parent or guardian and ask them to set up a fundraiser and join the group on your behalf!
There is the odd challenge where under 18s are not permitted to take part, but this will be made clear at sign up.
The great thing about virtual challenges is that they are very much Your Challenge, Your Way. So if the month or date the challenge is due to take place does not quite work for you, absolutely, you can do it on a different date. You can start your challenge early if you want, or continue your challenge after the challenge month is over. Whatever suits you.
We just advise that you let your supporters know your plans.
Send us an email at virtualchallenges@younglivesvscancer.org.uk. We have a team dedicated to resolving your queries!
Alternatively, post your questions in the Facebook group associated with your current challenge