Smaller Charity Walks and Runs Report Gains; Big Events See Declines

Some of the largest charity walks and runs continued to see large drops in revenue in 2015, while smaller, so-called peer-to-peer fundraising drives continued their rise, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the American Diabetes Association, the ALS Association, and Susan G. Komen saw more than 20 percent drops for their walks and other athletic fundraising events in 2015. Collections for Autism Speaks and Movember Foundation fundraisers declined by more than 10 percent, and other groups saw smaller losses, according to the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, which compiled the data.

Despite remaining the biggest revenue generator, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life campaign saw the largest total dollar loss in 2015, with its take down by $27 million compared to 2014.

For programs that slipped, total losses in 2015 added up to $94.3 million, contributing to a 2.6 percent decrease from 2014 for the top 30 campaigns, according to the data.

The numbers in the report come from publicly available data and surveys of campaign managers. Peer-to-peer efforts have traditionally included fundraising walks, runs, and bike rides, but broadly are those in which supporters solicit donations from friends, family, colleagues, and others on behalf of a charity.

Programs with the largest total dollar decreases in 2015 were:

Source: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Thirty

Biggest Jumps

Still, many campaigns are on the rise, with Cycle for Survival, which benefits the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, seeing the largest percentage increase. That drive raised $25 million, a 25 percent jump over 2014.

Next was the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, with an 18.4 percent increase for its Out of the Darkness Walks, which raised $14.8 million. The Alzheimer’s Association had the third-biggest gain, a 14 percent increase for its Walk to End Alzheimer’s, which raised $77.5 million.

The campaigns with the largest total dollar increases in 2015 were:

Source: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Thirty

Long-Term Trends

When the first peer-to-peer report was released in 2006, the top programs accounted for a large majority of the total revenue for all campaigns, said David Hessekiel, president of the forum. That’s no longer the case.

“It’s very much a mixed bag,” Mr. Hessekiel said. “The overall number between 10 years ago has grown, but its distribution has changed.”

Four large drives alone — the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, March of Dimes’ March for Babies, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, and the Susan G. Komen 3-Day — saw a total decrease of $254.5 million in fundraising from 2006 levels.

Those losses came as some other organizations increased their revenue many times over during the past decade. Programs with the largest percentage gains since 2006 are:

Source: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Thirty