FAQs - CIBC Run for the Cure

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About CIBC Run for the Cure

The CIBC Run for the Cure takes place on Sunday, October 1, 2023.

The CIBC Run for the Cure takes place in 54 communities across Canada on Sunday, October 1, 2023. Find a Run location in your area and register today.

If you don’t see your community listed, you can still be part of the CIBC Run for the Cure by choosing My Run. Anywhere. Any Way.

The CIBC Run for the Cure is organized and carried out by Canadian Cancer Society staff and volunteers. The generous support of volunteers helps to keep costs down, which directs more money to the Canadian Cancer Society to fund groundbreaking breast cancer research, compassionate support services, trusted cancer information and advocacy on behalf of all Canadians.

No. The CIBC Run for the Cure is open to people of all abilities. As a family-oriented event, we invite adults and children to run or walk in their communities. If running or walking isn’t for you, you could walk your dog, go for a bike ride, or do yoga on Sunday, October 1, 2023, in your community instead. You would still register as a participant but would have the flexibility to do your own thing.

Find a Run location in your area and register today. If you don’t see your community listed, you can still be part of the CIBC Run for the Cure by choosing My Run. Anywhere. Any way.

Information for each site is listed on the front page of the website. If the information you are looking for is not available please contact the committee. Email information is located on the front of the greeting page.

Yes. To participate in the CIBC Run for the Cure, you must register as an adult or youth participant. Find a Run location in your area and register today.

We encourage anyone who wants to participate in the CIBC Run for the Cure to register online.

Participants can choose one of our two registration options; commit to raise $150 or pay a minimum donation of $35, $40 or $45 depending on when they register.

If you don’t fundraise a minimum of $150 (adult) or $60 (youth) by Run Day on Sunday, October 1, 2023, you will be asked to donate the minimum donation of $45, which is tax receiptable.

If you are having difficulty reaching your fundraising goal, please explore our Participant Fundraising Tools, for fun fundraising activities and ideas.

If you are still having difficulty reaching your fundraising goal, please contact us at connect@cancer.ca or 1-888-939-3333, and someone from our team will gladly provide you with some guidance and tips & tools!

The money raised from the CIBC Run for the Cure helps to:

  • fund groundbreaking breast cancer research
  • offer support services to help people better manage life with breast cancer
  • shape healthy public policies to prevent cancer and support those living with the disease
  • offer trusted breast cancer information for all Canadians

Over the past 20 years, CCS and the former Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation have invested over $360 million in breast cancer research, funding more than 1,400 scientific and community grants. With the help of our donors, we can continue to learn more about how to prevent, treat and improve the quality of life for those diagnosed with breast cancer.

Yes. The Canadian Cancer Society’s charitable number is 118829803 RR 0001. When you donate to the Canadian Cancer Society, you will receive a tax receipt.

For more information about national sponsorship opportunities, please call 1-888-939-3333 or email corporate@cancer.ca.

For more information about local sponsorship opportunities, please contact runforthecure@cancer.ca.

CCS does not encourage volunteers or Run participants to collect funds by door-to-door canvassing.

Advisory re: door-to-door canvassing

Some individuals choose to canvass neighbours in their communities to collect funds for the CIBC Run for the Cure.

If you are approached by a canvasser who states that they are raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society, please follow this advice:

  • If you know and trust the canvasser and want to donate, please donate by giving the canvasser a cheque made out to the Canadian Cancer Society. Do not give cash.
  • If a canvasser is unknown to you and you want to support the Canadian Cancer Society, please visit the CCS website at www.cancer.ca for donation options.
  • If you are suspicious of a canvasser, please take note of their appearance and contact your local police department.

No. The Canadian Cancer Society will never share your information with outside agencies, organizations or individuals without prior consent. Or if the disclosure is permitted or required by law. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

If you don’t see your community listed, you can still be part of the CIBC Run for the Cure by registering, fundraising, and running or walking in your community on Sunday, October 1, 2023. Choose My Run. Anywhere. Any way. as your Run location when registering.

