Realbuzz Impact Report 25-26: charity running raises £18.3 million, up 45%

Our FY 2025-2026 Impact Report shows realbuzz runners raised more than £18.3 million for 3,702 charities across five continents - up 45% on last year - as charity places become one of the main routes into the world's most oversubscribed races.

Since launching in 2002, realbuzz has facilitated more than £1.03 billion in fundraising worldwide.

Our growth reflects a wider shift towards running as a fundraising channel. JustGiving reported a 6% year-on-year rise in fundraising through organised sporting events in 2025 and runners alone raised more than £164 million for UK charities on the platform - more than double the combined total from walkers and cyclists. It also stands out against a tougher picture for the sector, with Charities Aid Foundation figures showing total UK charitable giving fell from £15.4 billion in 2024 to £14 billion in 2025.

Demand is outstripping supply

For many of the world's biggest endurance events, the challenge is no longer finding runners but finding room for them. More than 1.13 million people entered the ballot for the 2026 TCS London Marathon. The Irish Life Dublin Marathon received a record 47,000 applications for 22,500 places, and the Copenhagen Marathon drew more than 80,000 applicants in its first year as a ballot event.

As general entry gets harder to secure, charity places are increasingly how runners reach the start line, creating opportunities to supercharge impact. This year we handled more than 40,000 enquiries for charity places, and 15,884 realbuzz runners covered 268,757 miles for good causes.

Record results across our event partners

That demand is translating into record fundraising at partner events:

• GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON: £7.04 million raised through the realbuzz charity programme in 2025, up 41% year on year
• Irish Life Dublin Marathon: €5.44 million, up 57.2%, with runners averaging €1,885 each. Our partnership with Dublin Marathon Group now runs to 2030, the race's 50th anniversary
• Tokyo Marathon: £3,048,741 million raised by international runners for more than 100 charities in the first year of the programme, nearly 25% ahead of projections
• SuperHalfs Series: £1.5 million raised in 2026 to date, up 36%
• Dublin City Council Dublin City Half Marathon: €771,317 raised by around 750 charity runners in only the event's second year

We also welcomed 10 new event partners, representing more than 260,000 runners across their combined fields, and grew the number of charity entries available across our portfolio by 20%.

Charities feeling the impact

For charities, that means access to highly motivated supporters in events they could not otherwise reach. Sport in Mind, the mental health sports charity, has received more than 820 applications and raised more than £76,000 since partnering with realbuzz in September 2024. Variety, the Children's Charity, grew its Bank of America Chicago Marathon fundraising by 126%.

Beyond the start line

This year we also launched realbuzz Rewards, giving members access to offers from more than 290 brand partners, and expanded our advertising tools for charities, now used by more than 200 organisations. As official sponsor and registration partner of The Nation's 5k, we helped connect thousands of people with free community run clubs as realbuzz ambassador Esmée Gummer completed a 5,000km, 99-day Guinness World Records challenge across the UK and Ireland.

Kirsty Angove, Chief Marketing & Operations Officer at realbuzz, said: "The story of this year is demand. Places at the world's biggest races have never been harder to come by, and more and more runners are choosing to get there by raising money for a cause they care about. That's why we've seen facilitated fundraising grow by almost 50% in a single year.

"Our job is to turn that demand into real impact for charities of every size – whether that's continuing to build the Irish Life Dublin Marathon into one of Europe's standout fundraising events or helping a charity build its first international running programme. With more than £25 million projected for next year, there's a lot more to come."

Looking ahead

Realbuzz projects that annual facilitated fundraising will reach £25 million in FY 2026 - 2027, with advertising and partnership activity expected to grow by more than 400% across our retail media and affiliate programmes, allowing charities to amplify their message alongside brands and retailers.

To download the full Impact Report, fill in the short form below.

The story of this year is demand. Places at the world's biggest races have never been harder to come by, and more and more runners are choosing to get there by raising money for a cause they care about. That's why we've seen facilitated fundraising grow by almost 50% in a single year.

Our job is to turn that demand into real impact for charities of every size.

Kirsty Angove, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer, realbuzz