The Four Cornerstones of Successful Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Abby Jarvis • Aug 06, 2021

How can you raise more money during your next peer-to-peer campaign? Easy! Take steps to get (and keep!) your fundraising participants highly engaged in the fundraising process. How do you make that happen? Well, that answer is a little more detailed.


Luckily, the data scientists at Qgiv have uncovered four key behaviors of successful peer-to-peer participants. Try these peer-to-peer fundraising tips and you’ll be well on your way to meeting your fundraising goal.



Step One: Encourage participants to customize their personal fundraising page

 

Why?

 

Peer-to-peer participants who update their personal fundraising pages raise between 7 and 18 times more than people who don’t! When someone updates their personal fundraising pages, they're investing their time, energy, and—to some extent—emotional labor in your event. They’ll want a return on that investment!


This is due to a really cool psychological pattern called the “Benjamin Franklin Effect.” When we do a favor for someone, we tend to view that person more fondly. Our brains tell us, “Wow! We just did a favor for that person. We must really like them!” So, when you Inspire your participants to do you the “favor” of filling out their personal fundraising page, they’ll be more invested in your event’s success.


But there’s another reason this is so important! Completed fundraising pages are more compelling to potential donors than non-personalized ones. This is down to something called “social proof”—knowing our friends and family are invested in a cause inspires generosity! As a matter of fact, 24.5% of donors cited friends’ and family’s input as an important factor in their decision to give, and a whopping 40% of donors ask their loved ones’ opinions about a nonprofit before giving (psst: this statistic came from our Generational Giving Report—you can learn more about your donors’ motivations by downloading the report!).


Imagine I’m raising money for a nonprofit and, when you land on my fundraising page, it’s still full of generic copy the nonprofit added as a placeholder. How inspired would you be to donate? Now, imagine that I’ve replaced that generic copy with a personal story that shares why I’m raising money for this particular cause. I’ve even added a nice photo! How much more would you be willing to donate once you’ve seen my personal story?

Screenshot of example of a participants personalized fundraising page


How do I encourage participants to do this?

 

There are two things you should do to encourage your participants to complete their fundraising pages. First, emphasize completing the pages in the days following your supporter’s registration. Our data scientists discovered that most peer-to-peer participants will complete their pages within 5 days of registering for the event.


After the 5-day mark, page completion rates drop to almost nothing. After your participants register, send them an email (or two!) specifically asking them to complete their fundraising page. Include a note about why it’s important! Tell your participants that completing their page will make them more successful fundraisers.


The second step to take is to make it as easy as possible to build a compelling fundraising page. Our data shows that most participants will only work on their page for about a day. Once they’ve begun updating their fundraising pages, they’ll stop within 24 hours. That’s a pretty small window—make the most of it! Anything you can do to help your participants create a compelling page in a short period of time will benefit everyone. Suggest talking points, share some tips, and give them access to images, videos, or other elements they may need as they build their page.



Step Two: Ask your participants to send fundraising emails

 

Why?

 

Fundraisers who send emails to their friends and family raise between 2 and 11 times more than those who don’t. And no wonder! Email is one of the most effective fundraising channels for nonprofits, and 35% of donors prefer to receive appeals and updates from nonprofits in their inboxes.


But here’s the thing: asking for donations via email is not necessarily something your fundraisers will automatically know to do. This is especially true if you’ve got a group of younger participants who communicate primarily through different social media channels! It may feel silly to you to ask your participants to send emails, but it’s an important step!


How do I encourage participants to do this?

 

The first step, of course, is to tell your participants why it’s important to send emails. Then, make it easy for them! There are two things to remember here.


The first thing to remember is that your participants are busy. They’re balancing work, families, social lives, and other responsibilities with their desire to support you. Make it easy for them to send emails! Try giving them email templates they can use to create compelling email appeals very quickly.


Screenshot of an example of a fundraising email template


The second thing to remember is that your participants have probably never raised money before. Do you remember the very first appeal you sent as a professional fundraiser? It was probably nerve-wracking! Your participants feel that same anxiety when they’re sending fundraising emails, too.


Your email templates will help take away some of that anxiety, but be sure to make yourself available to them if they have questions, need help, or simply need some reassurance. Let your fundraisers know who to contact if they need anything, and make sure they have your email address or other contact information.



Step Three: Emphasize posting to social media

 

Why?

 

A report from Network for Good found that 21% of all dollars raised through a peer-to-peer event came from a direct click-through from social media. Another study from Arreva found that participants who post to their social media channels every 5 days or so raise three times more than people who don’t. That’s a huge difference!


And it makes sense, too. Emails may still be one of the most effective fundraising tools, but it’s also a crowded space. The average person receives more than 120 emails every day, and it’s easy for fundraising emails to get lost in the shuffle. Posting to social media gives people another opportunity to see and engage with your participants! People are also accustomed to giving to charities on social media, and social media posts were the #1 driver of charitable donations in 2020. Facebook Fundraisers, Instagram donation stickers, and other social fundraising campaigns are becoming more common. That means your participants may feel more comfortable asking for support on social media, and their networks may be more comfortable giving that way!



