Peer-to-peer fundraising guide: How to launch a P2P campaign

We trust our family and friends, so when they recommend a plumber, share their trusted real estate agent’s name with us, or tell us about the best new restaurant in town, we’re more likely to try them out. Those same word-of-mouth recommendations pay off for nonprofits. When giving to an event or campaign, 58% of donors say they heard about the opportunity from a friend, family member, or colleague.

That’s why supporter-led initiatives like peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraisers are such effective ways to amplify your message and boost fundraising revenue. By accessing the power of your supporter community, your nonprofit can reach its fundraising goals and deepen connections with new and existing supporters at the same time.

In this complete guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about peer-to-peer fundraising so you can launch your own successful P2P campaign in no time.

What is peer-to-peer fundraising?

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a fundraising method in which individual supporters host personalized campaigns to collect donations from friends, family, and colleagues on behalf of your nonprofit. It’s also referred to as P2P, social, or team fundraising.

In these campaigns, organizations recruit volunteer fundraisers and provide them with resources, like their own fundraising page and social media-ready promotional kits. Then, these supporters can raise money individually through a variety of activities, such as participating in events or selling branded merchandise. 

The goal of peer-to-peer campaigns is to organically expand your organization’s reach to new audiences while engaging existing ones.

How is peer-to-peer fundraising different from crowdfunding?

Both crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising rely on supporters to spread the word about a campaign and invite their friends to donate online. However, there are key differences between them:

• Peer-to-peer fundraising is decentralized, meaning donations flow from multiple sources to your nonprofit. These campaigns empower supporters to create personal campaign pages to fundraise independently, giving them more agency. P2P campaigns also allow participants to make more personal appeals for donations, ultimately deepening their connections with your cause.
• Crowdfunding is more centralized than P2P, with donations flowing to one place. In a crowdfunding campaign, both the organization and individuals use a single crowdfunding page to promote the campaign online.

In many cases, the broader reach of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns makes them the smarter online fundraising strategy, while very specific, smaller-scale projects could be better suited to a crowdfunding campaign. P2P fundraising also makes it easier to actively build relationships with new supporters.

What is peer-to-peer fundraising software?

Peer-to-peer fundraising software enables individuals or teams to create personalized fundraising pages in support of your nonprofit. These platforms make it easy to track progress, engage participants with leaderboards and updates, and manage all campaign activity in one place.

Top peer-to-peer fundraising benefits

Thanks to social media and online giving capabilities, peer-to-peer fundraising has become one of the most effective and engaging ways for organizations to boost donations. This type of campaign comes with plenty of impactful benefits, including:

• Engage your entire community in fundraising with an accessible, decentralized, organic P2P approach. Let supporters take the lead and build a community as they participate.
• Raise awareness of your cause through the power of your supporters’ networks. When participants spread the word about your cause among their friends, family, and wider circles of acquaintances, it puts your nonprofit in front of brand-new audiences.
• Build stronger donor connections by empowering them to directly push your campaign forward. The supporters who volunteer to fundraise on your organization’s behalf will inevitably deepen their connections to your cause, leading to more positive, lasting supporter relationships.
• Grow your network of supporters through increased exposure and social proof.  The people in your supporters’ vast personal networks already trust their opinions, making it easier to interest new prospective donors in your work.
• Boost your revenue through more efficient fundraising. By leveraging volunteer fundraisers, you’ll reduce your team’s workload and improve the overall efficiency of your campaign.

Personalized involvement and opportunities to share their passion help motivate supporters. As a result, P2P campaigns can foster long-term benefits by establishing valuable, long-lasting relationships with supporters.

Types of peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns

While peer-to-peer campaigns are highly flexible and can take many different forms, they generally fall into three main categories:

Rolling

Rolling, or ongoing, P2P campaigns don’t run on a specified timeline. In these cases, volunteer fundraisers can launch a personal campaign at any time based on their own schedules. Rolling campaigns don’t have deadlines, either — meaning that volunteers can keep fundraising throughout the year or until they reach their goal.

Time-based

A time-based peer-to-peer campaign operates like any typical fundraising campaign, in which there’s a set launch date and a set end for the fundraiser. For example, you might run a themed time-based campaign from Feb. 1 to Valentine’s Day and invite as many supporters as possible to raise funds during those two weeks.

Giving Days

If you’re looking to add extra excitement to your peer-to-peer fundraiser, you can host a Giving Day that only runs for 24 hours. Invite supporters to focus all of their fundraising energy on one day, whether that’s a holiday like GivingTuesday or another day of your nonprofit’s choosing. These campaigns are fun and fast-paced, but they require plenty of organizing ahead of time.

How to launch a peer-to-peer campaign: 8 steps

Now that you know the basics, let’s explore how you can run a successful peer-to-peer campaign. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Determine the campaign’s structure and set goals.

