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How To Close The Gap And Reach Your Charity Fundraising Target
- Aug 24
- 7 min read
You have put in the training, shared your fundraising page and asked people to support you, but your event is getting closer and there is still a gap between the amount you have raised and your charity fundraising target. It is a situation plenty of fundraisers find themselves in, and it does not mean you have run out of opportunities to raise more.
In fact, the final weeks before an event can give you new reasons to talk about your fundraising. The challenge is becoming real, your training is reaching its final stages and supporters can see exactly how close you are to your target. The key is to stop thinking about the original target and start concentrating on the amount that is still left to raise.
Start With The Gap, Not The Target
If your original target was £1,000 and you have already raised £780, you do not need to find £1,000. You need to find another £220, which immediately makes the challenge ahead look very different.
A large overall target can feel daunting, while a much smaller remaining amount gives you something specific to work towards and something much clearer to communicate to potential supporters. Look at how much you have left to raise and how much time remains, then build your final fundraising push around those two figures.
Break The Remaining Amount Down
Once you know the size of the gap, break it into smaller amounts. If you have £200 left to raise, that could be ten £20 donations, 20 £10 donations or a mixture of different amounts from different people.
You do not need to tell people how much they should donate, but breaking the figure down for yourself makes the challenge feel much more achievable. It can also help you work out where the remaining money might come from, with a few personal asks, several smaller donations and perhaps one simple fundraising activity combining to close the gap.
Make Another Direct Ask
One of the simplest ways to generate more donations is also one that fundraisers can become reluctant to use: ask again. Sharing your fundraising page once does not mean everyone you know has seen it, and even people who did see your original message may have intended to donate and then forgotten.
Your new message does not have to repeat your original fundraising appeal. Tell people how the training has gone, how close the event is and exactly how much remains to reach your target, then include your fundraising link and make it clear that there is still time to support you.
Follow Up With People Who Intended To Donate
Most fundraisers will encounter people who say something along the lines of, "Send me the link and I'll sponsor you." Some will donate immediately, while others genuinely intend to do it but never quite get around to completing the donation.
There is nothing wrong with giving those people a friendly reminder. A personal message will usually work better here than another general social media post, so let them know the event is approaching, mention that you are making a final push towards your target and include the donation link again without putting them under pressure.
Give Supporters Something New To Respond To
If you have been sharing the same fundraising message for several months, simply posting it again may not attract much attention. Give people a fresh reason to engage with what you are doing by showing them how your challenge has progressed since you last asked for their support.
Perhaps you have completed your longest training run, received your race number or reached 80% or 90% of your fundraising target. You might have a new photograph from training, an update about how you are feeling as the event approaches or something new to say about why the charity's work matters to you.
You are still asking people to support the same challenge and the same charity, but you are giving them a new chapter of the story rather than repeatedly showing them the opening page. That gives you a genuine reason to put your fundraising page back in front of people.
Make The Remaining Gap Part Of Your Message
As you get closer to your charity fundraising target, the amount remaining can become one of the strongest parts of your appeal. Instead of simply saying, "Please sponsor me for my marathon," you can tell people that you have already raised £850 and need another £150 to reach your £1,000 target.
You can then update the figure as new donations arrive. £150 to go becomes £100, then £60 and eventually £20, creating genuine milestones and allowing supporters to see that the target is within reach and that their donation could make a noticeable difference.
Look Beyond The People You Have Already Asked
The final push is also a good time to check whether there are groups of people you have overlooked. Friends and close family may have been the first people you approached, but you might also have colleagues, former colleagues, neighbours, members of a running club or people you know through other groups and activities.
You do not have to send the same message to everybody. Think about how you know each group and tailor your request accordingly, using personal messages where appropriate and social media or group chats when you are trying to reach a wider part of your network.
The objective is not to contact as many people as possible regardless of your relationship with them. It is to identify genuine parts of your network that you may not yet have given an opportunity to support you.
Try One Final Fundraising Event
If donations alone are unlikely to close the gap, a small fundraising activity could provide the extra boost you need. This does not necessarily mean organising a major event when you are already busy preparing for your run, particularly if the remaining amount is relatively modest.
Choose something proportionate to the amount you still need. A workplace cake sale, quiz, sweepstake or another straightforward activity could be enough to generate the final part of your target without creating a huge amount of additional work.
Do the sums before committing to anything and think about the likely return for the time and money involved. If you need another £100, the aim is to find a practical way of generating roughly £100 rather than creating another major fundraising project immediately before your event.
Use The Countdown To Your Event
The final week gives you something you did not have when you started fundraising: urgency. Your challenge is no longer months away and people who have been following your training can see that the event you have been talking about is finally about to happen.
Your final training run, collecting your race number, laying out your kit or travelling to the event can all provide opportunities for an update. Tell people how you are feeling, remind them why you are taking part and, when appropriate, include your fundraising page and the amount you still need to raise.
Avoid turning every update into another demand for money. Some can simply bring people along on the journey, while others can include a direct request for support, putting your fundraising back in front of people at exactly the point when your challenge feels most immediate.
Make The Most Of Race Day
Race day can create some of your strongest fundraising content because supporters can finally see you completing the challenge they have heard about for weeks or months. If possible, share something before the start and another update afterwards, or ask friends and family to share photographs while you concentrate on the event itself.
Your finish line photograph can be particularly useful because it provides a completely new reason to share your fundraising page. Instead of asking people to support something you are planning to do, you can show them what you have achieved and remind anyone who intended to donate that there is still an opportunity to support you.
Keep Going After Race Day If You Need To
Crossing the finish line does not necessarily have to mean the end of your fundraising. If you are still short of your target, share what happened, thank everyone who supported you and explain exactly how much remains to reach the amount you set out to raise.
People who followed your training may be inspired to donate after seeing that you completed the challenge, while others may simply have forgotten to donate beforehand. It is also a natural time to return to anyone who had previously said they would support you because you can now show them what you actually achieved.
Ask Your Charity For Help
If you have tried different approaches and are still concerned about reaching a fundraising commitment, speak to your charity rather than avoiding the issue. Their fundraising team may have ideas, resources or practical advice that can help you with the final push.
This is particularly important if you accepted a charity place with a fundraising commitment attached to it. Different charities and events can have different arrangements, so speak directly to your charity if you are concerned about what happens if you do not reach the agreed amount.
Do it sooner rather than leaving the conversation until after the event. Your charity wants your fundraising to succeed too, and there may still be plenty of time to work together on ways to close the remaining gap.
Final Thoughts on Reaching Your Charity Fundraising Target
Being short of your charity fundraising target can feel frustrating, particularly when you have already put considerable effort into both fundraising and training. But the remaining figure is also much smaller than the challenge you started with, and focusing on that smaller number can make the final stage feel much more manageable.
Work out exactly what is left, break it into achievable amounts and give people a fresh reason to support you. Ask again, follow up with people who intended to donate, use the approaching event to create momentum and consider one final activity if you need an additional boost.
Then keep going. £300 can become £200, £200 can become £100 and eventually you may be just one or two donations away. At that stage, you are no longer trying to raise your entire target; you are simply trying to close the gap.
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