Over the next 20 years, it’s estimated between $30 and $70 trillion will be transferred from baby boomers to their heirs. Some experts forecast these shifts in wealth will reach as high as $84 trillion with $11.9 trillion in philanthropic giving. Even though traditional fundraising remains critical, and your strategy should maintain channels for major gifts, direct mail, and events, your supporter pool is growing.
Millennial habits reflect a demographic with expendable income in a digital world. 46% donate to crowdfunding campaigns, 16% give through Facebook fundraising tools, and 39% are most inspired to give through social media. With disposable wealth for millennials expected to grow, nonprofits have an opportunity to evolve with this generation.
But it’s not only about generational differences, and today’s supporter experience shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. You can appeal to new audiences with creative peer-to-peer fundraising solutions made for 2022. Channels that may feel niche to you have massive followings that are largely going unreached. Take Twitch, for instance. The world’s largest live streaming service reported $83 million raised for charity in 2020. With nearly 75% of Twitch users between the ages of 16 and 34, ask yourself: How are we reaching them?
“What [virtual fundraising] has really allowed us to do is break the script on how we look at our events. It allowed us to scale much more rapidly than we would have been able to before.”
– Alyson Levine, VP of Community Fundraising at Shatterproof
The future of fundraising depends just as much on advancing technology as it does on recognizing a variety of populations and personalizing their experiences. Improve your fundraising KPIs and build a sustainable supporter community with these five peer-to-peer fundraising strategies to amp up your in-person, virtual, and hybrid events this fall.
1. Mobile Engagement
85% of Americans own a smartphone — up from only 35% in 2011. It’s clear a mobile strategy is no longer optional for best-in-class campaigns. What’s even more astonishing is the number of times Americans check their phones daily: 96. New research even suggests we check our phones almost 4 times that much. Regardless, we can agree we’re all dependent and borderline obsessed. Meet your supporters where they already spend time to build awareness, engagement, and trust.
51% of people who visit a nonprofit’s website do so on a mobile device, and mobile-friendly, mobile-first donation pages yield 34% more donation dollars. Consider everything from responsive layouts to scannable text to page load times — 80% of visitors won’t return if a website takes longer than three seconds to load. Don’t sleep on your branding either. Incorporate memorable themes your audience can connect with.
When it comes to choosing your mobile payment options, offer what’s most relevant to your audience. Look at your data to learn which devices drive the most traffic. If the majority of your supporters are on iPhones, Apple Pay is probably pretty important to them. Alternative payment options are seeing incredible growth, surpassing even credit cards. For instance, Apple Pay usage on the DonorDrive fundraising platform has increased 65% in the last two years.
To take your mobile-first engagement even further, consider that 89% of all mobile minutes are spent in apps. DonorDrive launched a native mobile app for fundraisers in the summer of 2021 to help nonprofits meet their supporters where they want to engage. This app is designed to make fundraising easier and more accessible for individuals raising money on behalf of your organization and to increase their impact from anywhere. One powerful differentiator lies in the app’s ability to deliver personalized, targeted communications to a captive audience resulting in:
- 195% increase in average raised per fundraiser year-over-year
- 25% adoption rate, versus 16% average on competing solution
- 240% increase in average engagement
One of the earliest adopters of the DonorDrive mobile app is Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ Dance Marathon (CMN). These events engage college students around the country to fundraise for their local CMN Hospital. Since launching the app, CMN has supported more than 17,000 app users. Most importantly, these supporters raised nearly $10 million, harnessing the mobile app to increase their impact.
2. Facebook Fundraisers
Social media, notably Facebook, is an essential fundraising mechanism in 2022. 18% of donors around the world have given through Facebook fundraising tools, and 88% of those supporters say they’d do it again. Here’s how it works:
- Supporters can create their Facebook Fundraiser and start collecting donations within minutes.
- Regular alerts and news feed updates to Facebook friends help automate fundraising asks.
- Supporters can sync fundraising progress and track growth in real-time.
- Clear reports identify how Facebook Fundraisers are impacting events and campaigns.
We found DonorDrive participants who created a Facebook Fundraiser raised 50% more than those who didn’t. Empower your fundraisers with a practical and familiar way to secure more donation revenue, and encourage them to optimize their campaigns by liking and commenting on donations, thanking every supporter, highlighting milestones, and even scheduling a live video to enhance their story.
3. Activity Tracking
Wearable technology is the No. 1 fitness trend for 2022, according to a survey conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Strava, considered one of the top fitness tracking apps, saw 1.8 billion activity uploads in 2021 totaling 20 billion miles — a 38% increase year-over-year.
Advances in fitness and fundraising technology accelerated by pandemic needs propelled both industries in unison to create a powerhouse of creativity and innovation. Virtual and hybrid fundraising events are the new normal making it easier than ever to participate.