First, you’ll need to determine exactly what type of peer-to-peer fundraising campaign you’ll run and define your fundraising goals. Determine whether your campaign will be based around an event, challenge, or theme, then nail down the timeline.

If you’re hosting a time-based campaign, give potential donors ample time to donate while still creating a sense of urgency. Choose clear start and end dates so donors know how much time they have to support your nonprofit’s purpose. If you host a Giving Day, choose the date carefully and schedule it far enough in advance so your team has time to recruit fundraisers and promote it effectively.

Then, set measurable, realistic goals for the overall campaign. These goals might look like:

• Raising $10,000 in one month.
• Earning 200 donations from first-time donors.
• Recruiting 50 volunteer fundraisers.
• Adding 500 new contacts to your donor database.

Along with a main revenue goal, consider other engagement targets such as new donor acquisition, event attendance, and organic traffic to your nonprofit’s website. Since peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are all about generating online engagement, setting these types of goals will give your strategy structure and boost overall impact.

2. Choose a peer-to-peer fundraising platform.

The right fundraising software is essential, as it allows you to manage the campaign, create fundraising pages, and track your results.

Investing in a dedicated platform will ensure that your peer fundraisers can easily set up and share their personalized campaign pages, helping them to raise more for your nonprofit. Plus, you’ll give your supporters a centralized place to find information about your peer-to-peer fundraiser and get involved. 

There are a ton of options available today for easy-to-use, customizable peer-to-peer software, so find one that will scale with your organization. For instance, check out this video about how Cure SMA used Bonterra DonorDrive to streamline its peer-to-peer campaigns and inspire more participation:

To get the most out of peer-to-peer fundraising software, look for a platform with the following essential capabilities:

• Easy-to-create, customizable campaign pages for peer fundraisers
• Robust reporting, tracking, and analytics features
• Social media and email integrations
• Gamification tools like leaderboards and fundraising thermometers
• Ability to host team-based fundraisers
• Recurring donations and match capabilities
• Intuitive, robust back-end functionality

The right software should help you acquire, motivate, and empower supporters while simplifying the fundraising process for you and your team. Additionally, ensure that your peer-to-peer fundraising tool integrates with your donor management system so you can easily record information about the new donors you earn during the campaign.

3. Design your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign page.

Once you have a peer-to-peer fundraising platform at your disposal, it’s time to design your campaign pages. These pages should have plenty of room for personalization, but they should also be consistent enough to make donating easy and inspire new supporters to learn more about your nonprofit.

Before you recruit volunteer fundraisers and give them the chance to add personal touches to their pages, design a base campaign page with the following elements:

• Clear, inspirational calls to action: Use active, compelling language (like “Donate Now”) to capture new donors’ attention when they land on the page.
• A straightforward donation form: Present prospective donors with a large donation button and a concise, intuitive donation form that’s easy to fill out.
• Suggested donation amounts: Suggested amounts paired with tangible impacts will engage donors, help them understand where funds go, and motivate them to make a larger gift.
• Personal stories: Encourage fundraisers to tell their stories and share their reasons for supporting your organization to help visitors emotionally connect with your cause.
• Compelling graphics: Include branded elements such as your logo and brand colors, then ask your peer fundraisers to add photos to personalize the page.

With these key elements covered, the rest is up to your peer fundraisers. They can personalize their pages with images, stories, and more to make it clear why they’re fundraising for your cause.

4. Recruit peer-to-peer participants.

If you’re hosting a DIY-style peer-to-peer campaign, anyone can launch their own giving pages to fundraise from their friends and family. This option is an easy and effective way to engage new donors and reach a wider audience. If you’re taking a more targeted approach, however, you’ll need to think about who to recruit and how to promote your campaign online.

Start by reaching out to the supporters who are most passionate about your purpose. Send emails to those with a long history with your nonprofit, regular volunteers, recurring donors, and those who frequently share your social media posts. When recruiting peer-to-peer participants, we recommend looking for the following qualities in ideal candidates:

• History of engagement with your organization
• Past donation history
• Connections in the community and other philanthropic activities
• Corporate or business connections
• Social media presence and reach

For a truly comprehensive approach, identify your social donors and create personas to help target specific segments. This exercise can be invaluable for future campaigns, as you can continually refine your personas as you conduct additional fundraising campaigns.

You can also post a general call for volunteer fundraisers on social media and your website to get a wider reach. Emphasize supporters’ ability to make a larger impact on your organization’s purpose, and provide a sign-up link along with the basic information they need to participate.

5. Provide resources and support for fundraisers.

While it’s important to allow fundraising partners to tell their own stories and fundraise in ways that connect with their networks, providing structured guidelines and resources is crucial for helping them achieve their goals. We recommend setting up a virtual training and orientation session for your participants before the campaign begins. You can answer questions and explain your campaign, goals, timeline, any events or additional elements of the campaign, and how to use your P2P software.

