Customer Snapshot
- Amount Raised: $718,000+
- Participants: 80-100 per Hockey Event
- Donors: ~1,000
- States with Events: CT, MI, AZ, OH, MA, & ND
LivFree was born from one family’s decision to turn a painful chapter into a source of hope for others. Ten years later, as the organization celebrates its anniversary this October, its flagship 24-hour adult hockey marathon has grown from a single event at Sacred Heart University into a six-state movement — raising more than $718,000 with the help of GiveSignup.
About LivFree
LivFree is a pediatric cancer nonprofit organization. In Jim McCaffrey’s words, the organization exists to provide “moments of hope and joy to children and families in the pediatric cancer community” — giving them the chance to take a break during treatment, after a treatment cycle ends, or even to celebrate a child’s life together as a family.
The name carries the story behind it: LIV stands for Lauren Irene Vieira. The Vieira family founded LivFree near the end of Lauren’s own treatment, as a way to create the same kind of joy for other families that they had hoped for during theirs.
LivFree’s earliest fundraising efforts were community events — a golf tournament, a baseball jamboree — built to bring people together locally. About three years ago, that grew into “LivSports,” a broader program using sports as a platform for hope and joy. LivSports now spans youth baseball, lacrosse, hockey camps, and the organization’s biggest fundraising vehicle: the adult 24 Hour Adult Hockey Marathon.
The very first 24 Hour Adult Hockey Marathon launched at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Participants registered for free but committed to raising $1,500 for LivFree — a binding fundraising commitment built through GiveSignup, which issued both a registration confirmation and a personal fundraising page in a single step. The first event raised over $170,000, giving LivFree the confidence to expand to locations. Since then, the marathon has run at Michigan State University, Arizona State University, Miami University (Ohio), and the Warrior Ice Arena in Boston — with a sixth event now underway for 2026 in North Dakota.
How LivFree uses GiveSignup
- Binding fundraising commitments — Participants register for free but commit to a fundraising minimum, with GiveSignup issuing a confirmation and personal fundraising page simultaneously.
Registration fundraising commitment
- Website 2.0 — Jim’s favorite feature: a fundraiser-forward design that puts donations front and center rather than registration, with custom branding woven in to match LivFree’s own site.
- Participant data extraction — Pulls ability level, gender, and jersey size directly from registration to stage a “first class” event experience — name tags ready, jerseys hung, hoodies folded, teams grouped correctly before a single skater arrives.
- Built-in email tool — Sends personal emails to individual fundraisers and mass communications to the full donor and participant base, including live-stream announcements during the event itself.
- Multi-user race director access — Lets the whole team track registration and fundraising progress together in real time — something Jim says the team genuinely enjoys watching unfold.
- Custom terminology — Renames platform language to fit their events (“race” becomes “jamboree” or “hockey marathon”), a flexibility Jim didn’t expect but now relies on.
- Abandoned registration recovery — Follows up on incomplete registrations to understand what stopped someone from finishing — cost, hesitation, a technical snag — and has converted more than 40 participants this way across eight events.
Incomplete registrations
- Responsive customer support — Solves operational questions fast, often by email before a call is even needed — something Jim calls essential for a small team running high-revenue events.
Results
- Cumulative fundraising for the 24 hour Adult Hockey Marathon has grown from $170,000 at the first event to over $718,000 across all six locations.
- Each 24 Hour Adult Hockey Marathon event draws 80–100 participants and engages nearly 1,000 donors.
- The organization’s baseball jamboree engages 30–60 teams per event, with a typical fundraising goal around $40,000.
- A March volleyball jamboree — just two programs, one in Boston and one in Connecticut — raised over $40,000 on its own.
- The Incomplete Registration Report feature has converted 40+ participants across eight events who otherwise would have dropped off.
In Their Own Words
“We lead with what we call the head and the heart,” Jim said. LivFree’s team splits fundraising messaging in two: logistics-focused calls to action paired with emotional storytelling about what past fundraising has made possible. “This is what LivFree has done with some of the money that’s been raised so far” is the heart side of that pitch — paired with simple, mechanical instructions on how to personalize a fundraising page and make the ask.
Even with a binding fundraising commitment, LivFree has never had to invoice a single participant. “We create great human, authentic relationships with our users,” Jim said — often reaching out personally to ask what someone can realistically still give, rather than defaulting to an automated charge.
Looking ahead
Florida is next on the map: LivFree is targeting the Florida Panthers’ practice facility for a 2027 event, building on skaters who already flew in from Florida to play at the Boston event.