5 Reasons to Consider Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Now
By Brittany LaGanke, Director of Nonprofit Development, CGC
Originally published on 3/31/20 by OneCause
The devastating effects of COVID-19 on fundraising have been overwhelming lately and it’s hard to know when the end in sight. The economic fallout has been particularly difficult on the nonprofit industry.
Many of us have been forced to cancel fundraising events that produce revenue vital to sustaining our missions and are uncertain about our organizations’ financial futures. We are now searching for new ways to replace this much-needed revenue through online fundraising.
One such method is Peer-to-Peer (P2P) fundraising. Here are some reasons to consider using peer-to-peer fundraising now:
1. Engage supporters you already have.
Finding new donors is difficult, even in the best of times. Now more than ever, you may need to rely on the people you already have in your network (previous donors, volunteers, Board members, Ambassadors). The good news is: They already love you and support your mission.
Chances are, they will want to help you now and support the organization through this difficult time. This is a chance for them to make a huge difference in the future of the organization.
2. Create access to new donors.
Peer-to-peer and virtual campaigns are a great way to gain access to new donors without having to do all the work of prospecting and soliciting by yourself. Your fundraisers will act as the ambassadors of your organization and reach out to their networks of friends, family, and colleagues on your behalf. This will allow you to maximize your efforts and multiply your reach.
3. Less work for your team.
Once the initial set up and planning work is complete, your peer-to-peer fundraisers will be doing the heavy lifting for you. This doesn’t mean you can just sit back and relax.
You’ll want to provide them with plenty of tools and resources to start and continue to support them throughout the process. But if you plan things out well ahead of time, you can unleash your fundraisers and free up some time for your team to focus on other areas of need.
4. Encourage competition.
Peer-to-peer is an opportunity to gamify your fundraising and create some fun, healthy competition among your participants. You might consider creating different fundraising “teams” with their own “captains” who are competing to raise the most funds and earn prizes.
You could feature “leaderboards” on the main landing page so the rankings are updated and visible for all. Most P2P software platforms have these capabilities. Don’t forget to acknowledge and reward your fundraisers. They will appreciate the recognition of their efforts.
5. Useful data for future campaigns/events.
If you’ve never tried peer-to-peer fundraising before, this might be a great opportunity to see if this method may be useful for future endeavors such as: end-of-year giving campaigns, annual donation appeals, and event-driven campaigns.
You’ll have access to an online platform that updates in real time and provides useful data throughout the duration of the campaign. It’s a chance to test the waters and determine what works best for your network. You might just be surprised as to how you can incorporate peer-to-peer fundraising and other creative fundraising ideas into your organization’s overall strategy.
Learn about our fundraising services here.