Run your own challenge · the full detail
Prediction challenges — supporters predict the finish, closest wins
Pick a finish window, split it into time slots, and let supporters buy the ones they believe in. Every slot is sold once, so the board itself is the reason to enter early — and the reason to keep checking back. The closest prediction without going over wins.
Works for charities, sports clubs, schools, community groups and individual fundraisers.
One timed effort
A ride, run, swim, marathon or 24-hour challenge.
Every slot sold once
Exclusive time slots, held at checkout — no duplicates.
£2,020 on the first campaign
Friends of The Oaks — all 361 slots sold.
5% of transactions
£99 setup, free while the format is in launch.
Four steps to live
Set the window and the granularity
Pick the earliest and latest realistic finish, then how finely to split it. Predict the Ride ran 06:00:00 to 09:00:00 in 30-second steps — 361 slots on the board.
Price the entry tiers
Supporters donate a tiered amount and get a number of predictions for it. Predict the Ride sold £10 for two predictions and £20 for five.
Supporters claim exclusive slots
A slot is held at checkout and sold once, so two supporters can never buy the same time. As the board fills, the remaining slots become the reason to act.
Publish the finish time and pay out
The closest prediction without going over wins the prize. On Predict the Ride the winning prediction was 06:32:00, and the winner took a £100 voucher; your share lands in your bank.
Official time
08:23:30
The first one raised £2,020 and sold out
Friends of The Oaks
Predict the Ride — Elgin to Dornoch, 14 August 2026
David cycled Elgin to Dornoch for Friends of The Oaks. Supporters donated £10 for two predictions or £20 for five and picked finish times between 06:00:00 and 09:00:00 in 30-second steps. Every slot sold, and the winning prediction was 06:32:00.
Designed for these communities
Charities backing one person’s effort
A sponsored ride, run or swim normally means a donation page: supporters give once and hear nothing until it is over. A prediction challenge gives them something to do, and a reason to come back and check the board.
Clubs and schools with a set-piece event
Any timed effort works — a marathon, a triathlon, a 24-hour challenge, a sponsored swim. The format does not care what the effort is, only that it has a finish time you can publish.
Fundraisers who want more than a donation button
Across 97 payments, Predict the Ride averaged £20.82 — well above a typical one-off sponsorship gift, because supporters were buying a stake in the result rather than making a donation.
Compliance notes
- 18+ entry verification built in at checkout
- GDPR-compliant supporter data handling
- Stripe card payments with a full audit trail
- Trustee-ready reporting on every campaign
- Each time slot is held at checkout and sold once, so two supporters can never buy the same prediction
- The winner is decided against the published finish time — closest without going over
- Free-entry route and published terms, so the challenge can run as a free prize draw where that is the right structure
Play Fund Win is not a Gambling Commission licensed operator — formats are configured to fit either a society lottery (where the host holds a licence or registration) or a free prize draw route. Robin picks the right one for you.
Payments run on Stripe. Funds settle to Play Fund Win and you request your payout from the dashboard, paid out by bank transfer — the same way every Play Fund Win host is paid today.
Five things, ten minutes
- A timed effort with a finish time you can publish — a ride, run, swim, marathon, triathlon or 24-hour challenge
- A realistic finish window and how finely to split it (Predict the Ride used 06:00:00 to 09:00:00 in 30-second steps — 361 slots)
- Entry tiers and a prize for the closest prediction (£10 for two and £20 for five, with a £100 voucher for the winner)
- Bank details for your payout
- About 10 minutes to chat with Robin and go live
Set yours up in 10 minutes
Tell Robin about the effort and she’ll suggest the window, the tiers and a realistic raise. Setup is free while the format is in launch — after that, 5% of transactions and nothing else.
Prediction Challenge is one of the draw formats on Play Fund Win, the fundraising platform behind Predict the Ride.