Events Fundraising Conference 2026

Programme

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Sessions

Room 1

The Latest Event Fundraising Insights To Put Into Action In 2026
Speakers: Phoebe Sabin, JustGiving, Susie Mullen

If you’re responsible for event fundraising at your charity, you already know the reality: limited time, tight budgets, and punchy targets.

This session aims to give you the edge, with insights from thousands of JustGiving fundraisers and 600 charities in our Event Fundraising Snapshot survey.

Join us as we unpack the highlights from the latest JustGiving Event Fundraising Report, and reveal the practical insights you’ll want to put into action for 2026 and beyond.

Key learnings:

• Understand the bigger picture: see how event fundraising is evolving across the sector, and how it could influence your charity’s strategy.
• Identify opportunities and challenges: gain insight into where charities are thriving and where hurdles remain.
• Turn insights into action: leave with a clearer view of trends you can use to shape your plans for 2026 and beyond.

Safeguard Against Event Participant Drop Outs: Journeys And Engagement
Speaker: Freddie Harle, Run For Charity

The session will equip charities with essential insights to help anticipate and reduce the impact of supporter dropouts.

Topics will include:

• Gender splits and a detailed look at the profile of the typical runner in 2026
• The relationship between registration fees and dropout rates, exploring how cost influences participation
• Fundraising pledge statistics, including expected amounts by distance and an analysis of the average pledges from participants who later drop out
• Age profiles and how different age groups affect dropout behaviour
• Looking ahead to emerging trends and expectations for the year 2026

Key learnings:

• Key stats regarding charity runner dropouts
• Advice on how to safe guard against dropouts so that it has the least impact possible
• Helping charities to recognise the profile of a runner in 2026

Case Study: Jingle Jam and creator fundraising: A perfectly balanced event
Speaker: Charlie Sarginson, CALM

Creator and gaming led events raise millions for charities each year, with gatherings like Jingle Jam forming new annual traditions for thousands around the globe. Join CALM to learn what makes events like these a success, what to expect from the creator landscape, and ultimately decide if these projects are for you.

Key learnings:

• What is Jingle Jam and how does it tick?
• Do’s and don’ts when working with creators
• The difference between content creators, streamers and gaming

How to find and recruit new event participants
Speaker: Edward Grant, Bluestep

META remains a core channel for most digital marketers, but rising competition and audience fatigue mean it can’t do all the heavy lifting alone.

New and emerging channels now offer charities real opportunities to cut through the noise and reach untapped audiences – if you know how to use them.

Drawing on real-world experience across social and event fundraising, this session explores how to identify, target, and recruit new event participants in today’s fragmented digital landscape.

With a strong focus on practical takeaways, we’ll look at smarter channel selection, full-funnel optimisation, effective ad management, and creative trends that drive action.

You’ll leave with clear, actionable techniques to help you reach high-intent fundraisers, improve acquisition performance, and build a more resilient digital recruitment strategy.

Key learnings:

• Emerging channels unlock new fundraiser audiences
• Channel relevancy to aid effective targeting
• Channel native ads that resonates with audiences
• Full-funnel thinking drives better acquisition
• Identifying high intent audiences.

Real Conversations, Real Results: How AI-Driven Text Stewardship Can Lift Fundraising By 20%+
Speakers: Simon Varley, Conversr, Marilyn Tjandra, Conversr, Megan Stewart, PCUK, Natalie Roberston, Prostate Cancer Research

What if you could raise significantly more without recruiting a single extra supporter?

In this fireside chat, Conversr and charity partners PCUK share how AI-driven conversational stewardship is transforming event fundraising.

We’ll explore how intent-based messaging and “humans in the loop” AI deliver genuine supporter connection at scale, turning everyday touchpoints into loyalty and, ultimately, 20%+ higher fundraising performance.

Hosted by Simon Varley with Marilyn Tjandra (Conversr) and Megan Stewart from PCUK.

