What is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising? The Ultimate Guide

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One of the most rewarding aspects of working at a nonprofit is the community of supporters you get to build and connect with. By bonding over your shared commitment to your cause, you can develop lasting relationships and secure continued support for your organization.
Chances are, your nonprofit’s supporters would enjoy being more involved in the fundraising process to help you gather even more donations for your cause. With peer-to-peer fundraising, your community members can take the initiative and expand your fundraising efforts to reach others in their networks.
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a type of online fundraising campaign in which nonprofit supporters take an active role in supporting their favorite organizations. In this guide, we’re going to cover the ins and outs of peer-to-peer fundraising through the following sections:
To start, we’ll revisit the basics to make sure we’re all on the same page when it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising.
Peer-to-peer fundraising (sometimes shortened to P2P fundraising) is a fundraising strategy where individuals organize personal campaigns to raise money on behalf of a nonprofit organization.
Organizations recruit volunteers among their supporter bases to launch personalized campaign pages. Volunteers then reach out to their networks of friends and family to collect donations for their campaigns.
While peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding share some characteristics, they are two separate strategies.
Both crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising require your nonprofit to rely on its network of supporters reaching out to their friends and family (usually leveraging social media) to raise money on behalf of your nonprofit.
The difference lies in how your campaign is set up and how you share it. While crowdfunding campaigns empower your supporters to share the same campaign page across multiple sites and platforms, peer-to-peer fundraising empowers your volunteers to launch their own personalized pages to raise funds on your behalf.
As a result, your peer-to-peer fundraisers can create campaign pages that include personal information about their connections to your organization. This specificity and individualization further encourage new supporters to give to the campaign due to their relationship with your volunteer fundraisers. In fact, 39% of Americans say they’ve donated to a cause because of a request from a family member or friend.
There are three primary types of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns: rolling, time-based, and giving days.
Rolling peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns operate without a time limit. They’re designed to raise a certain amount of money and those funds don’t have a set deadline.
If you want to give supporters the option to raise money on behalf of your nonprofit at any time, you might set up a rolling campaign on your site. That way, they can create a personalized campaign page whenever they want and dedicate the revenue to your annual fund.
An example of a rolling campaign is Alex’s Lemonade Stand’s fundraisers. Anyone can use the nonprofit’s resources to host their own lemonade stand fundraiser at any given time.
Time-based peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are more common and require participants to raise funds by a specific deadline. These types of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are often tied to events.
For example, an organization may launch a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign leading up to its annual walk-a-thon, like the Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk. This campaign would allow you to spread the word about the event, increasing revenue for the general campaign through peer-to-peer fundraising.
Giving days operate like condensed versions of time-based campaigns that only last 24 hours. These campaigns create a sense of urgency for your supporters to reach their personal goals and help your nonprofit achieve its overarching goal in a short amount of time.
For these types of campaigns, your nonprofit can lean into established giving occasions like GivingTuesday or create its own giving days that make sense for your cause. For instance, an animal shelter may host a giving day on National Rescue Dog Day to raise funds for dog adoptions.
A real-life example of a giving day is American Red Cross Giving Day. Taking place during Red Cross Month, this day is dedicated to raising funds for families affected by home fires and other disasters.
Hosting a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign allows you to cast a wide net and earn donations from many people simultaneously. It’s not just about accessing funding, though. Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns also offer opportunities for nonprofit organizations to connect more deeply with their supporters.
These campaigns can allow you to:
Before you launch your peer-to-peer campaign, choose which goals are most important for your organization, both in terms of revenue and engagement opportunities. That way, you can make focused decisions that drive your objectives forward.
For example, you may use your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to engage your current supporter base and increase your retention rate. In this case, you might set goals regarding the percentage of current supporters you want to recruit to participate in the campaign. Then, you can specifically focus on encouraging supporters to participate, stewarding them, and showing your appreciation as they raise funds for your mission.
Follow these steps to launch your own peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
Chances are, you’ll have multiple goals you’d like to accomplish. Determine all of your goals, and rank them in order of priority.
For example, you might decide that you have four goals for your campaign:
From here, you need a revenue goal that will meet your needs. Let’s say that you want to raise $20,000. If you recruit 50 volunteers, you can encourage them to set a goal of raising $400 each for your campaign. If they’re successful, you’ll hit that $20,000 goal.
Pick the software platform that will help your nonprofit reach its peer-to-peer campaign fundraising goals. Look for a solution with the following features:
If you already use a dedicated peer-to-peer platform, add your campaign’s details to your main information page. Highlight the basics of your campaign, including your overarching goals and what the funds raised will support.
Start recruiting supporters to fundraise on your behalf by presenting the campaign’s objectives and goals. Position the opportunity as a way to get more involved with your nonprofit and become an ambassador for your cause.
It’s best to recruit supporters who have already shown a demonstrated interest in your cause. These may be avid volunteers, regular event attendees, dedicated donors, or engaged social media followers.
