Member Spotlight: Georgia Aker on Growing Spinal Research Events from £100K to £630k

In this episode of the Fundraising Everywhere podcast, host Simon Scriver sits down with Georgia Aker, Head of Events at Spinal Research and Fundraising Everywhere member, to unpack one of the most impressive events fundraising growth stories we've heard.

When Georgia joined Spinal Research post-COVID, the charity was bringing in around £100,000 annually from events. Fast forward to 2025, and they've raised £630,000—a 6x increase in just a few years.

But here's the twist: they achieved this growth while losing over half their London Marathon places (from 170 down to 80) due to ballot changes.

In this conversation, Georgia shares:
- How they used "zero-risk" event partnerships to expand their portfolio without upfront costs
- The game-changing impact of introducing first fundraising targets (which added £100K in year two alone)
- Their approach to converting cold event participants into long-term supporters
- Practical tips on Meta advertising, relationship building, and managing a lean events team
- How they're making events more accessible across all budgets and fitness levels

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