peer to peer fundraising tips

Are you ready to raise money for your nonprofit, but not sure where to start? Consider peer-to-peer fundraising, a method of social fundraising that turns the traditional donation model on its head. By empowering your existing donor base to enlist their friends, family, and social network to contribute on their behalf, peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising is the perfect way to maximize your nonprofit’s reach at minimal additional cost. Not familiar with peer-to-peer fundraising yet? Check out Double the Donation’s guide to peer-to-peer fundraising. With our day-to-day lives becoming more and more integrated with our online presence, there has never been a better time to meet donors where they are through digital engagement. Check out these 5 proven peer-to-peer strategies to rock your next fundraiser:

1. Start with stellar P2P software.
2. Host a peer-to-peer event to bring supporters together.
3. Empower your fundraisers with the right resources.
4. Don’t neglect your email strategy.
5. Use your P2P campaign to steward existing donors.

Ready to learn more about how to utilize peer-to-peer fundraising for your nonprofit? Let’s get started!

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1. Start with stellar P2P software.

The foundation of every great P2P fundraiser is software that can meet the needs of your nonprofit while also responding to the needs of your donor base. The best P2P fundraising software should feature:

• Built-in donation processing. By allowing donors to give directly through a P2P campaign page, you make donating easy by eliminating unnecessary barriers to donation.
• A flexible platform. Platform flexibility gives you the opportunity to tailor your outreach with the convenience of your donor base in mind. By being able to share P2P campaign pages across email, Facebook, Twitter, or another social network, you can meet donors where they already are, making them more likely to engage with your campaign.
• Integrated marketing tools. With integrated marketing tools like analytics, automated email, or social media management features, you’re able to collect broader constituent data with your P2P fundraising software. Armed with this information, you can profit in the long run by learning more about how to successfully engage your donors.

2. Host a peer-to-peer event to bring supporters together.

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While P2P fundraising thrives online, it’s still very important to hold an in-person event to tie your efforts together.
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‍Most P2P fundraisers are anchored by events like walkathons, bike races, or other active gatherings that bring communities together. Your event should offer multiple levels of engagement: for example, if an individual opts not to hold a campaign of their own, they may choose to participate as a spectator or event volunteer. When holding a fundraising event associated with your P2P campaign, you strengthen your efforts by:

• Offering alternatives. P2P fundraisers flourish online, but when they are paired with anchoring events you offer your constituents multiple levels of engagement with your fundraiser. For those who aren’t active on the internet, they can donate on-site or volunteer on the day of the event. For those who can’t make it to the event, they can still be involved with the fundraiser online.
• Adding time. The online components of P2P fundraising expand the fundraising window for the campaign, which would traditionally be confined only to the date of the event. This means more time to get people interested in your cause and more time to collect donations!
• Embracing technology. Many P2P fundraising events now collect donations on-site using digital donation kiosks in conjunction with traditional cash and check donation collection. In this way, you’re ready to accept whatever form of gifts your donors are able to give without sacrificing the convenience of P2P campaign pages.

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The most important thing gained by anchoring your P2P fundraiser with an event is broadening the ways your constituents can interact with your fundraiser.With the convenience of online giving matched with the community elements of an an in-person fundraiser, you’ll make it easier than ever for donors to engage with your nonprofit!

3. Empower your fundraisers with the right resources.

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The best P2P campaigns are empowered when they can provide donors with the right tools to stay engaged while remaining on message.
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‍For example, with platforms like Qgiv, you can share templates with your fundraisers to preserve consistent language in donation requests across various social media platforms, making it easier for individual donors to get their campaigns started. To encourage donors to give more generously, some P2P platforms also offer gamification tools to their users. These tools consist of:

• Leaderboards. With this tool, donors can get a competitive edge by seeing who has raised the most funding for your cause.
• Fundraising thermometers. Let your donors watch in real time as they get closer and closer to reaching your overall goal.
• Unique badges. Donors can collect these as they raise more and more money, distinguishing generous givers apart from the crowd.

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Not only do these tools make the fundraising process more enjoyable for your existing donors, but they also make it easier for your constituents to encourage their friends and family to contribute to their campaigns so they can get in on the fun. You can also offer donors the freedom to fully customize their campaign pages. By having the ability to upload personal photos or write profile descriptions, donors will feel more at home on their page. In turn, they’ll be more likely to continue to remain engaged with fundraising efforts, and their social network will be more likely to participate in their campaign when the donor’s page is familiar and welcoming.

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4. Don’t neglect your email strategy.

While often overshadowed by social media outreach efforts, communicating with constituents via email is still incredibly important when it comes to keeping your base productive during your P2P campaign. Using constituent data, you can tailor an email strategy that optimally accesses your desired donor base. Here are a few techniques you can employ when using email to engage with your constituents:

• Personalization. Consider sending personalized emails to your base addressing them at all levels of engagement. You want all of your donors, regardless of their level of giving, to feel like they’re an active part of your community. This will make them more likely to be recurring donors, and more likely to encourage their social network to donate.
• Reminders. If your supporters haven’t yet made their donation, a reminder email could nudge them in the right direction. Keep it short, polite, and open-ended. They might not be able to donate at this time, so you don’t want to make them feel obligated to give.
• Giving thanks. If they’ve already donated, a thank-you email could encourage donors to donate again or invite their friends to give. Thank-you messages are often what turn one-time donors into regular contributors, and you want to keep donors thinking about your organization well after they’ve made their donation.

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Let it be noted that one of the reasons why P2P campaigns succeed is due to their diverse points of access for potential donors. Just as you shouldn’t neglect social media outreach for email engagement, you shouldn’t only communicate with constituents via social media either. Simply strike a balance between the two in order to reach the most potential donors as possible.Want to learn more about successful online fundraising tactics? Be sure to consult our previous post, 6 Forward-Thinking Online Fundraising Strategies.

5. Use your P2P campaign to steward existing donors.

By choosing to hold a peer-to-peer fundraiser, you place your existing donor base at the center of your strategy. Without your supporters, the growth of your fundraiser would not be possible, so it is integral that you show them your appreciation and make them feel like they’re a part of your team. P2P campaigns generally steward donors in a few key ways:

• Giving thanks. One simple way to let donors know how much they mean to your nonprofit is to be sure to thank them personally after every gift. You can follow up their donation with a thank-you email or even send them a personalized letter.
• Social media engagement. P2P fundraisers primarily live online, and there is no better place to spotlight your donors than on social media. After receiving a gift, you may want to give a shout-out to your donors as a way to publicly thank them for their generosity.
• Donor incentives. You can incentivize potential donors by offering donor rewards or holding online contests. This is a particularly great way to emphasize the social side of P2P giving as it engages your audience publicly, offering them the opportunity to actively interact with their friends and family.

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Another strategy to consider is using the insights you gain through P2P fundraising to keep in touch with your donors in the right ways. Store your donors’ preferred method of communication in your database, and always allow them opt out of a particular line of communication if that’s their preference. If your donor would rather only receive emails than texts or calls, they are more likely to view your nonprofit positively when you give them the chance to make that preference known. Otherwise, they may grow resentful if they find your communication tactics bothersome. While there are a ton of creative fundraising ideas available, we find P2P fundraising to be one of the most effective. Think a P2P fundraising campaign is right for your nonprofit? With these strategies in mind, you’re now ready to rock your own P2P fundraiser.