Kicking Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Up a Notch

Next week, we're releasing a new episode of The NonProfit Voice with a very special guest. And in that episode, we dove into the topic of people-powered fundraising. 

While we mainly discussed the power of crowdfunding, it got me thinking about peer-to-peer fundraising — crowdfunding on steroids. It’s going beyond the donation (you can read more about this in this issue’s cover story). Peer-to-peer fundraising has a lot of potential, but I’m afraid to say that many nonprofits are not optimizing it. And why not?

It’s the typical run-of-the-mill stuff: “We don’t have enough time.” “We don’t have enough resources.” “It’ll cost too much money.” “We don’t know how.” “We can’t add any more to our workload.”

We have preached over and over about the current boom of technology and how it’s destined to help nonprofits become stronger, faster, smarter and sustainable. As a Millennial, I believe this is true, but I’m not here to preach to you about the glories of investing in technology.

Instead, I’m imploring to be more creative in your peer-to-peer fundraising strategy. Your supporters want to be engaged, they want to have fun, they want to be inspired and they want to be appreciated. So put your thinking caps on and analyze the donor data. Find out behavioral patterns — when are they most engaged, when do they donate, when are they interested, when are they sharing on social media?

The information here gives you a ton of fodder on how you can carve out your peer-to-peer fundraising strategy. A peer-to-peer campaign doesn’t have to be intricate, and it sure as heck doesn’t have to be expensive.

Start an online video campaign, for example: “Send a video response telling us what global warming means to you.” Take all of those video responses and share them throughout your communications. Use those stories to fuel donations — “Join us in the fight against global warming. Our planet matters. Donate today.”

Another example is partnering with local businesses. The other day, my best friend told me about “Dine Out for Pets Sake,” an event hosted by the Pennsylvania SPCA on September 18, where if you dine at any of the selected restaurants, a portion of your check will be donated to the PSPCA. It’s fun, it’s cute and it’ll drive people to go out and eat because it’s for a good cause.

If you’re interested in learning more about peer-to-peer fundraising from organizations, such as American Cancer Society, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Make-A-Wish America, Rise Against Hunger and more, come join us for the Peer to Peer Advanced Conference, where we’re taking you beyond the peer-to-peer basics for in-depth, next-level thinking. We’re covering topics like predictive analytics, livestream fundraising, fundraising ethics, relationship-building and more. Visit p2p.nonprofitpro.com to find out more.

And before you go, I want to know something: How are you thinking creatively in your peer-to-peer fundraising? I’d love to hear your ideas. Shoot me a line at nhute@napco.com.

Nhu Te
Editor-in-Chief
NonProfit PRO