Study Finds P2P Walk/Run Programs Struggling With Staffing, Facebook Fundraiser Declines

A new study developed by Nuclavis, a mobile technology company serving the nonprofit industry, found that peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising programs are struggling to activate fundraisers and retain past participants in the first half of 2024.

The study highlights a correlation between these challenges and two unique factors impacting P2P programs in recent years: inconsistent staffing and sharp declines in revenue from Facebook fundraisers.

“We’ve worked in the peer-to-peer space our entire careers,” said Nuclavis CEO Kathy Kempff, “and the challenges we’re seeing nonprofits face today are different than they were 5 years ago. We hope that highlighting these challenges now will help P2P program managers prepare and course-correct ahead of the peak fall P2P fundraising season and beyond.”

The study, titled “2024 Nuclavis P2P Fundraising Study,” analyzes survey responses from twenty-four nonprofit P2P program managers and other key staff members across the United States and Canada collected from April 24 – May 14, 2024.

Principle among the findings were:

• 54% of P2P program managers reported losing staff in the last year, due either to employee layoffs or voluntary departures.
• 100% of programs that experienced a staffing change in the last year also reported challenges acquiring new participants, and 62% also reported challenges retaining past participants.
• Activating $0 Fundraisers was the most-reported challenge across programs, with 54% of respondents reporting they are having trouble getting P2P participants to raise funds. This challenge was even more pronounced among Walk/Run programs, with 70% of Walk/Run program managers reporting struggles with fundraiser activation.
• 67% of spring Walk/Run programs reported declines in revenue from integrated Facebook fundraisers.
• 75% of those who reported Facebook fundraiser declines also reported challenges with fundraiser activation overall.

“Staffing issues are hitting P2P programs especially hard,” said Noel Beebe, the Director of Client Strategy at Nuclavis, and lead author of the study. “Organizations can’t effectively attract, build, and maintain relationships with peer-to-peer participants without dedicated, consistent staff members. I fear that this staffing crisis is going to have long-term negative impacts for many P2P programs.

“But that’s only part of the story,” Beebe went on to say. “The changes we’ve seen in Meta’s commitment to Facebook’s fundraisers are also impacting peer-to-peer programs in a big way, and most organizations aren’t prepared for it. If you’re not looking at your data and thinking about new ways to empower your fundraisers, you could be in for major declines this fall.”

To learn more about the challenges facing P2P programs and ways to mitigate these challenges, view the full 2024 Nuclavis P2P Fundraising Study here.

Source: Nuclavis

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.