The Brain Power Challenge

So you’d like some workplace fundraising ideas, but you’ve had your fill of sweets and getting fit for charity. Plus, you have your own personal goals to think about! It can be hard to fit it all in…

Enter the Brain Power Challenge: workplace fundraising that you can do during your regular working week, with your team or by yourself. By rising to the challenge, you’ll be simultaneously boosting your own brain power AND accelerating a cure for brain tumours, because every penny raised by brain power challengers will fund our world-class medical research into brain tumours.

All you need to do is think of a bad habit or guilty pleasure that you’d like to quit, challenge yourself to give it up for a limited period of time, and get friends and family to sponsor you to encourage your efforts. Research shows that the brain’s neural pathways are responsible for both our good and bad habits, but that we can train ourselves to change them.

Are you ready to make a change? Do you want to unlock brain capacity while making a difference to people with brain tumours? Create your own Brain Power Challenge fundraising page now to get started, or read on to find out more…

OK, I’m in! I’m a member of staff and I want to do a Brain Power Challenge!

Decide which unhealthy habit or guilty pleasure you’d like to try and go without. Give it up for one week – or a month if you’re feeling brave – and ask your friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you. Remember, the harder the challenge the more money you’re likely to raise! Every £300 funds a day of research into brain tumours.

What should I give up?

• Social media and “doom-scrolling”.
• Junk food.
• Fizzy or sugary drinks.
• Alcohol.
• Tobacco.
• Caffeine.
• Meat.
• TV.
• Being less active than you would like.
• Any habit that you would like to do less of in your daily life.

Why should I bother?

• Save yourself time and money.
• Get unstuck from a bad habit.
• Build your willpower.
• Improve your wellbeing.
• Feel proud that your efforts are funding world-class medical research.

Top tips: group efforts tend to work best since you will keep each other motivated. Photos and updates of your challenge will keep your sponsors engaged and help you accrue more fundraising. And don’t forget to tag The Brain Tumour Charity in your #brainpowerchallenge posts!

I’m in CSR or HR and I want to organise a group Brain Power Challenge for my company!

Persuade your colleagues to complete team Brain Power Challenges en masse by offering rewards for the team that raises the most! See: How to do a Brain Power Challenge.

Alternatively, make the most of unused staff Volunteer Days by hosting your very own Brain Power Day. This should be considered a day to spend ‘off the grid’, meaning that staff that take part should not do their regular work but instead will dedicate the time to upskilling themselves in an area of their choice. To really make the most of the experience, staff can present their insights back to the group at the end of your Brain Power Day.

Alternatively, you may like to organise an in-person day of mindful activity to promote wellbeing at work. Take a look at Slack Technologies LLC’s ‘Mud & Mind’ clay workshop for inspiration! You could even invite a yoga instructor or art teacher to take charge.

To get set up:

1. Pick a date and bookmark it in everyone’s calendars. Fridays tend to work well!
2. Create a page for your Brain Power Day here.
3. Encourage staff to donate in order to take part. Every £300 funds a day of research into brain tumours.
4. The company may choose to match donations to add an extra incentive.
5. Get some internal comms going to encourage staff to sign up. Contact your Charity Account Manager or mail corporate@thebraintumourcharity.org if you’d like help with this.

What are the benefits?

For members of staff:

• Satisfaction of researching or learning something new.
• A break from your work routine, fundraising is fun.
• Feel proud that you are helping people with brain tumours.

For the company:

• An opportunity to utilise staff volunteer days.
• A boost to your staff team’s morale.
• Improve staff mental health and wellbeing at work.
• Bring staff teams together whether in office, hybrid or remote.
• We will post on social media about how your company’s workplace fundraising is funding our vital research. 
• A ‘Businesses Against Brain Tumours’ accreditation to include on your website. Congratulations, you are now part of the BABT community!

I’d like to fundraise at work by doing something else.

That’s OK – get creative and do your own thing! Instead of giving up an indulgence, why not take up a new healthy habit for a month, like jogging or swimming? And ask others to sponsor you for your commitment.

Or maybe you have a secret skill, like origami or Esperanto. Offer to share it with your colleagues! Organise a lesson and charge them a donation to take part.  

Alternatively, have a look at our events calendar for marathons, treks and other fundraising challenges.

What your workplace fundraising will do

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of people under 40 and reduce life expectancy by 27 years on average – the highest of any cancer. Every year in the UK over 12,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour; that’s 33 every day with 88,000 people estimated to be living with a brain tumour right now. Of the £700 million that is spent annually on cancer research in the UK, just 3% is spent on research into brain tumours.

Brain tumours are a disease of desperately unmet need. That’s why your corporate fundraising matters.

Every penny that you raise with your Brain Power Challenge workplace fundraising will be spent on our medical research into kinder and better treatments for brain tumours. Every £300 means #OneMoreDay of our world-class, pioneering medical research.

You can set your fundraising target according to how many days of research you want to fund. So, £300 would be one day, £600 would be two days, and so on.

Your Brain Power Challenge is part of the change that we need to see. Nothing you do is too small to make a difference.

Have questions?

Send an email to corporate@thebraintumourcharity.org so that we can support you!