Brave the Shave: Your Ultimate Guide
If you’ve ever considered shaving your head for charity, this guide is one for you. There’s an official fundraising campaign for doing just that. It’s called Brave the Shave and it kicks off every summer.
Brave the Shave in the UK is run by Macmillan Cancer Support, which is one of the UK’s leading cancer charities. The idea is that you shave your head in exchange for getting sponsorship. You can collect your sponsors on a GoFundMe fundraiser – and with our charity fundraising, all of the donations go directly to Macmillan, meaning an even easier process for you.
What is Brave the Shave?
Brave the Shave in the UK is a fundraising campaign run by Macmillan Cancer Support, one of the UK’s leading cancer charities, that encourages people to shave their heads in exchange for sponsorship.
It launched in 2015 and has so far raised over £22.7 million to help people living with cancer and their families. This huge sum of money pays for 140 Macmillan nurses for three years.
But the charity needs a lot more support from generous donors, especially now that the Covid-19 pandemic has slashed funding – and it doesn’t need to be limited to Macmillan, the idea has caught on and people are shaving their heads to support other causes close to their hearts.
4 ways you can get involved
Getting involved with this fundraising event is easy, whether you plan to brave the shave yourself or support someone else.
1. Brave the Shave yourself
Simply pick a date to shave your head, set up a free charity fundraiser on GoFundMe, post your crowdfunder across your social platforms and let the donations roll in!
Take the time to tell your story. Why are you braving the shave? Maybe you have personal experience of cancer or want to support a friend or family member with the disease. Perhaps you had been toying with the idea of shaving your head – especially in the absence of hairdressers! – and have finally decided to take the plunge for charity.
Make sure you share before, during and after photos with your donors by updating your GoFundMe page. Better still, film the big shave so that everybody can watch it live.
Macmillan Cancer Support has some handy fundraising resources available to help amplify your fundraiser, including a downloadable invite, email signature and social media gifs.
The great thing about GoFundMe is that we send every penny of your funds directly to Macmillan Cancer Support. This means less faffing about with logistics and more time to focus on raising as much money as possible for a hugely worthy cause. Unlike our competitors, we also send 100% of Gift Aid straight to the charity, so make sure donors tick that box!
Be sure to tell your employer about your fundraising efforts as many workplaces run supportive matching schemes that double your donations.
2. Donate your hair
Before you shave your head, be sure to check out The Little Princess Trust, a brilliant charity that makes real hair wigs for children and young adults who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or an illness.
The Little Princess Trust always welcomes hair donations – particularly of 16-inches or longer – but there are guidelines for what they can and can’t accept, so take a look before you donate your hair.
If shaving your head feels like a step too far, you can chop off your locks and still do good
3. Promote a pal’s page
Got a friend who’s braving the shave? Give their GoFundMe fundraiser a boost by clicking the big ‘share’ button that makes it easy to post the link on Facebook, Twitter and more. Encourage everybody you know to donate to your friend’s cause.
Did you know that every time a GoFundMe fundaiser is shared online, an average of £43 is raised? Sharing really is caring!
4. Donate to other fundraisers
Not up for shaving your own head but keen to donate to someone else’s fundraiser? You can find Brave the Shave fundraisers by searching for ‘macmillan brave the shave’ on GoFundMe.
These examples of successful fundraisers, past and present, will inspire you to donate or start your own today:
Brave the shave by Chantelle
Chantelle and her mother-in-law are braving the shave this summer for Macmillan. They want to raise money to help people going through ‘the worst thing imaginable’.
Brave the Shave by Jackie
Jackie’s GoFundMe for Brave the Shave smashed her target. On it, she shared her son’s story about getting diagnosed with blood cancer and nearly being on his death bed. His body has bounced back and he’s set to start chemotherapy.
Brave the Shave by Melissa
Melissa’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer – so she decided to raise money braving the shave. She set an initial target of £500 but smashed it, raising more than £2,000. Well done Melissa!
Brave the shave for good today!
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