3 Major Reasons to Host a Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser

Peer-to-peer fundraising (also known as social, P2P, or DIY fundraising) is an effective way to raise money for any cause. With this type of campaign, you enlist dedicated supporters to fundraise on your behalf. 

Typically, you equip each participant with a custom-built personal fundraising page, which they then share with their family and friends. The ultimate goal is to bring in increased funding and build new relationships with donors.

If you’re asking yourself why your nonprofit should host a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign— or if you should host one— we’ve put together a quick list of key reasons. A successful peer-to-peer fundraiser can help you:

1. Raise money from a safe distance, free from geographic limitations
2. Provide supporters with a unique opportunity to further their involvement
3. Leverage social proof to draw in new donors and build your network

In a way, peer-to-peer fundraising helps get other people to do your fundraising for you. Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! In fact, the better question might be, why not host a peer-to-peer fundraiser? And to that, we have no answer. Let’s jump in.

1. Raise money from a safe distance, free from geographic limitations.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, traditional nonprofit fundraising strategies became infeasible. In-person efforts such as donor events and other fundraisers have likely been canceled or postponed indefinitely. As a result, organizations around the world are looking for effective ways to supplement lost income by fundraising from home.

That being said, if you’re looking for new and exciting virtual fundraising ideas that can take place even in a socially distant environment, a peer-to-peer campaign is perfect. Because such fundraisers thrive on social media and other digital platforms, it’s a fantastic way for supporters to help you raise money from the comfort of their own homes.

2. Provide supporters with a unique opportunity to further their engagement.

Chances are, your dedicated supporters will highly cherish the opportunity to invest in your organization on a deeper level. While fundraising can be a dreaded chore to some, others see it as an exclusive chance to support a mission they care about.

In fact, many people even dedicate their birthdays to fundraising for their favorite charities through Facebook’s fundraiser feature. While these fundraisers tend to have a bad rap among nonprofit professionals, check out this guide to see why your team should lean into it instead. After all, more than $1 billion has been donated to nonprofits through birthday fundraisers since their launch in 2017. 

As with all fundraisers, the way you craft your fundraising ask and the content of your campaign is more important than anything else. In other words, Facebook fundraisers (and other P2P campaigns) can provide a brilliant opportunity for further involvement when they’re used to your advantage!

And if that’s not enough, studies show that more than 12% of Facebook shares end up converting to donations.

3. Leverage social proof to draw in new donors and build your network.

Peer-to-peer fundraising empowers organizations to leverage social proof. Social proof is the idea that people tend to follow the actions of those in their communities (online or in real life), so long as they believe it is the right action. When a person sees that other individuals that they trust are supporting a particular mission (in this case, yours!), they’re more likely to join in than if you had asked for a donation yourself.

As a result, a previously uninvolved person makes a donation to your cause through a friend or family member’s virtual peer-to-peer fundraising page, and all of a sudden, you have a brand new donor!

Then, once an individual has made their initial gift, it’s important to put your effective donor retention practices in place to keep them coming back time and time again. In order to do so, it’s a good idea to invest in high-quality donor management software that can help you build long-term relationships with your newly acquired supporters.

Now that you understand the benefits of hosting peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, it’s a good idea to keep your eye out for other emerging philanthropic trends as well. That way, you’ll be able to better connect with your supporters in the most effective ways possible. Good luck!

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