Peer to Peer

We—as individuals, as groups, as nonprofits, as businesses—operate in an environment that is fundamentally networked, and we’re seeing those networks become increasingly alive and powerful through the application of peer-to-peer technology. This presents a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits to leverage technology to mobilize their constituents' networks, and expand and recalibrate their fundraising programs. As the nonprofit peer-to-peer space…

According to Fundable, 270,000 jobs and $65 billion will be added to the global economy because of crowdfunding. Massolution has found that crowdfunding raised an estimated $5.1 billion in 2013. And according to Network for Good, peer-to-peer (P2P) giving represents 23 percent of all online giving, with an average gift size of $100. Do we…

When you think about childhood cancer, what images come to mind? What acts of selflessness or empowerment resonate? Chances are, head-shaving is one of them. St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the “world’s largest volunteer organization for childhood cancer” has captured the power of head shaving, packaged it for communities, and unleashed its full potential to mobilize networks…

Back in 1977, Billy Starr hopped on his bicycle and went for a ride. His mother had just died from melanoma and pushing the limits of the physical body helped Starr grieve the loss of his mother. On one rather strenuous ride, Starr had an idea. He and his friends would make a weekend of…

I was consulting with an executive with a major health-care nonprofit. She mentioned a concern about the way that organization’s staff interacted with volunteers. She felt like staff members were being too prescriptive in their instructions about fundraising, and that was probably a bad thing, although she couldn’t tell me exactly why...

In the past month, I’ve transitioned from urban planning in the public sector to the peer-to-peer fundraising world at Plenty. Before this shift I worked on countless planning projects that involved the studying of urban vacant lots and the techniques that can be used to stabilize these hazardous parcels through greening and landscaping treatments. And…

Movements are groups of people, like peer-to-peer fundraisers participating in an event, doing particular things because they believe particular things. Individuals form a belief by seeing themselves—literally as in, “I see my body doing this”—performing actions that support an idea, and taking on that mental idea. It doesn’t matter why a person’s body is engaged in the behavior, the mind will typically take on the belief demonstrated by the behavior...

Members of the ALS community aim to reignite the ice-bucket challenge with an eye to making it an annual fundraising event, while acknowledging it will likely continue on a smaller scale. Their rallying cry: Every August until a cure. "A lot of people think it was a one-time shot," said Pat Quinn, who was diagnosed…

Ewan Gordon ran a marathon every day for six weeks straight—a whopping total of 1,050 miles—for charity. The Englishman ran the entire length of Great Britain—and grew out his hair and beard to look like Forrest Gump.