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 more than 42,000 U.S. women and men we will lose—almost entirely to metastatic disease—each year. It’s a call to action to fund more research to save lives and improve outcomes.

It’s thanks to our supporters’ efforts that 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. Set up an online fundraising page and launch your initiative. Show your commitment to research by making the first donation, and then share your link with family and friends so everyone knows you’re helping be the end of breast cancer.

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

Go the distance: Many organized races and fitness events are taking place in person again or have introduced a hybrid approach. Find a local race to participate in 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. Is your local gym hosting fitness classes, in person or virtually? Ask a manager if the gym would host a special fundraising class. Ask individuals to donate in order to join.

RELATED: Take BCRF’s Virtual Fitness Challenges to Support Breast Cancer Research

Embrace milestones: Ask for donations on your birthday, wedding day, or a special anniversary. If you're bringing friends and family together, give your celebration additional meaning by collecting donations for a good cause. You could even consider having a breast cancer fundraising event during a holiday celebration with family and friends!

Game for research: Online gaming and livestreaming have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Consider hosting a charity stream on Twitch (Tiltify or Softgiving allow you to collect donations) to support BCRF’s research and breast cancer awareness—all while having fun. Our gaming page has resources and tips for hosting a successful stream. If you’re more of a traditional gamer, host a game night and ask your friends to make a donation to play. You can even brainstorm for virtual breast cancer awareness event ideas to create a unique, online-only fundraiser for breast cancer involving gaming.

Go virtual: Video platforms including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Zoom are here to stay. 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. This could be a virtual movie night, a friendly online competition like trivia, or a virtual performance. Virtual fundraising ideas have boomed within the last 2 years and they have proven to be just as profitable, if not higher than in-person breast cancer fundraiser events!

RELATED: Pink Lemonade Stand Challenge Marks Big Milestone and Plans Exciting Year Ahead

Engage employees and coworkers: Employees appreciate a culture of philanthropy in the workplace, so consider incorporating your commitment to research this Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Especially since many of us are newly reconnecting after returning to the office or are still working remotely, these opportunities are a great way to engage with one another on something other than work. 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 and beyond.

Harness hobbies for good: Many people tapped into their creative side and have found or rediscovered creative outlets in recent years. 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. Another great way to harness creative talent is to form an event around whatever outlet suits you and your friends best. These breast cancer awareness event ideas can be a great time spent with family, friends, and loved ones while supporting breast cancer research.

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 our 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, 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 donation 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.

Breast cancer fundraisers are meant to be fun and inviting, while also being informational. Share any knowledge you may have about the cause, and have some resources you can direct people to who may have further questions. Want to stay up to date with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation as well as breast cancer fundraising ideas? Add BCRF to your Google Discover on your mobile device to receive real-time updates whenever we release new information!

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