And now every mile, every burpee, and every achievement can drive real fundraising momentum for your cause. Donors can join in on the participants’ journey and pledge donations based on how much they accomplish. For example, if a donor pledges $1 per mile, and the participant runs 100 miles, the donation would total $100.
DonorDrive fundraisers who use Activity Tracking raise 25% more on average than participants who don’t. With events coming back in-person, this is a great way to engage supporters across demographics and geographic regions. Sync activity data automatically with Apple Health, Fitbit, Google Fit, and Strava for an even more seamless supporter experience.
Who is leveraging Activity Tracking to increase fundraising?
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) 31-Day Challenge participants completed 88,025 miles and raised more than $400,000 with the help of DonorDrive’s Activity Tracking features.
- CancerFree KIDS paired DonorDrive’s Activity Tracking with Facebook Groups, Achievement Badges, and Triggered Notifications to strengthen and scale the 100 Mile Challenge. Watch the webinar replay.
- The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center raised $1 million in a 1-day virtual version of their annual bike ride using Activity Tracking, Donor Incentives, and Fundraising Milestones to enhance their participant experience. Read the case study.
4. Gamification
Gamification makes the fundraising experience more enjoyable and engaging for supporters. There are several ways to motivate fundraising behavior with technology including Donor Incentives, Fundraising Milestones, leaderboards, teams fundraising, and Achievement Badges.
Participants can encourage giving with Donor Incentives along their journey to reaching a goal. One fundraiser who maximized his impact with this strategy is Ryan Trahan. Ryan crossed America in 30 days starting with only $0.01 to raise money and awareness for the Feeding America network of food banks with his campaign 1 Penny. 1 Million Meals. He surpassed his goal of $100,000 reaching more than $1.4 million thanks, in part, to his use of Donor Incentives ranging from a verbal video thank you for a $5,000 gift to getting a tattoo of his donor’s choice for a $100,000 gift.
Ryan Trahan’s “1 Penny. 1 Million Meals.” Fundraiser on Feeding America’s DonorDrive Page
Participants also can pledge to do activities when they reach specific Fundraising Milestones, raising 55% more on average with this strategy. The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation launched Quest to Conquer Cancer utilizing DonorDrive’s Fundraising Milestones and Donor Incentives to give live streamers the opportunity to recognize certain goals with specific actions like dunking their head in a bucket of ice water.
Recognize star players with activity and fundraising leaderboards. Create community and friendly competition by showcasing top fundraising teams, like this leaderboard for the 2022 Chicago Marathon. The average team members raise at least 5% more than non-team members, and team captains raise on average 150% more than an average team member.
Achievement Badges reward important actions along the way and cheer participants on when they reach certain goals or enter activity streaks. Achievement Badges can be customized to your organization with event-specific goals, branded graphics, and descriptions – all helping keep fundraisers engaged throughout the fundraising journey.
Participants can earn a badge when they customize their fundraising page or send 100 emails. Teams can earn badges when the 10th member joins or they raise $1,000. Other celebrated actions include connecting social accounts or live stream fundraising.
Virtual incentives and gamification are an easy, low-cost way to motivate behaviors, encourage community, and produce incredible results. Get creative with your gamification to keep your supporters engaged and tie their fundraising journey back to your mission.
5. Live Stream Fundraising
The streaming community may feel unfamiliar even to the most progressive fundraising organizations, but streamers and content creators are exploding onto the live stream fundraising scene with an enthusiasm that can’t be ignored. In the past two years live stream fundraising totals increased 133% on DonorDrive alone. In fact, the average amount raised by a streaming participant in 2021 was $400 more than a non-streaming participant.
The Princess Margaret not only launched Quest to Conquer Cancer with the gamification strategies described above, they raised $350,000 in 2020 with DonorDrive’s live stream fundraising tools; and in 2021, the event grew by more than 50%, raising $570,000, for a total of $920,000 over two years. The big success for The Princess Margaret came from more than just dollars raised. The Toronto, Canada-based cancer foundation was able to reach a whole new segment of supporters around the world. Read their full story.
Quest to Conquer Cancer 2021 Marathon Highlight Reel
Create Extraordinary Fundraising Experiences This Fall
Your fall peer-to-peer fundraising strategy should be anything but ordinary. Your participants crave something new and want to be inspired by their fundraising technology and the people behind it. They also welcome familiar, comfortable strategies defined by your legacy plans. Pair tradition with innovation for a fundraising experience that motivates across generations, demographics, and personalities.
What Is DonorDrive?
Crush your supporter acquisition goals, boost stewardship and engagement, and level up your mission impact with the DonorDrive enterprise fundraising platform. Create meaningful supporter experiences with Peer-to-Peer Fundraising events, tailored Donation Campaigns, native mobile app, Activity Tracking, and Live Stream Fundraising.