It’s also a good idea to develop a library of campaign resources for participants to consult and use independently. You can create a page in your fundraising site to house the tools. An ideal peer-to-peer toolbox should include:

• Branded fundraising pages
• Social media images, videos, and posts to share
• Email templates with pre-written donation appeals
• Consistent language about your organization and purpose
• Information on how donations will be used
• Scripts for phone calls and in-person donation appeals
• Eye-catching flyers that peer fundraisers can hand out
• Contact information for a staff member they can go to for help

Your fundraisers may have individual campaign pages, but their work should still be cohesive within the overall peer-to-peer campaign. Providing this toolkit will maximize convenience and consistency in their efforts. A peer-to-peer fundraising platform can supply many of these communication tools, so take advantage of any additional resources your platform provides.

6. Keep up with your campaign.

You’ll also need to track your campaign’s overall progress toward its fundraising goal via your peer-to-peer fundraising software. Check in frequently and make adjustments or provide extra support to your volunteers as needed. Jump in to give the campaign extra promotion from your organization to encourage more engagement and visibility.

Depending on the timing of your campaign plan, you may need to actively work on associated event logistics so it’s ready to launch when the time comes. These often occur at the end of campaigns, but be mindful of your unique timeframe and get started on the event planning process as early as possible.

7. Celebrate with your peer fundraisers.

Throughout and after the campaign, thank everyone whose hard work made it a success. They’ve demonstrated significant devotion to your cause by dedicating their time and energy toward raising money on your nonprofit’s behalf. 

Consider celebrating your peer fundraisers’ support by:

• Spotlighting fundraisers on social media throughout the campaign and shouting out top performers
• Sending volunteer thank-you messages (and maybe small gifts like branded stickers or water bottles) to all fundraisers after the campaign
• Using your software to share automated thank-you messages to all campaign donors
• Following up with extra thanks to significant campaign donors, perhaps above a certain giving threshold
• Sending or posting post-campaign reports and announcements about your community’s accomplishments and the impact of that success
• Asking for their feedback at the end of the fundraiser.
• Inviting them to a celebratory in-person or virtual event after the fundraiser.

A peer-to-peer fundraiser is a group effort, so don’t forget to celebrate as a group. Showing your genuine gratitude for their actions will help you retain their support in the future and give them a positive impression of your nonprofit. Keep track of your outreach and any extra engagement it generates, as this can help a lot with the next step of securing long-term support.

8. Cultivate new donors.

Thanks to your peer-to-peer campaign, you’ll have new donors eager to learn more about your nonprofit’s history, impact story, and purpose once the campaign ends. To make the most of this increased visibility, you need a plan to engage and retain new supporters.

Develop guidelines for staying in touch with all new campaign donors by plugging them into your nonprofit’s regular communications. Continued outreach, mission updates, and event invites will further build your relationship. Consider engaging them by sending a welcome kit, too. No matter what methods you use, be sure to communicate the impact of their gift and invite them to stay in touch with your nonprofit to learn more.

For new high-value donors, take it a step further. Personally reach out to thenk them, and add them to a more targeted outreach stream geared toward mid-level and major donors. Conduct a quick prospect research screening to identify significant opportunities, and follow your organization’s normal cultivation process from there.

Peer-to-peer fundraising ideas and examples

Explore these common types of P2P fundraisers to source ideas for your next campaign.

5Ks and walk-a-thons

Walk and run events like the Paws for the Cause 5K pictured above make for popular and exciting peer-to-peer campaigns. At these events, volunteer fundraisers register to participate in the race, then they collect pledges and donations in the weeks leading up to the event. They can earn donations based on how far they walk or run, or they can just ask for donations and invite friends and family to cheer them on at the race.

Team-based campaigns

More than any other fundraising method, peer-to-peer fundraising thrives on the relationships between your supporters and their friends, families, and coworkers. This is why peer-to-peer fundraising teams can be your nonprofit’s secret weapon.

Team-based campaigns allow peer-to-peer fundraising volunteers to get together and raise money for your cause as a unit. They work so well because they:

• Tap into existing communities and amplify connections between your supporters.
• Provide a support system for people to cheer one another on throughout your campaign.
• Help members create a positive experience for one another, increasing the chances that they will participate in future campaigns as a unit.

Give your teams the power to launch their own campaigns, share their team fundraising pages with newcomers, and customize their peer-to-peer fundraising experience.

Virtual challenges

Online challenges can inspire plenty of support from volunteer fundraisers and their networks. To host a peer-to-peer fundraising challenge, choose a task for participants to complete, such as reading a certain number of books or working out for so many hours throughout the month. Create time-bound or year-round virtual fundraising campaigns. Then, let participants set their own goals, and encourage them to have fun while raising money for a good cause.

