You just finished a 5K run for charity. Your legs are tired, your heart is full, and you open your phone expecting to see your activity pop up on your Just Giving fundraising page. But nothing happens. The sync between Strava and Just Giving has failed, and your supporters have no idea you completed that run.
This can be really frustrating, especially when you have worked hard and want your donors to see your progress. The good news is that this problem usually has a simple fix you can handle yourself.
In this article, you will learn why this syncing issue occurs, what causes it, and step by step ways to get everything working smoothly again.
What Does It Mean When Strava Won’t Sync With Just Giving?
Strava and Just Giving are two separate apps that talk to each other through something called an API connection. Think of it like two friends passing notes in class. When everything works well, Strava sends your workout data over to Just Giving automatically. Your run, walk, or cycle shows up on your fundraising page, and your donors can track your progress.
When the sync breaks, those notes stop getting passed. You complete an activity on Strava, but Just Giving never receives the information. This means your fundraising page looks empty or outdated, even though you have been putting in the effort.
If left unfixed, this problem can hurt your fundraising campaign in a few ways:
- Donors lose trust. When supporters pledge money based on your miles or activities, they expect to see proof. An empty page makes them wonder if you are actually doing the work.
- Motivation drops. Part of the fun of fitness fundraising is watching your totals climb. When nothing syncs, that visual reward disappears.
- Manual updates take time. You might end up having to add each activity by hand, which gets old fast when you are training regularly.
Most syncing problems happen because of a broken connection somewhere along the line. Your Strava account and Just Giving account need to stay linked and have the right permissions to share data. When something interrupts that link, the whole system stops working.
Strava Not Syncing With Just Giving: Common Causes
Before you can fix the problem, it helps to know what might be causing it. Here are the most frequent reasons your activities are not showing up where they should.
1. The Account Connection Has Expired
Strava and Just Giving require you to give permission for them to share data. This permission can expire over time, or it can break if you change your password on either account.
When the connection expires, Strava no longer has the green light to send your workout info to Just Giving. Everything looks normal on your end, but behind the scenes, the two apps have stopped communicating.
You might not even notice until you check your Just Giving page and see that nothing has updated for days or weeks.
2. Privacy Settings Are Blocking the Sync
Strava has privacy settings that control who can see your activities. If your workouts are set to “Only Me” or if you have certain followers only options turned on, Just Giving might not be able to access them.
This is a sneaky cause because you might think everything is public when it is actually locked down. Just Giving needs permission to view your activities, and strict privacy settings can block that access without any warning message.
3. The Activity Type Is Not Supported
Just Giving fundraising pages are often set up for specific types of activities. If your page is for running but you logged a yoga session or a swim, that activity might not sync because it does not match what your campaign tracks.
Each fundraising challenge on Just Giving has rules about which activities count. A bike ride will not appear on a running challenge, and a walk might not count if the page only accepts runs.
This can confuse people who use Strava for multiple sports and expect all their workouts to show up.
4. There Is a Delay in Processing
Sometimes both apps are working fine, but there is a lag between when you finish your activity and when it appears on Just Giving. This can range from a few minutes to several hours.
Servers get busy, especially on weekends when lots of people are exercising. Your sync might simply be sitting in a queue waiting to go through.
5. A Glitch on Either Platform
Tech apps have bugs. Strava might have a server issue, or Just Giving might be experiencing problems on their end. These glitches can temporarily stop syncs from happening.
Outages are usually short and get fixed by the company’s tech team. But while they last, your activities will not transfer.
If lots of people are reporting the same issue at the same time, a platform glitch is likely the culprit.
Strava Not Syncing With Just Giving: How to Fix
Now that you know what might be causing the problem, here are practical steps you can take to get your sync working again.
1. Disconnect and Reconnect Your Accounts
This is the most effective fix for most syncing problems. Breaking the connection and setting it up fresh often clears whatever was blocking the data flow.
Here is how to do it:
- Log into your Just Giving account and go to your fundraising page settings.
- Find the section where you connected Strava and click to disconnect or unlink it.
- Wait about 30 seconds, then reconnect Strava by following the prompts.
- You will need to log into Strava and approve the connection again.
After reconnecting, do a quick test activity on Strava. Even a short walk around the block will show you if the sync is back to normal. Give it 10 to 15 minutes before checking your Just Giving page.
2. Check Your Strava Privacy Settings
Open the Strava app on your phone or visit Strava on your computer. Go to Settings, then Privacy Controls.
Make sure your activities are set to “Everyone” or at least allow partner apps to access your data. If your workouts are hidden, Just Giving cannot pull them in.
Look for a specific option about sharing with third party apps. This setting needs to be turned on for your sync to work. Save any changes you make and then check if new activities start appearing on your fundraising page.
3. Verify Your Activity Type Matches Your Campaign
Go to your Just Giving fundraising page and check what types of activities it tracks. If your page is set up for running, make sure you are logging runs on Strava and not other workout types.
You can edit the activity type in Strava after you finish a workout. Open the activity, tap the edit button, and change it to the correct category. This small adjustment can make the difference between your workout counting and being ignored.
Some fundraising challenges allow multiple activity types. If yours does, double check that all the right boxes are ticked in your campaign settings.
4. Wait and Check for Platform Issues
If nothing seems wrong on your end, the problem might be temporary. Give it a few hours and check back.
You can search online for “Strava outage” or “Just Giving issues” to see if other users are reporting problems. Websites like DownDetector track when major platforms have service interruptions.
5. Manually Add Your Activity
When automatic sync fails and you need your activity to show up right away, you can add it by hand.
On your Just Giving page, there should be an option to log an activity manually. Enter the details like distance, time, and date. This gets your supporters the update they need while you figure out the syncing issue.
Manual entry is not ideal for the long term, but it is a good backup when you have an important milestone to share.
6. Contact Support If Nothing Works
If you have tried all the fixes above and your sync still is not working, it is time to reach out for help.
Contact Just Giving support through their website or help center. Explain what you have already tried and include details like your account email and fundraising page link. They can look at the technical side of things and spot issues you cannot see.
You can contact Strava support too if you suspect the problem is on their end. Having both teams look into it increases your chances of a quick fix. Support teams deal with these issues regularly and can often resolve them within a day or two.
Wrapping Up
Getting your Strava activities to sync with Just Giving should be smooth, but technology does not always cooperate. Most of the time, a quick disconnect and reconnect will solve the problem. Checking your privacy settings and making sure your activity types match your campaign are easy steps that often get overlooked.
Your supporters want to cheer you on as you hit your fitness goals for charity. With these fixes in your back pocket, you can keep your fundraising page updated and your motivation high. And if all else fails, the support teams at both platforms are there to help.