Integrating Peer-to-Peer Fundraising with Annual Campaigns

If you’re looking for a compelling fundraising campaign idea to supplement your nonprofit’s annual fundraising efforts, look no further than peer-to-peer fundraising. 

What makes peer-to-peer fundraising such a great strategy to support annual fundraising campaigns? This fundraising style allows your nonprofit to: 

• Expand your reach to new supporters.
• Engage your top supporters on a deeper level, allowing them to take an active role in supporting your mission.
• Promote your nonprofit’s brand to a wider audience, enhancing recognition and trust. 

Let’s explore five strategies your nonprofit can use to integrate peer-to-peer fundraising into your annual campaign to support short- and long-term fundraising growth. 

1. Plan your peer-to-peer campaigns early.

Before each fundraising calendar year, plot out your campaigns. Review the annual fundraising events and campaigns you’ll conduct and see where peer-to-peer fundraising could be a good fit. 

Pay specific attention to your most important annual fundraising opportunities, such as:

• GivingTuesday
• Year-end appeals
• Your nonprofit’s biggest fundraising event, like your annual 5K or silent auction

For example, you can host a week-long peer-to-peer fundraising campaign that ends on GivingTuesday to inspire longer-lasting generosity. Or, you can require 5K registrants to raise a certain amount through fundraising before participating in the race. 

Whichever combination you choose, equip participants with the fundraising materials they need to succeed, such as a personalized online donation page and talking points for your campaign. Read on to learn how to align your peer-to-peer talking points with your annual fundraising goals. 

2. Align peer-to-peer campaigns with your annual fundraising theme.

It will be easier for peer-to-peer fundraising participants to explain your nonprofit’s goals to a broader audience when their campaigns are clearly connected to your annual fundraising theme and purpose. Align your peer-to-peer fundraising with your yearly giving efforts by taking these steps: 

• Identify your primary fundraising goal and case for support. Set a clear fundraising target for your annual giving efforts and determine key funding priorities for your mission. Your case for support should explain your fundraising goal, what the money will go toward, and how donors can show their support, whether through a peer-to-peer fundraiser or directly on your organization’s online donation form. 
• Choose a slogan or tagline to align your campaigns. A tagline can help rally supporters around your central fundraising theme for the year. For example, the World Wildlife Fund ran a recent campaign with the slogan “Love It or Lose It” to gather pledges toward their conservation mission. Last year, Amnesty International started a campaign called “Age Loud! Demand a world where human rights last a lifetime” to bring awareness and support to human rights for older adults.  
• Create templates and messaging for supporters to use when advertising their fundraisers. Provide templates and scripts for emails, social media posts, text messages, and phone calls. Supporters can use these templates to easily explain to their family members and friends why they should support their personal campaigns. 

Put more heart into your campaign message and theme by using friendly, approachable language to explain your fundraising purpose and goals. Humanize your goals by providing peer-to-peer fundraisers with testimonials from your organization’s beneficiaries that they can share via their fundraising pages. These efforts make your annual fundraising goals much more real and urgent for potential donors. 

3. Recruit fundraisers from your existing supporter pool.

Current supporters will already know your organization’s mission and may even have a sense of your annual fundraising goals. If these individuals are looking for ways to deepen their involvement with your cause, peer-to-peer fundraising is an excellent way to do so. 

P2P fundraising allows supporters to take a more active role in promoting and bolstering your mission. Use tools like your nonprofit’s CRM database and volunteer management system to identify current supporters who may be interested in the opportunity, such as: 

• Past peer-to-peer fundraisers
• Current donors
• Current volunteers
• Board members
• Corporate sponsors

Contact these individuals with personalized messages that reference their past involvement. For example, you could send an email saying, “Dear Rachel, we can’t thank you enough for your past support as a volunteer at our annual summer festival. We’re reaching out because we think your skills and passion would be a perfect fit for our peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities.” 

A personalized message shows supporters that you care about them as individuals and trust them to take on more active fundraising responsibilities. 

4. Plan special recognition moments.

Peer-to-peer fundraisers will be more likely to continue supporting your annual giving efforts when you show your gratitude in multiple ways. Incorporate supporter recognition throughout the giving process using the following ideas: 

• Milestone acknowledgments. Recognize peer-to-peer fundraisers when they meet certain milestones, like raising their first $100 or meeting their overall fundraising goals. Send appreciation emails and small gifts, like free merchandise. 
• Prizes for top fundraisers. According to Qgiv by Bloomerang’s peer-to-peer fundraising platforms guide, you can use robust fundraising tools to “gamify the fundraising experience” with leaderboards, fundraising thermometers, and fundraising badges.” 
• Appreciation and campaign wrap-up events. Invite campaign participants to a special appreciation event to conclude your campaign and share your overall fundraising total. This event could take place at the end of the year to give participants a holistic look into your fundraising success. Make the event more enticing by giving it a fun theme, such as a dance party, formal gala, winter carnival, or New Year’s Eve bash. 

Plan special recognition moments for peer-to-peer donors as well as fundraising participants. Send thank-you emails personalized with donors’ names and gift amounts. Follow up after your campaign concludes with detailed information describing the impact of their gifts, whether you used them to help build homes in your community or clean up pollution at a local beach. 

With these stewardship strategies, you can transform new donors and peer-to-peer fundraisers alike into lasting partners. 

5. Track impact and provide updates.

Tracking the impact of peer-to-peer fundraising on your annual fundraising goals lets you evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies and adjust your approach as needed. 

Evaluate metrics such as total donations brought in through peer-to-peer fundraising and your peer-to-peer fundraising participation rate, which is the percentage of all current supporters (donors, volunteers, sponsors, etc.) who participate in peer-to-peer campaigns. 

As you evaluate the impact of your program, keep fundraisers and donors in the loop to show them their efforts matter. For example, you should: 

• Demonstrate how peer-to-peer efforts supported your annual fundraising goals. Show how much these supporters raised and explain how you may have fallen short of your goals without the peer-to-peer fundraising efforts. 
• Show the real impact of peer-to-peer fundraising donations. Provide clear-cut data points to show impact, such as the number of beneficiaries helped or the geographic reach of your efforts. Send beneficiary testimonials so fundraisers and donors can hear from those supported by their fundraising efforts. 
• Survey peer-to-peer fundraisers and donors to get their feedback on the experience. Ask peer-to-peer fundraisers questions about whether it was easy to set up their donation pages. And did they feel supported by your organization throughout the process? In addition, ask donors if they felt like your online donation process was simple and convenient or if they have suggestions to improve your case for support and marketing outreach. 

Use the information you collect from data analysis and supporter surveys to revamp your efforts ahead of next year’s annual fundraising campaign. 

With careful planning, your organization can grow its peer-to-peer fundraising program into a powerhouse annual fundraising effort. Use supporter recognition and stewardship to facilitate ongoing support for these campaigns, creating a sustainable revenue stream that grows year after year.

Author: Jay Love

Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang

Jay has served this sector for 33 years. He’s considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Before founding Bloomerang, he was the co-founder and CEO of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to over 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches worldwide for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.