For many of the UK's biggest and most oversubscribed races, a charity place is the only realistic route in once the ballot has closed or general entry has sold out. In exchange for a guaranteed number, you commit to raising a minimum amount for that charity — a real trade, and one worth understanding properly before you commit to it.
This guide covers what those minimums actually look like in practice, using real charity-place figures already sourced on this site's own race guides, plus practical, non-cringeworthy ways to actually hit your target.
How much do charity places actually require?
The minimum tracks how hard the race is to get into any other way, not the distance you're running. A half marathon with a public ballot and heavy demand can ask for more than a marathon that still has general entry open. Here's what real charity places on real UK races have actually asked for:
| Race | Charity | Registration + minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Half Marathon | Sue Ryder | £15-£25 + £200 minimum |
| Reading Half Marathon | Charlie Waller Trust | £25 + £250 minimum |
| Cardiff Half Marathon | NSPCC | £40 + £300 minimum |
| Great Manchester Run | Mind | £20 + £300 minimum |
| Great Bristol Run | Alzheimer's Society | £25 + £300 minimum |
| Manchester Marathon | The Christie Charity | £20 + £400 minimum |
| Brighton Marathon | Alzheimer's Society | £20 + £550 minimum |
| Edinburgh Marathon | Macmillan Cancer Support | £35 + £750 minimum |
| London Marathon | Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity | £120 + £2,500 minimum |
The pattern: minimums for the flagship, hardest-to-enter marathons (London above all) run several times higher than a regional marathon or a popular half, because the guaranteed entry itself is worth more to the charity. These are real figures pulled from this site's own race guides, not an industry estimate — but charities revise them, so confirm the current number directly before committing to one.
What actually happens if you don't hit the minimum?
This is the question almost everyone with a charity place quietly worries about. In practice, charities are realistic about this: illness, injury that prevents you finishing, and genuinely difficult fundraising circumstances are common, and most charities won't chase someone who's made a real, visible effort and fallen short. What charities do care about is effort and communication — going quiet and hoping nobody notices is a worse position than reaching out proactively if you're behind target.
If you're behind target
Contact the charity before race day, not after. Most have a process for this — sometimes an extended deadline, sometimes a partial-shortfall policy, sometimes simply understanding given the circumstances. Charities would far rather have an honest conversation than chase someone after the fact.
Practical ways to actually hit your target
1. Set up your page properly, and do it early
Fundraising pages set up and shared in the first week after entry consistently raise more than ones set up the week before race day — momentum and repeat visibility matter. Add a real photo, explain honestly why this specific charity matters to you (a genuine personal connection outperforms generic "supporting a good cause" copy by a wide margin), and set a visible target.
2. Front-load with a small number of larger donations
A fundraising page showing £0 raised gets fewer donations than one already showing progress — people are more willing to add to momentum than start it. Asking a small number of close friends or family for a larger contribution first, before the wider public ask, solves this "cold start" problem.
3. Use milestones, not just one ask
A single fundraising request tends to generate a single wave of donations, then goes quiet. Multiple genuine touchpoints — starting training, hitting a long-run milestone, race week, and a post-race thank-you update — each give people a fresh, timely reason to donate, rather than relying on everyone seeing and acting on one post.
4. Make it easy to justify a specific amount
Vague asks ("any amount helps!") convert worse than specific ones. Where the charity provides this, framing a donation against what it actually funds ("£20 funds X") gives people a concrete reason to pick that number rather than defaulting to the smallest option.
5. Ask your employer
Many UK employers offer charity-matching schemes that double an individual donation, or allow a workplace fundraising post — a five-minute email to HR can be one of the highest-leverage fundraising actions available, and it's routinely overlooked.
6. Use your Instagram, not just a fundraising link
Training updates, not just fundraising asks, keep people engaged with your journey — and engaged followers convert to donors more readily than people who only ever see a single ask. This is exactly the gap a Verus profile is built to fill: a living record of your training, not a one-off post that fades from a feed.