By Abigail Jarvis, Director of Content, Qgiv

It’s really no surprise that peer-to-peer fundraising has seen a boost in popularity alongside the rise of social media. After all, this fundraising strategy relies on social networking. Social media makes it easier than ever for your supporters to directly appeal to their social networks!

But the value of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns isn’t just measured by the number of new donors your supporters are able to reach.

A truly successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaign will actually bring your existing supporters closer to your nonprofit. That’s because they will get to practice advocating for your nonprofit to their friends and family and emphasizing the
good work you do for your community.

To fully engage your supporters in your mission and your campaign, take these 3 top tips to heart:

  • Choose the right peer-to-peer fundraising platform.
  • Coach and encourage your fundraisers.
  • Host a peer-to-peer fundraising event.

Ready to lead your most successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to date? Keep reading!

The best peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are also the easiest to participate in. Your fundraising volunteers have to do a lot more work to serve as peer-to-peer fundraisers than just submitting a donation through your online form.

You need a peer-to-peer fundraising software solution that can provide:

  • Individual fundraising pages for your supporters. They should be able to update the images and videos on their pages, share them easily across social media platforms, post updates, and display badges for milestones achieved.
  • One central campaign page for your nonprofit to keep track of the overall campaign. You should be able to display a leaderboard, track overall donations with a fundraising thermometer, and give shoutouts to individual fundraisers.
  • Communication features for your nonprofit to stay connected to individual fundraisers. You should be able to share documents and messages with your fundraisers, and they should be able to easily respond with any questions they have.
With these features, your fundraisers will feel confident that they’re prepared to raise money for your cause. They won’t be intimidated by the process!

Besides making the actual fundraising process easier for your fundraisers, you can also encourage participation in a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign with the right coaching.

When we say coaching, we mostly mean providing useful materials to your fundraisers. You have to keep in mind that as passionate as your supporters are, they likely aren’t professional fundraisers! They don’t have the experience you do, so you have to give them basic tools if you want them to have a fighting chance at reaching their goals.

You might consider providing your fundraisers with:

  • Pre-written posts for sharing their fundraising pages on social media.
  • Suggestions for how to share the stories that will encourage donations.
  • Branded images and videos to post on their fundraising pages.
  • Fundraising letter templates, like these from Qgiv!
  • Badges for their fundraising pages when they meet donation milestones.

There are other ways to keep your fundraisers from getting discouraged. Namely, to foster some friendly competition among your individual fundraisers!

You should ensure that you keep your leaderboard updated with the highest-earning individual fundraising pages. Send out regular messages alerting all participants to their new positions on the leaderboard.

Online fundraising is easy to share and spread to a wide audience. But sometimes, you need an in-person fundraising event to harness your supporters’ passion for your cause.

Often, fundraising events are incorporated into peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns from the beginning. For example, your nonprofit could host a charity walkathon for breast cancer research and use a certain amount of peer-to-peer fundraising revenue to earn a place at the starting line.

But what about a closing event to celebrate the end of a successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaign?

When planning a celebratory event, incorporate your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign by:

  • Seating attendees based on their peer-to-peer fundraising performance.
  • Awarding the top fundraisers onstage during the height of the event.
  • Showing screenshots of the top fundraising pages on the big screen.
  • Projecting your fundraising thermometer at the front of the room.

If you make sure to list these perks in your initial campaign launch materials, your participants will be motivated to raise more to earn them at the closing event!

Peer-to-peer campaigns are great choices for nonprofits who want to truly engage their supporters. With these tips, you can do just that!

 

About the Author 

Abby Jarvis is a blogger, marketer, and communications coordinator for Qgiv, an online fundraising service provider. Qgiv offers industry-leading online giving and peer to peer fundraising tools for nonprofit, faith-based, and political organizations of all sizes. When she’s not working at Qgiv, Abby can usually be found writing for local magazines, catching up on her favorite blogs, or binge-watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.