Peer-to-peer fundraising is a type of social fundraising where you empower your organization’s supporters to fundraise on behalf of your organization. They create a campaign or fundraising site connected to your organization and reach out to their friends and family to gather donations and support.
Peer-to-peer makes a great addition to any event—golf, gala, or other—and makes for a great stand-alone fundraising opportunity. Participation in the top 30 peer-to-peer fundraisers increased 15.6% from 2022 to 2023. If you’ve never tried peer-to-peer or social fundraising for your organization, it is time to reconsider.
How does peer-to-peer fundraising at annual events work?
- Peer fundraisers create and submit signature drink recipes for your audience to vote on via donations, and the winning drink is served at the event.
- Golf foursomes compete in a fundraising team competition during the event while also competing on the course.
- Kids submit artwork like drawings of pets, pictures of sidewalk chalk, constructed gingerbread houses, or decorated cookies, and your supporters can donate to vote for their favorite.
Peer-to-peer fundraising as a wrap-around event
Peer-to-peer fundraising is not only budget-friendly, but it’s also budget-building. As you begin to prep for your event and go live with ticket sales 30, 60, or 90 days before your event, consider building your peer-to-peer fundraiser.
Encourage your fundraising volunteers to raise money towards your goal before your event starts. This not only expands the timeline of your event but also expands your revenue potential. Adding an online peer-to-peer component to your fundraising event expands your available audience by extending your limits outside of event attendees.
Finding your peer-to-peer fundraising volunteers
Your fundraising volunteers can come from anywhere. Active donors of any level, current or previous board members, and corporate teams are some great options to explore to begin building your peer-to-peer team.
Put out a call on your social media, e-mail your entire audience base to begin your recruitment, or build a persona of the perfect peer-to-peer fundraising volunteer for your event. For example, if you are planning a fundraiser to raise money to feed animals at your shelter for a year, a great persona could be a recurring volunteer or individuals from families who have adopted animals from your shelter. They not only have a connection to your mission, but they have a story to tell that could appeal to your donors.
Don’t forget to make your fundraising volunteers’ job as easy as possible. Make them templates or media kits they can access for social media posts, e-mails, and more.
Motivate your peer-to-peer fundraisers
There are plenty of budget-friendly ways to incentivize your peer-to-peer fundraisers to motivate them.
- Make it a competition: Offer badges at certain levels of fundraising accomplishments, communicate leaderboard updates throughout the event, or give titles to the fundraisers who raised the most and brought in the most new donors to your organization. Praise, promote, and thank them at every moment on every channel.
- Offer complimentary tickets: Whether for the current or upcoming event, offer your peer fundraisers free tickets or seats to your event(s). Show them what their support means to you, and give them a shoutout during the event!
- Free raffle entries: Give your peer fundraisers free entries in a raffle or a volunteer-exclusive raffle item from your live or silent auction.
- Plan experiences: Depending on how many peer fundraisers you have, you could host an exclusive event to thank them for their time and service to your mission. Whether it’s a bowling night or a lunch with the executives, you might be able to secure sponsors to make the experience lighter on the budget but just as impactful for your fundraising volunteers.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser Toolkit and Templates
These toolkit and templates help volunteer fundraisers get their individual or team fundraising pages up and running quickly, keep them engaged throughout the campaign, and make their continued support easy so they can reach their goals and fund your mission.
Peer-to-peer fundraising offers a dynamic, cost-effective way to amplify your organization’s mission. By empowering supporters to launch their own campaigns—whether through creative contests, competitive events, or engaging wrap-around activities—you extend your fundraising timeline and broaden your donor base beyond event day.
Integrating peer-to-peer elements into your events provides an excellent opportunity to maximize revenue while deepening community engagement. Now is the time to harness the power of your most passionate supporters and elevate your fundraising strategy to new heights.
