Rewriting the Rules of Fundraising

How influencer marketing went from untested to the cornerstone of JustGiving's 2025 strategy

23%

decrease in CPA compared to traditional branded assets

3x

more views than previous JustGiving branded content

5x

more engagement than previous JustGiving branded content

About Company

JustGiving is the UK's leading online fundraising platform, connecting millions of people with the causes and charities that matter most to them.

Company size

Tech

Brainlabs featured services

Influencer Marketing

Paid Social

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Losing ground with the generation that fundraising depends on

JustGiving was facing a relevance problem among 18 to 34 year olds, the demographic that drives the future of fundraising. Brand awareness on social platforms had dropped, and its biggest competitor, GoFundMe, was dominating the conversation with younger audiences. Without a meaningful presence in these spaces, JustGiving risked becoming an afterthought at the moments that mattered most.

At the same time, traditional branded assets were struggling to generate meaningful engagement or drive conversions. The creative approach that had worked before wasn't connecting anymore, and the gap between JustGiving and the audiences it needed to reach was widening. Something fundamentally different was needed, not just an evolution of what existed but a channel and a format that had never been tested before.

Key friction points:

Brand awareness among 18 to 34 year olds was declining while GoFundMe's presence with the same audience was growing
Traditional branded creative was underperforming on engagement and conversion metrics
Influencer-first paid social had never been tested, leaving a significant and untapped opportunity on the table

"I think we're all agreed this was a really great first test for using influencers, and we're very excited to work with you all again in the future. Influencers have proven to be an integral part of our growth strategy, and this campaign has laid the groundwork for an even bigger 2025.”

Lucy Hill

Marketing Manager, JustGiving

Turning personal health journeys into fundraising stories

1. Identified passion points that aligned with how younger audiences were already fundraising

Before selecting influencers or briefing content, the team researched trending fundraising behaviours among JustGiving's target demographic. The data pointed clearly to health and fitness, specifically the rising culture around running clubs and fitness challenges, as the natural territory where personal stories and charitable giving were already intersecting organically. This became the strategic foundation for everything that followed.

2. Launched #JustGiveItAGo as an influencer-led challenge rooted in authentic storytelling

Rather than briefing influencers to produce scripted brand advertising, the campaign invited creators to build their own unique fundraising challenges around their personal health journeys, integrating JustGiving naturally as the platform enabling their mission. The content wasn't designed to look like an ad. It was raw, personal, and genuinely compelling, because it was built around stories that the influencers actually cared about. This authenticity was the key creative decision that separated the campaign from everything JustGiving had tried before.

3. Amplified proven content through paid spark boosting

As organic content from the campaign gained momentum, the best-performing videos were identified and amplified through paid spark boosting, TikTok's tool for putting paid spend behind organic influencer content rather than separately produced brand creative. This meant investment was only placed behind content that had already demonstrated its effectiveness with real audiences, ensuring every pound of paid spend was working from a position of proven performance rather than assumption.

4. Expanded into fitness and running club trends to deepen the opportunity

As the campaign progressed, further research into rising trends around running clubs and fitness-based fundraising revealed an even greater opportunity to extend the influencer strategy beyond the initial activation. Rather than treating the campaign as a closed experiment, the team used the momentum and data it generated to map out a broader influencer partnership strategy, one that has since become central to JustGiving's 2025 planning.

What started as a test became a cornerstone

The results made the case clearly: influencer-first creative wasn't just more engaging than traditional branded assets. It was more efficient at driving real conversions. By letting authentic personal stories do the work that scripted brand ads couldn't, the campaign connected with younger audiences in a way that moved the performance needle in both directions at once.

23% decrease in CPA compared to traditional branded assets
3x more views than previous JustGiving branded content
5x more engagement than previous JustGiving branded content

What began as JustGiving's first influencer experiment is now the cornerstone of its 2025 strategy, with expanded partnerships building on the running club and fitness fundraising trends that the original campaign identified.