Red Nose Day

Movie Marathon Fundraiser: A How-To Guide

Everything you need to know to raise money while watching your favorite movies!

May 12, 2020

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Everything you need to know to raise money while watching your favorite movies!

Red Nose Day is all about harnessing the power of entertainment to drive positive change. So in keeping with that spirit, we’ve come up with the most entertaining way for you to fundraise and make a meaningful difference for children in the most underserved communities across the US and around the world.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Create a fundraising page

Visit Fundraise.RedNoseDay.org/Movie-Marathon and click JOIN TEAM to set up your page in just minutes! You can go back to change your fundraising goal, upload a profile photo or personalize your fundraising page at any time.

Remember this is your page to customize so make sure to personalize it and tell everyone why you’re supporting Red Nose Day and which films you’re going to marathon when you reach your goal!

Step 2: Plan your movie marathon

Pick Your Pace
Remember! You’re doing this for the kids. But we also want to make sure your movie marathon is enjoyable too. Here are some tips to keep in mind while planning out all of the movies you’re going to binge when you reach your fundraising page goal!

Like any race, you should go at a speed you’re comfortable with. You can subject yourself to watching 5 back-to-back rom coms in one sitting or get your whole family to join you in marathoning all of the Harry Potter films over the course of a week.

And if you’re a movie buff (and you’ve been training for this moment your entire life), you can challenge yourself to watch films for 24-hours straight like our all-star movie marathon fundraisers Tom Hall & Luke Parker Bowles who have raised $63,850 for Red Nose Day over the past 4 years!

There's no wrong way to do your marathon for Red Nose Day.

Curate Your Movie Marathon!
You’re going to be watching a lot of movies, so you’ll want to pick them in advance. Having a hard time coming up with a list or a theme? Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • May the Fourth Be With You: Watch every Star Wars film starting May 4th (9 films: 18 hours, 10 minutes)
  • Best Pictures: Watch the last 10 Academy Award-winning Best Picture winners (10 films: 20 hours, 18 minutes)
  • Love is all around... Watch your favorite rom coms - here are some of our favorites written by Red Nose Day’s co-founder, Richard Curtis including Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Love Actually (2003), About Time (2013) (4 films: 8 hours, 19 minutes)
  • Blast from the Past: Watch all of your favorite childhood throwbacks or films from the cinema decade you love most!
  • The Super Fan: Pick an actor or director and watch every blockbuster in which they’ve starred.

Step 3: Spread the Word

Tell everyone. We mean it. Everyone. You can share the link to your movie marathon fundraising page on your preferred social channel, send it to friends and family via email, text, snail mail, carrier pigeon – whatever works! Make sure to share why the cause is important to you, and how your friends and family can support you by making a donation to your page.

You’ll be amazed at how your friends and family will be willing to support you when they learn about Red Nose Day and how you’re going above and beyond to help children in the most underserved communities here in the US and around the world.

Step 4: Ready. Get Set. Run Your Race!

On your planned date (or dates), go Live on your favorite social media platforms and share your progress. You can give your thoughts about each movie, and include a link to your fundraising page on each post, encouraging your supporters to follow along, donate, and make your race a success. Don’t forget to hydrate!

After you finish your marathon, take a victory lap and give all of your donors a big THANK YOU! They’ll be proud to have supported a winner like you and hear how much you raised altogether for your movie Marathon!

Plot Twists?!

Here are some totally optional (but totally fun) ideas you can throw into the mix to keep your fundraising momentum going! Feel free to come up with your own.

  • To make things interesting, let the person who helps you reach or surpass your fundraising goal pick a film for your marathon (and hope that they don’t pick a flop!)
  • Encourage people to leave a “comment” with their all-time favorite movie quote when they donate to your page. Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.
  • Offer to curate a custom “watch list” of must-see films for any generous donors who contribute over a certain dollar amount - you decide the giving level! Think of it as an on-brand thank you!
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Red Nose Day in School is a free educational program designed to teach young students about the impacts of poverty on children, foster empathy building, and celebrate acts of kindness in the classroom and beyond. This year-round program includes lesson plans, routines and videos to help students practice core reading and writing skills while also helping them realize their power to make a difference for others. Learn more.