If running isn’t for you, why not walk your dog, go for a bike ride, do yoga, or even stay home and make a big dinner for your loved ones? Whatever your passion may be, you can recruit friends and family to join you in supporting the cause and making a difference.

You will still be eligible for tax receipts, fundraising rewards, and a Run t-shirt*!

*You must be opted-in to receive Run Rewards and raise a minimum of $150 (adult) or $60 (youth) by Sunday, October 1, 2023, to receive a Run t-shirt.

Registration

Watch a tutorial on how you can register for the CIBC Run for the Cure. The video will show you step-by-step how to navigate the website.

Please click here to recover your username and/or password, or contact Donor Care Services at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333.

Yes. You can register offline by downloading a participation form from your Run location page or requesting a participation form at your nearest CIBC banking centre (forms are available in May).

Alternatively, you can call our Cancer Information Helpline at 1-888-939-3333 and they will be happy to assist you.

Please mail your completed participant form to:

ATTN: Gift Processing Department
Canadian Cancer Society
55 St Clair Avenue West, Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 2Y7

Yes. We encourage you to use the same username and password from the last time you participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure.

Teams

A fast and easy way to register a team is by registering online. Choose your Run community by selecting “Find your Run Community” in the top navigation. Once you have chosen your Run community, click on the Register button. From here you will be able to select the ‘Start a Team‘ option and proceed with the registration process.

Choose your Run community by selecting “Find your Run Community” in the top navigation. Once you have chosen your Run location, click on the Register button. From here, you will be able to select the ‘Join/Restart a Team’ option to join an existing team, or you can restart a team from last year that you were on.

No. You can have as many or as few members as you would like to form a team.

Yes. Teams can register at any time, including on the day of the CIBC Run for the Cure, which is Sunday, October 1, 2023. Please note that CIBC Run for the Cure events are cashless and registration fees and/or donations will need to be made through the website on event day.

Multi-site teams are teams registered in two (2) or more Run locations. multi-site teams must register in one of the four categories (Corporate, Friends and Family, School, or Women’s).

Visit our multi-site team page for more information.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC) multi-site team is a group of people living with mBC and families and friends who come together to raise awareness of mBC and raise funds to support mBC research, programs, and services.

To learn more or join the Metastatic Breast Cancer multi-site team, visit their team page.

If a donor mistakenly donates to your team and would like to transfer the donation to an individual participant, the donor must contact our Donor Care department by October 31, 2023. After the October 31 date, team donations are non-transferable as the fundraising component of this program has closed.

CIBC Run for the Cure Donor Care Services
Telephone: 1-888-939-3333
E-mail: connect@cancer.ca
Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.

The Corporate Spirit Award is presented to the top fundraising corporate team (team of co-workers from a company or workplace, institutions (hospitals, unions, etc.), business associates, clients or suppliers) at each Run location.

The School Team Challenge Award is presented to the top fundraising school team (team of students, teachers, parents, or support staff from any elementary, junior, secondary, post-secondary or graduate program) at each Run location.

The Friends and Family Team Challenge Award is presented to the top fundraising friends and family team (team of family, friends or community group members) at each Run location.

The Women's Team Challenge Award is presented to the top fundraising women's team (team of women only) in each Run location.

The Team Tent Award is awarded to the top 3 (5 at large sites) fundraising teams who reach the minimum fundraising amount for your Run location. These teams will receive a tent space on Run Day to decorate, gather in and receive the VIP treatment. Visit the event page for your Run location for details on the minimum fundraising amount for your event. The minimum fundraising amount must be raised by 10 p.m. PST on September 28, 2023.

For more information, please visit our Awards Page.

CIBC Run for the Cure t-shirt

Participants who meet the following criteria will receive a CIBC Run for the Cure t-shirt*.

  • adults who raise $150 or more
  • youth (under 18 years) who raise $60 or more

Participants of Hope who qualify for this reward will receive a pink Participant of Hope t-shirt. T-shirts will be available at early t-shirt pick up before the Run or on Run Day. Visit your event page for information on early t-shirt pick-up.

