How To Incorporate P2P Fundraising Into Year-End Fundraising Campaigns (+ 3 Nonprofit Examples)

Over the last 6 years, we’ve witnessed thousands of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns here at CauseVox. And one thing’s for sure, the popularity of this fundraising technique is still growing.

In fact, over ⅓ of donations collected online in 2014 were a result of peer-to-peer fundraising.

As you finalize your year-end fundraising calendar, consider adding peer-to-peer fundraising into your plan.

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Here are a few questions to ask as you begin planning your year-end peer-to-peer fundraising campaign:

Why Should I Use Peer-To-Peer Fundraising?

At CauseVox, we believe that peer-to-peer fundraising, also known as social fundraising, is an ideal way to raise money for your cause. Here’s why:

• Donations: You’ll collect donations from current and recruited supporters.
• Engagement: You’ll engage supporters by mobilizing them to fundraise for your organization and, in the process, increase donor retention.
• Expansion: You’ll expand your donor base with the friends, family, coworkers, classmates, etc. of your current donors.

How Do I Start Planning A Peer-To-Peer Fundraiser?

1) Set A Goal

Begin with the end in mind. As the end of the year closes in, what does your nonprofit need? What is the impact you want to make? Then, create a SMART goal based on that need:

Specific

Measureable

Attainable

Relevant

Timely

For example, aim to collect enough donations for fund 100 bikes for children in Africa over the month of December.

2) Create A Plan & Theme

When you run a year-end peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you must first decide what type of campaign it will be. You have many options, including:

• Traditional: Online peer-to-peer fundraiser using personal fundraisers.
• Activity-Based: Fundraisers raise money to participate in an event such as a marathon or 5K.
• Personal Challenge: Fundraisers raise money on behalf of a cause during a milestone day (such as a holiday) or when completing a personal challenge.

From there, allow your creative juices to flow. Create a campaign theme based on the type of fundraiser you’re running, the interests of your fundraisers, and your end goal.

Don’t forget to consider the holidays and special events that occur during the end of the year, and incorporate those into your plan. These can include #GivingTuesday, Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year’s Eve, for starters.

3) Decide On A Platform

When deciding on an online peer-to-peer fundraising platform, weigh the pros and cons of the following:

• Cost
• Ease of use and customization
• Control over design and branding
• Support
• Features such as mobile-optimized, donation processing

Over the years, we’ve listened to our customers and have continued to expand the power and customization of our online fundraising software. We’ve focused on making it easy to use for you and your donors, fully customizable, and centered around storytelling.

When you use our peer-to-peer fundraising software, you’re able to share your story with current and prospective supports in a user-friendly, clean, and optimized setting.

Use Your Resources

The reason we believe peer-to-peer fundraising is such an effective technique is because it uses your supporter’s influence to power your campaign. When you mobilize your own donors, volunteers, board members, and other stakeholders to fundraise for your organization, they are able to help your campaign reach a newer, broader audience of prospective donors.

To both connect and engage your supporters to become personal fundraisers, and then to ensure they have everything they need to successfully raise money, you’ll need to use all your resources.

Here are a few of the resources you’ll use to connect with supporters and prospective donors:

Email & Direct Mail

Ask supporters to consider become peer-to-peer fundraisers via email and direct mail well before you plan to kickoff the campaign.

Personalize the request and provide them with the information about the campaign they need to make the decision and promote their page with a Personal Fundraiser Toolkit.

During the campaign, personal fundraisers can use their own email to share the campaign with friends and family.

Social Media

Peer-to-peer fundraising and social media go together like peanut butter and jelly. At CauseVox, we know that you can, in fact, use the power of social media to not just share your campaign, but to encourage others to do the same.

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By doing so, you’ll capitalize on the power of social sharing and individuals recommending your organization.

It’s important to remember that as a nonprofit or charity, your own posts on Facebook aren’t prioritized the way posts from personal connections are. Therefore, when your supporters share your (or their own) campaign posts, they’ll be seen by more people which may help to increase exposure and ultimately your impact.

As always, try to stay informed about the policies and changes on the social media platforms you use.

Consider These Examples

By examining how other organizations run peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, you can learn and develop your own plan to fit the needs of your organization and supporters. So, take a look at these 3 nonprofits and use their strategies to elevate your year-end peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to the next level.

1) World Bicycle Relief Palabana Campaign

As their 2015 year-end fundraiser, World Bicycle Relief ran a peer-to-peer campaign with a goal of donating bikes for the community of Palabana in Zambia. Using CauseVox, World Bicycle Relief was able to mobilize thousands of donors and fundraisers to support the cause.

Highlights

• #GivingTuesday: To kickstart the campaign, World Bicycle Relief heavily promoted their campaign on the Global Day of Giving, #GivingTuesday. In 2015, they flew past their goal by using social media to promote the campaign during a 24-hour period.
• Goal Setting: World Bicycle Relief set a strong goal for #GivingTuesday that powered the campaign forward the rest of the year.
• Video Storytelling: Aside from encouraging fundraisers to post their own stories, World Bicycle Relief used beautiful, compelling videos that explained the need for the campaign, as well as the donor’s impact.

2) World Help’s Campaign

World Help’s peer-to-peer fundraising campaign uses many of CauseVox’s most popular features to rally and engage their supporters.

Highlights

• Give Your Donors Options: Instead of simply asking donors to fundraise for one cause, World Help gives their personal fundraisers options. By doing so, fundraisers can promote a specific cause that resonates to them individually.
• Storytelling: World Help encourages personal fundraisers to include their own stories on their fundraising page. In doing so, the audience is given an explanation as to why their friend chose to support this particular organization
• Using Impact To Encourage Donations: Donors appreciate knowing the impact their gift will make, which is why World Help chose to include an impact meter on the campaign site.

3) Charity Science “Donate Your Christmas”

Many nonprofits and charities such as Charity Science use special giving days and holidays to encourage supporters to become personal fundraisers.

Highlights

• Social Media Prompts: Social media is the avenue that personal fundraisers most often take to share their campaign. To make the experience easier for supporters, Charity Science included social media prompts to help fundraisers effectively spread the word.

• Holiday Fundraiser: Charity Science capitalized on the spirit of giving by promoting a holiday fundraiser that uses the idea of “gifting” to raise money. It’s a seasonally appropriate and smart way to raise money by working with people who are already thinking about giving and receiving holiday gifts.
• Give Your Supporters Options: There are times when supporters want to become personal fundraisers, but may not be able to commit at the moment. Give these people a chance to get involved in a different way. In the case of Charity Science, they suggested gifting a Charity Science gift card.

‘Tis the season for family dinners, gifts, carols, and candy canes. But, it’s also the time to increase fundraising efforts. Why not use your own supporters to help in your efforts?

By incorporating peer-to-peer fundraising into your year-end fundraising plan, you’ll engage your most loyal supporters, raise money, and get in front a large audience of prospective donors.

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When you use CauseVox to power your year-end peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, we’ll work together to ensure your site meets the needs of your organization and donor base with features such as an impact meter, storytelling/blog space, and real-time donation tracker.

Take the next step and schedule a 1-on-1 demo so we can show you exactly how you can use peer-to-peer fundraising to amplify your year-end campaign.

If you found this article of use, then check out these additional resources:

• Ultimate Guide To Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
• 60-Day Year-End Fundraising Plan for Nonprofits & Charities
• Webinar: Fundraising Expert Panel on Year-End Fundraising