I have signed up for a half-marathon and would love to raise money for charity – what are the best ways to do this?

Getting people to sponsor your efforts is the way most people doing an event like this raise money. The first thing is to decide which charity you want to support – the organisers of your event might have a list of charities they are supporting, or there may be an organisation that is close to your heart. Once you’ve made your choice, get in touch with the charity and see what support it can offer to fundraisers.

The next step is to set yourself a target – and then let people know that you’re fundraising. Get posters up at work, send out emails to everyone you know and use your social media to get the message out there. It’s also important to set up an online fundraising page, making it quick and easy for everyone to donate to your cause. Put your fundraising target on the page and make sure you include a short bio detailing why you have chosen to run the event and what it was about your particular charity that inspired you to raise funds for them.

Compelling stories are more likely to encourage people to support you. Once you’ve successfully completed your event make sure that everyone knows how well you did and don’t be afraid to chase up anyone who promised to support you. It’s likely they’ve simply not had chance to give you the money and you might even find they are prepared to give a little bit more as you did so well! And don’t forget to thank everyone who has sponsored you or supported you throughout it all. Good luck!