After you’ve recruited your supporters, show them how to launch their own campaign pages and make the most of the opportunity. Help them create their own compelling fundraising appeals based on their experiences with your nonprofit. People are more likely to give money to a person rather than an organization, meaning their unique words and appeals will drive more support than a generic message from your organization.
Support your volunteer fundraisers during every step of your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. Provide tips throughout the campaign to show them how to take their fundraiser to the next level.
For instance, you might recommend:
Regularly check in with your supporters to assess their progress toward their individual goals. These check-ins will keep their motivation high as they continue to raise funds for your organization.
When you hit your goal, celebrate! Reach out to all the supporters who helped fundraise on your behalf and thank them for their involvement.
On a smaller scale, when individual fundraisers hit their goals, reach out to congratulate them. Encourage them to continue raising money for the campaign so they know they can keep going and surpass their goal.
After the campaign ends, it’s time to say a lot of thank yous. Thank every fundraiser for getting involved, and don’t forget to show appreciation for the donors who contributed to the campaign’s success.
Avoid lumping your donor and volunteer segments together. Instead, create personalized communications depending on how each individual participated in your campaign to reach everyone on a personal level.
To show your appreciation for your fundraisers, consider the following:
To show your appreciation for your donors, you might consider the following:
These appreciation strategies will close out the campaign and make sure it ends on a high note for everyone involved. They will also encourage people to get more involved in the future, increasing your organization’s retention rate for these types of campaigns.
Directly after the campaign, build a report of the key metrics that determine your campaign’s success.
Some of the metrics you might decide to analyze include your:
Analyze these metrics and identify opportunities for improvement. Then, make a note of these opportunities for the next campaign. We recommend conducting this analysis directly after the campaign so the details are still fresh in your mind.
Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns can take many forms. Consider your development plan and the type of campaign that will best fit your needs.
Check out this comprehensive list of P2P fundraising ideas for even more ideas!
A 5K is a great way to inspire friendly competition among supporters while raising funds for your mission. Use your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to spread the word about the event and encourage participants to launch their own personal campaign pages ahead of time. That way, even those who can’t attend can donate and support your cause.
Similar to your 5K race, you can encourage your walk-a-thon participants to raise funds for your cause before and during the event. Have supporters set up peer-to-peer pages and ask for pledges based on the distance they walk (i.e. $5 per number of laps or miles).
Sports tournaments are exciting opportunities that encourage people to come out and support their local teams. Ask each team to set up a fundraising page as a part of your peer-to-peer campaign so supporters can cheer on their favorite team and show support by contributing to the campaign. The team that wins the tournament and the one that raises the most money for your nonprofit should receive a reward.
Raising money for a single sports team is another great way to leverage a peer-to-peer fundraiser. Let’s say your nonprofit organizes a pick-up kickball game to raise money. Each team member can raise funds using their own personalized campaign page leading up to the big game.
Read-a-thons are perfect peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities for kids. Encourage them (with the help of their parents or guardians) to set up a campaign page and ask for sponsorships for the number of pages they read in a set period of time.
Your nonprofit’s holiday party is an exciting time for your organization. Invite supporters to attend and raise money leading up to the event. You might even offer a discount for entry (if you require an entry fee) for supporters who raise a certain amount of funds.
Merchandise campaigns are special types of peer-to-peer campaigns where you sell merchandise to raise donations. Your supporters create their own campaign page connected to your organization. Then, when the supporters’ friends and family make a donation of a certain size, they’ll receive a t-shirt, mug, or other branded merchandise.
Peer-to-peer fundraising can be challenging, especially if you’re new to it. That’s why we’ve compiled several tips that you can use to maximize your campaign and help you succeed.
Here are our top tips for success:
Using the right online giving tool is essential for ensuring you can enact these various peer-to-peer fundraising tips. Prioritize the features you need for your specific peer-to-peer campaign, and compare different software providers to choose the one that’s best for your organization.
To host an effective peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you’ll need a platform that allows your supporters to customize their campaign pages and promote them to a wide audience. We recommend using Qgiv, an all-in-one peer-to-peer fundraising platform.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive, user-friendly peer-to-peer fundraising platform, look no further than Qgiv. With Qgiv’s intuitive software, you can empower your fundraisers to customize their pages and encourage their networks of friends and family to contribute.
Check out some of the incredible features Qgiv has to offer:
Plus, Bloomerang’s partnership with Qgiv allows nonprofits to put supporter relationships at the heart of every fundraising campaign. By combining Qgiv’s fundraising tools with Bloomerang’s donor management software, you can seamlessly sync your fundraising data and use it to build stronger donor relationships. With all of your fundraising data and tools in one place, you can unlock unparalleled insights that allow you to fortify your fundraising strategy over time.
Peer-to-peer fundraising allows your organization to raise funds, increase your donor retention rate, and generate excitement leading up to fundraising events. No matter where your supporters are located, they can get involved and become champions of your cause, helping you maximize your fundraising efforts.
If you’re looking for even more information about fundraising and how peer-to-peer fundraising will fit into your overall strategy, check out these additional resources:
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