The future of the fundraising telethon

For more than a decade the telethon Stand Up to Cancer has been a popular TV viewing event in the UK. Run in the UK by Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK, the campaign has included include biannual telethons and celebrity specials of the channel’s most popular programmes, including The Great British Bake Off and Gogglebox.  

These special Stand Up to Cancer programmes also include real-life stories of how cancer has impacted lives. The campaign’s key message is that “1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime”, which further highlights the significance and urgency of the cancer research projects it supports to potential and existing donors.  

It is this blend of innovative fundraising content with powerful storytelling that has seen Stand Up to Cancer buck the recent trend of a declining interest in telethons overall.  

Below, we examine the steady decline of the telethon, the Stand Up to Cancer success story that is helping revive it, and how tech can also help revive interest in these traditional TV fundraisers.  

The decline of the charity telethon 

According to recent Phone-paid Services Authority figures, phone donations to charities fell by more than a quarter (28.1%) from £50 million in 2021/22 to £35.9m in 2022/23. 

This decline has been caused by a fall in popularity of telethons, as well as the cost-of-living crisis, warns the Authority. Overall, there is a “year on year decline in telethon viewership and popularity”, in line with a fall in mainstream TV viewing post-COVID-19 and an increasing use of streaming platforms, it says. 

Among telethons to see a decline are Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day, which raised £31.9 million in 2023, a 25.5% drop from 2022’s tally of £42.8 million. 

Another is the annual Soccer Aid fundraiser for Unicef. Its televised match involving ex-professional footballers and celebrities raised £14.6 million in 2023, down on the previous year’s total of £15.6m. The lack of a Stand Up to Cancer telethon in 2022/23’s figures  is another factor in the decline of telethon income that year.   

“Donations fell in 2022/2023 primarily because of the bi-annual nature of the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, the declining popularity of telethons overall, and consumers’ reduced discretionary income in light of the cost-of-living crisis,” said the Authority. 

It details how Stand Up to Cancer is now one of the largest telethons in terms of on the night donations, underlying how the phone paid services market is increasingly relying on the event.  

In 2021 a record total of £31.2m was raised through Channel 4’s live Stand Up to Cancer telethon show that included comedy sketches, involving celebrities such as Usain Bolt and Olivia Colman.  

The Authority estimates that without Stand Up to Cancer that year, and another television event Concert for Ukraine, the total figure for 2021/22 would have been down £10m and closer to £40.1m.  

The start of Stand Up to Cancer 

Fundraising telethon Stand Up to Cancer originated in the US and was first televised in 2008 through four major networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.  

The UK version was launched by Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK in August 2012, with the first live telethon event taking place in October that year and raising £6.5m on the night.  

As of 2021 five telethons have taken place in the UK, with the event’s total increasing each year. The biggest increase was when £24.6m was raised in 2018, up more than £9m on 2016’s tally. 

In years where the telethon is not being run Channel 4 continues to broadcast programming to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer. 

For example, in 2015, Stand Up to Cancer specials of First Dates, Gogglebox, the Last Leg and Alan Carr: Chatty Man were broadcast. 

Stand Up to Cancer specials of The Great British Bake Off have also taken place. In 2023 this featured celebrities such as the actor David Schwimmer, comedian Tom Davis, and Olympic diver Tom Daley attempting to cook cakes and biscuits with mixed results.  

In total more than £93 million has been raised in the UK as of 2023 through Stand Up to Cancer, which has funded 64 research trials involving 13,000 patients.  

The charity has set itself a target of ensuring three in four people in the UK survive their cancer by 2034.  

How tech can help telethons 

Another factor in the decline in telethon donations has been their focus on phone payments, despite growing popularity among the public in digital payment methods, according to the Pre-Paid Phone Services Authority,  

The Authority cites a comment by one of the telethon industry experts it interviewed that charities’ use of digital payment methods “will become increasingly important if telethon viewership continues to decline”.  

It predicts further decline in phone donations as more providers “move to online platforms” for people to donate.  

Among such online platform successes in recent years has been the annual charity football match organised by YouTube group the Sidemen. This event, which took place at the London Stadium in 2023 and streamed on the platform raised £2.4m this year, more than double last year’s tally.  

“These platforms often better support digital payment mechanisms (for example, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal) than phone-paid service payment channels and therefore user spending via phone-paid services will continue to decline,” the Authority adds.  

While interest in traditional TV telethons may be in decline, perhaps they can be saved by a focus on digital payment methods, savvy use of online entertainment platforms, as well as mirroring Stand Up to Cancer’s smart blend of real-life stories with innovative, celebrity-focused entertainment.