Bright Idea: Host a Peer-to-Peer Comedy Event

Who they are:

Alpha Grand Rapids provides holistic services to women and men to support the needs of growing families. Their model of personalized care ensures that clients’ needs are met with expert help and genuine compassion. Free and confidential services provide comprehensive care, empowering people to thrive in all areas of their life. Alpha Grand Rapids believes that everyone deserves support to care for a new baby regardless of their personal background.

What they did:

To support their mission, Alpha Grand Rapids hosted a family-friendly comedy night, featuring a popular comic. In addition to selling tickets and securing sponsors, they layered in a peer-to-peer network fundraising component. They asked several folks to compete to see who could raise the most funds, with a sweet, mildly-embarrassing catch!

The fundraiser that raised the least would receive a pie to the face at the comedy show. To add a fun level of anxiety-inducing competition as the event got closer, they hid the leaderboard from fundraisers and the public.

Alpha Grand Rapids did a great job promoting the competition on social media and coaching participants to highlight their pleas to be spared from a pie in the face on their personal fundraising pages!

Another component of this event that we loved was that they offered free childcare for kids 5 and above. That made the event more accessible for parents who wanted a fun night out without having to worry about paying for childcare. Between ticket sales, the peer-to-peer competition, sponsorship, and donations, the peer-to-peer comedy event raised almost $50,000 with 500 attendees!

What you can do:

If your nonprofit is looking to try something different, why not host a peer-to-peer network fundraiser with Qgiv’s digital platform? Peer-to-peer campaigns are a great way to add income to any event by recruiting individuals to raise money on behalf of your mission!

One of the reasons Alpha Grand Rapid’s peer-to-peer comedy event was so successful was because they came up with a unique idea. Nothing encourages folks to fundraise quite like getting a pie in the face!  Also, adding the element of mystery by hiding who would get pied until the night of the event was a great touch to drive ticket sales.

There are so many creative peer-to-peer fundraising ideas you can explore to find the right fit for your organization. You could do another version of the pie in the face fundraiser by reversing who gets pied. For example, you could set a community goal to raise $10,000 with a peer-to-peer campaign to see the mayor or sheriff get a pie in the face (or some other harmless stunt done in the name of a good cause!).

Get creative and try to combine your peer-to-peer fundraiser with a unique event that has something to set it apart from other events in your community. You can even host a virtual peer-to-peer fundraiser so you don’t have to worry about event logistics.

Not a Qgiv client but want to learn more about using the peer-to-peer platform to support your network fundraiser? Request a demo today or give us a call at 888.855.9595.