Volunteer Fundraiser Dilemma Illustrates Big Issues in P2P Fundraising

I have spoken at and attended many of my clients’ national leadership meetings supporting their peer-to-peer income streams. I have been in a lot of bars and conference hotels and had a lot of conversations with a lot of volunteer leaders about how they came to be there. I met Jean Duffy at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) conference in Little Rock, Ark., this year.

Over a glass of wine, Jean shared with me her personal story of losing her son to suicide. There were tears—all of them mine. Her demeanor was a steely-eyed, "going to do something about this." Her personal philosophy is "I want to change the world—one person, one moment at time, transforming our family's tragic loss of a loved one into a legacy of faith, hope and love." I am honored that she asked me for help.

Her dilemma is typical of what staff and volunteers face each and every day as they try to support their missions. Here are ground-level intervention ideas from a conversation with Jean, who is the director of the Tour for Hope, an Omaha, Neb., cycling event benefiting AFSP that she created and manages as a volunteer. Her issues illustrate the very same conversations I have with clients at the national level regarding event structure.

Jean Duffy: I am coordinating a bicycling event to raise funds for AFSP. My (volunteer) board pressured me to have a $50 registration fee and no fundraising (required minimums). At this time, $50 is a high registration for a charity bike ride here in Omaha, Neb.

Katrina VanHuss: Your board, in the absence of better information, is thinking, "If we just charge a registration fee, we at least get that money." What [the board members] don’t know is that they changed the entire nature of the outing. With a registration fee, several things happen. Riders expect more and expect differently. If you set a price, you have to define and deliver something tangible. “Hope” is not something that works with a price tag. Second, riders don’t anticipate they need to do more, like fundraise. They bought their experience; then they are done. At the outset of creating an event, we have to decide whether we are in a margin business or whether we are fundraising. Nothing wrong with either, but deciding and understanding the implications of that decision keeps us away from disappointing results. If we go with a margin model (with a sale price called a registration fee and/or minimum fundraising), then we have to dedicate ourselves to creating a great event in which people will pay, with a registration fee and minimum fundraising being the sale price. We have to maximize profit. If we go the other way (called a social relationship), then we count on recruiting mission-connected folk with the promise of impacting the mission, not necessarily a wonderful cycling event. These folks will fundraise voluntarily at higher levels with proper handling.

JD: We tried initially to accomplish the "margin business," but couldn't break into the crowded charity bike ride scene here. Many mission-minded folks did ride, but the initial numbers were 67 percent of our riders were not previously impacted by suicide loss. Our per-cyclist funds raised dropped precipitously when we went to the $50 fee; a few top fundraisers and cost reductions pulled us through to "make money." I am trying to intrinsically motivate cyclists and volunteers to fundraise by offering custom "Tour for Hope" Dri-Fit tech T-shirts (no ordinary shirts for cyclists) for $200 fundraising level and a custom bicycle jersey for $500 fundraising level. How can I influence their behavior more? The event is May 22, and I have about 10 riders on Facebook [and] about 50 to 75 people say they are coming/interested in the ride.

KV: With the $50 registration fee, it will be harder to get people to fundraise unless you’ve got an experience that will almost force them take that step, like a high minimum-fundraising amount, which you can charge if your experience is “worth the price.” This is not to say that some of your registrants are not there due to a mission connection, but simply charging the registration fee makes them question that connection (unconsciously). The recognition items you propose are good ones and may help you transcend the market relationship already inspired by the registration fee. Perhaps you could layer in recognition [for top fundraisers] in the form of experiences, like being lead rider, or having a ceremony at which they are honored, or inviting them to a board meeting to be honored. You can promote that type of experience in the same way a jacket or jersey is promoted.

JD: How do I motivate them to register? I did publish an email newsletter with the top 15 fundraisers and awarded them "honorary" bib numbers from prior tours. It went to about 5,000 to 10,000 with about a 9 percent open rate. I have thought I would call every prior cyclist, no more than 30 all-together, and personally ask them to ride.

KV: Love the honor bibs and encourage their use. But golly, the event is in a matter of weeks, on May 22. Ask for help from anyone connected, like your board. Ask other people to recruit. Ask current registrants to recruit. Ask your friends to help you recruit. Peer influence is the best possible push to get them to register. Make your goal getting all riders back, and have personal outreach—by you, or someone who has benefited from AFSP’s work, someone on the board, or another rider as the push. Warning: Discounting registration fees to inspire registration will give you a hearty “no fundraising” rash. Best steer clear.