*You must be opted in to receive Run rewards and raise the minimum amount ($150 for adults and $60 for youth under 18 years) on Sunday, October 1, 2023, to qualify. For offline funds to count towards this reward, the funds must be showing online on event day. Bank stamped, offline forms can be sent to the Canadian Cancer Society or via email to connect@cancer.ca. Processing times vary. Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks from receipt of form for offline funds to be reflected in your online totals. Forms can be mailed in or scanned to connect@cancer.ca.

Product available while supplies last.

Teams who qualify will receive CIBC Run for the Cure t-shirts customized with their team name printed on the back. To be eligible for team t-shirts, your team must raise an average of $150/per person and reach a minimum of $1,500 in team fundraising by September 14, 2023, at 10 p.m. PST.

Team captains will be contacted regarding team t-shirts in early September and must fill out a Formstack to complete their order.

Team CIBC teams and participants are not eligible for team t-shirts.

Fundraising Centre

Your Fundraising Centre contains customizable tools for emailing friends and family, tracking online donations, team status, and much more.

Watch a tutorial on how you can navigate the Fundraising Centre for the CIBC Run for the Cure. This video will show you how to navigate the website and your Fundraising Centre.

Your fundraising page is an online web page that highlights your fundraising efforts. You can customize content and images on your fundraising page from the Fundraising Centre

For returning participants, if you registered for the same event location in 2022, you will see your story section on your profile. Your picture will be kept if you use the same username and password when you register. You can update your story and photo in your Fundraising Centre.

If you are a returning CIBC Run for the Cure participant who has signed up for My Run. Anywhere. Any way. or a different event location, you will need to manually update your personal story and a picture if you choose to. If you have any questions, please contact us by using the live chat on the CIBC Run for the Cure website or at connect@cancer.ca or 1-888-939-3333.

Yes. If you registered as a Returning Participant with your previous username, all of your donor information will be available under the email contact section of your Fundraising Centre.

If you are manually entering email addresses to your contact list, please do not separate the addresses using a colon (;). Kindly use a comma (,) to separate the addresses. If the issue persists, please contact Donor Care Services at connect@cancer.ca or 1-888-939-3333.

If your friends and family are not receiving emails sent from your Fundraising Centre, it's because they’ve opted out of receiving emails from the Canadian Cancer Society or the CIBC Run for the Cure. Consider sending the email from your own email client within the Fundraising Centre instead.

No. Your privacy is vital to CCS. Staff and volunteers can’t view or access your online information, such as donor information. Your information is confidential and is only accessible by entering your username and password, to which CCS does not have access.

Donations

Watch a tutorial on how you can donate to the CIBC Run for the Cure. This video will show you step-by-step how to navigate the website.

We encourage you to download the pre-populated donation forms with your personal information from your Fundraising Centre if you've registered online.

You can download blank donation forms from your Run location page if you've registered offline. In-person/offline donations (donations not paid online) will be officially counted as part of your fundraising when they are received by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Please bring cash and cheque donations to a CIBC banking centre that accepts cash. The money will be deposited into the account listed on your donation form(s), and CIBC will stamp and return your form(s) to you. Please do not mail cash.

Please mail your bank stamped form(s) to:

ATTN: Gift Processing Department
Canadian Cancer Society
55 St Clair Avenue West, Suite 500
Toronto, ON
M4V 2Y7

The Canadian Cancer Society has decided to make the CIBC Run for the Cure a cashless event. We will not be accepting any cash or cheques on event day. You will need to bring your cash and cheques to a CIBC banking centre near you.

To deposit cash or cheques prior to event day, please visit your local CIBC banking centre. To locate a banking centre closest to you, please visit or download the CIBC Mobile Banking app (Apple/Google Play) and click on “Find Us”.

Credit card donations can be processed online or by calling Donor Care at 1-888-939-3333. Please ensure that you are registered online before calling Donor Care to process a credit card donation.

