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Sponsored Read-a-Thon

💰 £50–£200 ⏱ 1 Month 📊 Beginner

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What is it?

A Sponsored Read-a-Thon is a fundraising challenge where you ask friends and family to sponsor you to read as many books, pages, or minutes as possible within a set time period (usually one month). It is an ideal fundraiser for bookworms and students who want to raise money without organising a large event. It also has the added benefit of improving your literacy and giving you something impressive to talk about in a university or job application.

What you need

  • A reading list of books you plan to read
  • A sponsorship form (paper or digital via JustGiving)
  • A reading log to track your progress
  • A quiet place to read
  • Optional: a library card to access free books

Step-by-step plan

1
Set your challenge. Will you aim to read a certain number of books, pages, or minutes? A realistic target for one month is 5–10 books or 2,000 pages.
2
Create a sponsorship form. You can use a paper form or set up a JustGiving page. Ask sponsors to pledge a fixed amount per book or page read.
3
Share your challenge on social media and with friends and family before you start.
4
Keep a daily reading log to track your progress. Share weekly updates on social media to keep your sponsors engaged.
5
At the end of the month, count your total and collect your sponsorship money.
6
Share a final update on social media, thanking your sponsors and revealing your total raised.

How to advertise it

  • Post a photo of your reading pile on Instagram and ask people to sponsor you
  • Share weekly reading updates on social media to keep sponsors engaged
  • Ask your school librarian to promote the challenge to other students
  • Set up a JustGiving page so people can sponsor you online easily
  • Challenge friends to join in and create a leaderboard to make it competitive

Realistic earnings

If you read 8 books and have 20 sponsors pledging £1 per book, you raise £160. A well-promoted Read-a-Thon can realistically raise £50–£200, depending on the number of sponsors and the size of your challenge.

Top tips

✅ Choose books you genuinely want to read — you'll read faster and enjoy it more
✅ Share photos of yourself reading in interesting locations to make your social media updates more engaging
✅ Ask your school to get involved and turn it into a whole-school challenge
✅ Consider audiobooks for your commute to school to maximise your reading time

Common mistakes to avoid

⚠️ Setting an unrealistic target — if you set a target of 30 books and only read 5, sponsors may feel short-changed
⚠️ Not keeping a reading log — you need evidence of your progress to collect sponsorship money
⚠️ Forgetting to follow up with sponsors at the end of the challenge
⚠️ Not sharing updates during the month — sponsors lose interest if they don't hear from you