LTV & Events Participants: The Real Value Of Your New Recruit
Speaker: Paul Courtney, Davinia Batley

Event fundraising is often the most accessible gateway for new supporters, particularly for smaller charities with limited acquisition budgets. However, the true impact of an event lies far beyond the finish line. In this session, Davinia Batley and Paul Courtney join Simon to explore how charities can shift their mindset from transactional event management to a meaningful value exchange. By focusing on the participant experience as a “first chapter” rather than a one-off interaction, you’ll learn how to transform a single day of activity into further support for your charity.

The discussion dives deep into the strategic art of stewardship, challenging the traditional “thank you and goodbye” model. Our panel shares actionable insights on how to plan the post-event journey before recruitment even begins, ensuring your participants stay connected to your mission long after the event momentum fades. If you’d like to better understand the Lifetime Value (LTV) of your supporters and how to plan for cross-channel journeys, this session provides the roadmap for turning event participants into dedicated, lifelong advocates for your cause.

Room 2

Diversify Your Event Fundraising Portfolio
Speaker: Mehreen Syed, Royal Free Charity

As supporter expectations evolve, charities need to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and embrace more flexible, co-produced models.

This session will focus on how charities can work alongside supporters to co-produce challenge events—empowering them to shape experiences that reflect their motivations, networks, and passions. We’ll explore how to test new challenge event concepts at low risk, learn quickly from what supporters respond to, and iterate to build a more diverse and resilient events portfolio.

Key learnings:

• Co-produce challenge events with supporters to increase relevance, engagement, and reach
• Test new challenge event ideas quickly and at low risk
• Use insight and iteration to build a more diverse, growth-focused challenge events portfolio

Making Every Event Count: How Helen & Douglas House Hospice Built An Effective Events Portfolio
Speakers: Jo Hodson, Enthuse & Rebekah Shawsun from Helen & Douglas House Hospice

How do you turn creative event ideas into fundraising success? Rebekah Shawsun from Helen & Douglas House Hospice joins Enthuse’s Jo Hodson to explore what makes an events portfolio truly effective. From the growth of their Bubble Rush event to innovative recruitment tactics, discover the strategies Helen & Douglas House uses to drive participation, maximize ROI, and keep supporters engaged with charity owned events. Walk away with proven tips and tricks from a team that’s constantly pushing boundaries in community fundraising.

Key learnings… how to:
– Drive event participation
– Maximise ROI
– Keep supporters engaged with charity owned events

A Changing Landscape: Challenges And Opportunities In High‑Value Events
Speaker: Rebecca Elcome

Starting with a SWOT analysis of high-value events, we’ll be exploring the challenges and opportunities for those looking to host high-value events in 2026 and beyond.

Cuts to resource and budgets across the sector have led to many organisations rethinking their events strategy. This session provides food for thought on the changing landscape for those hoping to deliver income- and lead-generating events for their high-value audiences, drawing on recent and current examples.

Key learnings:

• Where to start when rethinking or launching high value events
• Inspiration for future products and formats
• Examples of successful fundraising events from across the UK charity sector

Back To Live (Events), Back To Reality: What’s Really Growing – And Why
Speaker: John Tasker, Massive

A quick spin through current trends around in-person events vs virtual, insight into which events and types of events are growing fastest, why that’s happening, what lessons we can draw from that and how that should influence event fundraising in 2026 and beyond.

Key learnings:

• What’s changing in the market and insight from our latest research
• What’s driving those changes
• How to use this knowledge to raise more from your events

Raise More: How Charities Are Putting Supporter Journeys At The Heart Of All Their Events
Speakers: Ben Collins, Social Sync, Zsuzsi Kiss, CoppaFeel, Nathan Banks, Alzheimers Research UK, Hollie Llewelyn‑Davies, Movember

In this relaxed, informative session, Ben Collins (COO of Social Sync) will be joined by the fundraising teams at Alzheimer’s Research UK, CoppaFeel! and Movember to share the impact putting a supporters experience first has made on their campaigns. Expect top tips and exciting stats in this roundtable session with 3 amazing charities!

Key learnings:

• We expect attendees to come away with an understanding that personalised messaging to supporters moves the experience and income needles greatly.
• We hope for attendees to come away with key tips shared form 3 very different organisations.
• We would like to think that attendees will realise that powerful customer focused journeys are possible at scale, regardless of budget and charity size.