No, CIBC does not process credit card donations.

Online donations appear automatically once a donation is complete.

Offline donations are entered as received leading up to the Run and weekly starting after the Run. Offline donations made through CIBC banking centre locations are processed once the bank stamped donation forms are received by the Canadian Cancer Society. Processing times vary. Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks for offline funds to be reflected on your online totals.

You must retain your stamped form(s) from CIBC and mail to:

ATTN: Gift Processing Department
Canadian Cancer Society
55 St Clair Avenue West, Suite 500
Toronto, ON
M4V 2Y7

(please do not mail cash)

Absolutely. Donate online at cibcrunforthecure.com or a CIBC banking centre across Canada. To donate at CIBC, record your name, address, and donation amount on a donation form. CIBC will accept your donation, and a bank teller will stamp the form and return it to you. Please note: CIBC does not accept donations by credit card.

To receive a tax receipt, mail the stamped donation form to:

ATTN: Gift Processing Department
Canadian Cancer Society
55 St Clair Avenue West, Suite 500
Toronto, ON
M4V 2Y7

(please do not mail cash)

Yes. Please visit our Fundraising Tools page for more information on corporate donations options.

Benevity is a corporate social responsibility and employee engagement software that provides employees with a platform to donate to causes they care about, such as the CIBC Run for the Cure.

Please use the Benevity instructions to donate to the CIBC Run for the Cure. You can select the amount of information that you would like shared with CCS. If you do not share this information, your donation will remain anonymous.

IMPORTANT: Donations cannot be designated to a specific participant’s fundraising page on the Run website. 

Rewards

Every registered participant who fundraises, opts in for Rewards and reaches the fundraising levels of $150, $300, $1,000 and $2,500 will receive the rewards at each level they qualify for if their funds are in by the deadline.

Awards are given to only the top fundraising team in each team category and top 3 individual fundraisers at each site by the deadline.

All CIBC Run for the Cure participants, who raise $150 or more individually, are eligible for the Fundraising Rewards program. See the Fundraising Rewards program for details on the levels and prizes.

*Participants must be opted in to receive Run rewards and raise the minimum amounts by 10 p.m. PST on Sunday, October 1, 2023, to qualify. Product available while supplies last. Participants will automatically be opted in to receive zero-cost rewards. 

At registration, participants are asked if they want to receive Run Rewards based on fundraising milestones of $150, $300, $1,000, and $2,500. This is a mandatory question. We will use the information from the registration completion to issue rewards, and participants will receive an email as they reach each milestone to notify them. All offline participants will receive rewards they qualify for.

Participants who raise at least $150 must have all fundraising dollars and forms received by the Canadian Cancer Society by October 1, 2023, to qualify for the Fundraising Rewards program.

No. The Fundraising Reward level reached individually cannot be transferred to another participant.

No. Team fundraising totals are NOT eligible for Fundraising Rewards, and they do not count towards an individual’s fundraising total.

All donations for rewards must be submitted by Sunday, October 1, 2023.

We can change your address but if the reward has shipped it will not go to your new address. The participant can contact our Donor Care Team at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333 and let us know of the address change.

The Participant must contact our Donor Care Team at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333 to update their response.

Please contact our Donor Care Team at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333 Please have your confirmation email handy and our representatives will be happy to assist you.

For $1,000 reward levels, participants who reach the fundraising milestone by August 28, the reward will arrive by Run Day.

Rewards for all other participants will be shipped after the Run. Depending on the location, it may take 3-6 weeks to arrive from the time the Fulfillment Centre receives the notification that a participant qualifies for a reward.

The participant should contact Donor Care at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333 to arrange a new shipment.

Processing times vary. Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks from receipt of banks stamped forms to be reflected on the online totals. All offline donations will be completed by January 2024. 

Tax Receipt

If you donate online to a team, yourself, or another participant, you will receive an electronic tax receipt within 24 hours. The Canadian Cancer Society will begin issuing tax receipts for offline donations following the CIBC Run for the Cure. We will distribute them no later than February 28 of the following calendar year.