Screenshot of a Facebook Fundraiser event


How do I encourage participants to do this?

 

The challenges here are very similar to the challenges associated with asking for support via email: your participants are busy and potentially intimidated by asking for support. Take away their fear! Give them templates and images they can use to create their own social posts, and consider including some examples of outstanding posts from past events. Share some tips for putting together a great social appeal—you’re a professional fundraiser and have so much knowledge to share!


When your participants do post on their social media channels, be sure you interact with their posts. Nothing can take the wind out of one’s sails like trying something new (like trying to raise money on social media) and getting no interaction. When your supporters put themselves out there by asking for donations, encourage them by liking and commenting on their posts. You’ll make them feel seen and appreciated, and they’ll be more likely to continue posting.



Step Four: Encourage your participants to work toward fundraising milestones

 

Why?

 

Humans are goal-oriented creatures. We’re addicted to the feeling of meeting goals, crossing off tasks, or checking boxes... if you’ve ever made a to-do list and added things you’ve already done simply for the pleasure of crossing them off, you know what I mean!



Screenshot of different badges avaialable via Qgiv like


Our team took a look at the participants who earn “badges” in our system—badges are tied to different activities and milestones—and how participants who earned different badges performed overall. As a general rule, more badges (reaching more milestones) resulted in more money raised. Folks who didn’t hit a milestone raised around $90; people who earned at least one badge raised an average of $306! Setting goals for participants to reach is very effective.


But we can also be intimidated by goals that feel too big or too complicated. When you set a fundraising goal for your participants, that number can feel impossible to reach. For example, I participated in a peer-to-peer event and was given a personal fundraising goal of $2,000. That felt so high!


Breaking those big goals into smaller increments makes reaching them feel more manageable—and those smaller milestones give participants more opportunities to celebrate their successes. $2,000 may feel scary, but $500 feels much more doable. From there, $1,000 is an easy stretch. Then you’re already halfway to your goal!


How do I encourage participants to do this?

 

Create a “to-do list” or set of milestones and activities for your participants to achieve, then reward them for their efforts! Want them to post to Facebook? Put it on their to-do list! Need them to recruit another fundraiser to join their 5k team? Put it on the list! Want them to raise $1,000? Split it into different tasks: ask them to raise $100, then $300, and so on. Celebrate each achievement they tick off the list!


This is an especially effective method if you tie some kind of incentive to each task or milestone. Those could be digital incentives—you could try badges, spotlight top performers on social media, or send celebratory emails thanking them for their work—or tangible incentives. Those tangible incentives could be as simple or as grand as you like! Simple prizes for smaller goals give participants a sense of accomplishment, and bigger prizes for loftier goals give them something exciting to strive for. 



Screenshot of a social media graphic urging fundraisers to raise $1000 by midnight to be invited to an event

Reduce the number of $0 fundraisers at your next event!

 

Encouraging participants to customize their personal fundraising page, ask for support through email and social media channels, and work toward different fundraising milestones will help them (and you!) raise more money during your next event! And there’s an extra bonus here—successful fundraisers are more likely to participate again in the future, and they’ll be even more effective next time.


Looking for more ways to make your peer-to-peer campaigns a success? Check out our eBook “Peer-to-Peer Retention: Tips and Tricks to Help You Grow Your Fundraising”—it’s full of strategies to keep your highly-engaged participant base (and donors!) engaged in your event year after year.


About the Author

Abby Jarvis


Abby Jarvis is the Nonprofit Education Manager at Qgiv, a company that's dedicated to building powerful fundraising tools that empower nonprofits to thrive and grow. In her 8 years at Qgiv, Abby's become passionate about understanding industry best practices, learning how they can help nonprofits be more effective, and sharing that information with other fundraisers.


SPEAK TO AN EXPERT

Executives shaking hands in the meeting at office.
By Valentina Kibedi, Danielle Rocheleau, & Caitlin Patterson 22 Mar, 2024
Developing a nonprofit strategic plan allows you to maintain clarity, adapt to change, and increase your impact. Explore four strategic planning best practices.
Success, accountant or woman writing in notebook for financial strategy or company growth tax audit.
By Meredith Noble 18 Mar, 2024
Storytelling can make a crucial difference in nonprofit grant proposals. Stand out to funders and make a compelling pitch for your mission with these ten tips.
A set of microphones and a laptop on a desk, the equipment you need for a podcast.
By Samantha Swaim 01 Mar, 2024
Nonprofit podcasts can help you improve awareness of your cause and grow connections with your audience. Learn how to start your podcast with this guide.
Show More
Share by: