Fundraising for Breast Cancer: 8 Breast Cancer Awareness Month Ideas to Make an Impact

Get creative to support research and promote breast cancer awareness this October with these breast cancer fundraising ideas

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity for thrivers and loved ones to celebrate friendship and family. It’s a month for promoting breast cancer awareness and the importance of research, early detection, and prevention. It’s also a critical month to galvanize communities around the world—bringing the disease front and center to our collective attention.

But for far too many people, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is also a painful reminder of the women and men we will lose—more than 43,000 in the U.S. alone this year—almost entirely to metastatic disease. It’s a call to action to fund more research to save lives and improve outcomes.

Thanks to our supporters’ efforts, BCRF can fund the brightest minds in research and make an impact all year long. It’s never too soon to start planning your Breast Cancer Awareness Month fundraiser. It’s as simple as setting up an online fundraising page, and launching your initiative. Show your commitment to by making the first donation, and then share your link with family and friends so everyone knows you’re fundraising for breast cancer research.

There are tons of innovative ways to raise money for breast cancer research. If you are looking for inspiration, start with these eight Breast Cancer Awareness Month ideas for fundraisers.

Get active: Find a local race to join or create your own personal challenge to fundraise for research this Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Walk, run, ride, or swim a specific distance and reach out to your family and friends to support your goal. If a race or challenge isn’t your speed, try tapping into your local gym or cycling, barre, or yoga studio. Ask a manager if their business would host a special fundraising class and solicit BCRF donations from participants to attend. Or organize a tournament, like pickleball or basketball, and have people to donate to sign up.

Embrace milestones: Ask for donations on your birthday, wedding day, or a special anniversary that falls during October (or beyond). If you’re bringing friends and family together, give your celebration additional meaning by collecting donations for a good cause. Can’t fundraise during Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Consider hosting a breast cancer fundraising event during the holidays with family and friends. They’re right around the corner.

Game for research: Online gaming and livestreaming have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Consider hosting a charity stream on Twitch to support BCRF-backed research and breast cancer awareness—all while having fun. Our gaming page has resources and tips for hosting a successful stream, and Tiltify or Streamlabs allow you to collect donations. If you’re more of a traditional gamer, host a game night and ask your friends to make a donation to play.

Go virtual: Video platforms including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Zoom are here to stay—and virtual fundraising ideas have proven they can be just as successful. They make it easy to bring your community together online, especially if your friends and family live in different places. Engage your supporters through a virtual activity to support breast cancer research. Perhaps you teach a fun skill to your friends and family on Facebook Live or host a virtual movie night, online trivia hour, or performance on Zoom.

Engage employees and coworkers: Employees appreciate a culture of philanthropy in the workplace, so consider incorporating your commitment to research at the office this Breast Cancer Awareness Month. These opportunities are a great way to bring coworkers and teams together to bond over something other than work—especially during this time when many companies are operating on hybrid schedules or returning to work more frequently. Share breast cancer statistics, encourage employees to wear pink to the office or in virtual meetings, and start a company fundraising page to leverage in October.

Harness hobbies for good: Over the last few years, many people tapped into their creative side and have rediscovered creative outlets. If you’re knitting or sewing, making jewelry, painting, or doing something else that showcases a talent, offer your homemade treasure in exchange for a donation to your online breast cancer fundraiser. You can also engage your book club, gardening class, Bunco group, or other hobby community and make a difference together.

Host a breast cancer awareness event: Although one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and the disease is the most common cancer in the U.S. and worldwide, many people don’t know common stats, signs and symptoms, or research-backed risk reduction tips. A breast cancer awareness event can do double duty, offering an opportunity to educate and fundraise for research. Consider sharing breast cancer resources and stories and asking attendees to chip into a BCRF fundraiser.

Fundraise on Facebook and Instagram: Social media platforms have made it very easy for their users to give back to the causes they care about most. As an alternative to BCRF’s fundraising platform, set up a Facebook or Instagram fundraiser to show your support for BCRF and research. Just as when you post on either platform, once you create your fundraiser, your friends will see your initiative in their feed, allowing them to make a donation and help you hit your goal. Explore the many ways you can support BCRF through Facebook and Instagram here.

Got another creative plan for the fall? No matter how you’re fundraising for breast cancer research, keep these general tips in mind:

• Be personal and authentic with your messaging to show your network why supporting breast cancer research, and in particular BCRF, is so important to you. If you’ve got a personal connection to the cause that you’re comfortable opening up about, share it.
• Let your friends and family know that a donation of any size makes an impact. A $25 gift will help BCRF fund a half hour of research in one of the labs we support.
• Say “thank you.” Make the time to thank your donors for their generosity. Going the extra step to acknowledge a loved one’s support will mean a lot.
• Make in-person giving easy. After setting up your fundraising page, create a QR code that people can scan to give easily and quickly. Just insert your URL into a QR code generator, and you’ll be able to export a QR code that you can put on flyers and signs, social media posts, your phone, etc.

Want to stay up to date with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and breast cancer fundraising ideas? Add BCRF to your Google Discover on your mobile device for real-time updates regarding fundraising for breast cancer, research, and more.

If you have any questions or need help organizing your breast cancer fundraiser, we’re here to assist. Please email fundraising@bcrf.org.