Please contact our Donor Care Team at connect@cancer.ca or phone 1-888-939-3333.

Yes. Any donation made to the CIBC Run for the Cure is tax receiptable.

Volunteer

Visit our Volunteer page for more information on how to become a CIBC Run for the Cure volunteer.

No, you do not need previous volunteer experience. However, having previous Run volunteer experience is a plus for those interested in leadership roles.

Each volunteer role has different time requirements due to shift lengths, training, and required tasks. Committee roles have a longer time commitment, and they can vary. This information will be described in the role description.

Yes. If you need confirmation of volunteer hours, please reach out to volunteer@cancer.ca after the event.

You must be 14 years and older to volunteer for the Canadian Cancer Society. Some positions with further age restrictions (18 or over) will be made clear in the position description. If you are under 18, please obtain parental or legal guardian consent before completing the online application. Your parent or guardian must be present to electronically consent to the terms and conditions.

Luminate Consolidation

In 2019, CCS completed the consolidation of two online fundraising systems. Previously we had been using two different platforms one from CBCF and one from CCS some of our Run participants may have 2 different online profiles. These profiles will now exist in one fundraising system. If you had multiple online profiles, there are 2 main changes you will notice.

First, your username has been updated to include “_1” at the end. This helps us to differentiate your new, Run account from your existing CCS account(s). This will not impact your password.

Second, some participants may notice the personal story section of your profile on cibcrunforthecure.com has been replaced with default text. This is a result of the consolidation.

If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact us at connect@cancer.ca or 1-888-939-3333.

Now that we have consolidated our fundraising software for Run participants, stories that existed on personal pages have not been carried over and were replaced by default text. You may update your story with new information by logging into your Fundraising Centre.

Consolidating these pieces of fundraising software has resulted in significant savings for CCS, which enables us to use donor dollars in the most impactful way including investing in important parts of our mission such as breast cancer research, support services and advocacy efforts.

If you participated in 2018 or earlier, but did not create an online fundraising page in 2019, you will need to upload your own picture for your page. You may do this through your Fundraising Centre. We encourage participants to do this once our campaign has launched so that they can see the new campaign imagery before deciding what photo to use.

Fiona Hurricane

Our thoughts and prayers to everyone in the P.E.I after the devastation of Hurricane Fiona. The days and weeks ahead will be challenging, and we wish you safety as you rally and recover from this historic storm that has left thousands without electricity and impacted critical infrastructure.

We have spent the last day working with municipal governments, our CIBC Run for the Cure staff and volunteers in P.E.I to assess whether in-person events can proceed safely as planned this Sunday, October 2.

We have determined that due to the profound destruction and impact on people in P.E.I it is unsafe to hold an in-person Run Day event in Charlottetown.

If you still want to join Run Day on Sunday, October 2 we welcome your virtual participation.

If you have qualified for a t-shirt, we will ensure one is delivered to you after the Run.

Please contact us at 1-888-939-3333 or connect@cancer.ca with any questions or concerns.

Our thoughts and prayers to everyone in the Atlantic community after the devastation of Hurricane Fiona. The days and weeks ahead will be challenging, and we wish you safety as you rally and recover from this historic storm that has left thousands without electricity and impacted critical infrastructure.

We have spent the last day working with municipal governments, our CIBC Run for the Cure staff and volunteers in Atlantic Canada to assess whether in-person events can proceed safely as planned this Sunday, October 2.

We have determined that Run Day can proceed in your community, although there may be some adjustments to Run routes. Please visit your local Run site page on www.cibcrunforthecure.com and Facebook for updates.

Most important to us is your safety. If you are able to travel safely to your Run site, we look forward to seeing you in person on Sunday, October 2 otherwise we encourage you to participate virtually.

If you opt to participate virtually and have qualified for a t-shirt, we will ensure one is delivered to you after the Run.

Please contact us at 1-888-939-3333 or connect@cancer.ca with any questions or concerns.