DIY peer-to-peer campaigns

Empower your supporters to start their own fundraisers at any time, for any reason. Give supporters the option to create highly personalized peer-to-peer pages for special occasions like birthdays. Or, suggest hosting tribute or memorial campaigns to honor loved ones who were passionate about your cause.

Giving and awareness days

Launch socially engaging 24-hour giving days throughout the year, complete with fundraising microsites, personalized donation forms, and gamification opportunities. Supporters can create their own fundraising teams and compete to raise the most money for your nonprofit during the giving day.

Peer-to-peer fundraising best practices for success

To achieve success with any idea, your nonprofit will need the right peer-to-peer fundraising strategy. Let’s explore a few essential best practices.

Make use of P2P fundraising gamification.

Keep your campaign going strong with fun, engaging strategies that inspire peer fundraisers to give it their all.

Gamification involves adding competitive elements to your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. Engaging contests to see who can raise the most donations lend themselves very naturally to peer-to-peer fundraising, so gamification has become a common tactic for many organizations. It’s invaluable for keeping up the energy during your campaign and drawing more attention to the various incentives offered to participants and donors.

There are a number of ways to incorporate gamified elements, but most encourage participants to secure as many donations as possible by a certain deadline. Here are a few tried-and-true ways to build gamification into your campaign:

• Badges: Award badges or other incentives for significant milestones. Tying your incentives to fundraising performance is a smart way to boost the energy around your campaign. Offer special badges to your dedicated fundraisers as they reach their benchmark goals, and encourage them to display their achievements to inspire others.
• Leaderboards: Use campaign leaderboards to track participants’ fundraising performance in real time. This can motivate your fundraisers and potential donors who’ll want to help their loved one reach the top of the board!
• Thermometers: Display a live fundraising thermometer or other tracker on your main campaign page and individual fundraising pages. A real-time tracker showing progress toward goals can be an excellent motivator for supporters.
• Rewards: Actively incentivize participants with prizes and awards. For example, you might recognize and award your top fundraisers during a special ceremony as part of your campaign’s grand finale event. Incentives could range from special shout-outs and free event tickets to lavish gift baskets for your top performers.

For the best results, look for peer-to-peer fundraising software that includes built-in gamification tools. The right platform will ensure that you can hit the ground running with leaderboards, badges, and thermometers from day one of your campaign, making it easy to implement these strategies and engage volunteers in gamification. For instance, take a look at the incentives and badges participants can earn with DonorDrive:

Above all, be flexible with your gamification strategy. Consider the types of challenges and incentives that make the most sense for your unique audience and mission. The main idea is to motivate participants and donors to stay engaged with the campaign from start to finish.

Host a peer-to-peer fundraising event.

Peer-to-peer fundraisers and events often go hand-in-hand. Many P2P campaigns culminate in major events like virtual or in-person galas, auctions, and marathons. Check-in events or small virtual parties to reiterate your campaign’s goals and track progress are also commonly held during the campaign itself.

Every event requires advance preparation to succeed, so make sure you give your team plenty of time to plan. We have a few recommendations for ensuring the event planning process runs smoothly:

• Choose an event with a broad community interest, like a 5K run or a charity concert.
• Survey your community before choosing your event to see what activities will excite them.
• As you begin planning your peer-to-peer campaign, clearly lay out which events you’ll host and when.
• Establish an event planning committee as part of your broader P2P fundraising team. Specifically define for them what each event needs to entail and when they’ll occur.
• Consider in advance how you’ll integrate the events into your campaign marketing strategies.
• For in-person events, consider all necessary logistics like venue, food, schedules, entertainment, and first aid (for walks and runs).
• For virtual or hybrid events, make sure your tech stack is equipped with a virtual event center that can help you facilitate a seamless virtual program.
• Follow up with attendees after the event to thank them and encourage them to become long-term supporters.

Consider using an event as either a kick-off or wrap-up party for your P2P campaign. A kick-off event can get fundraisers excited about the upcoming campaign, while wrap-up parties encourage fundraisers to invite potential donors in a last-minute push to achieve their goals. You can also charge admission at these events to earn even more donations.

Plan a multi-channel marketing approach.

As digital-centric campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising naturally involves multi-channel marketing. While social media and email are the most common marketing methods for P2P campaigns, traditional methods like direct mail can be highly effective depending on your unique audience. Many nonprofits also leverage digital paid ads to attract net new donors to their campaigns. Diversify your promotions and reach a wider range of donors!

At a minimum, plan promotional efforts across:

• Social media: Encourage your fundraisers to leverage campaign templates, resources, and guidance, and ensure social posts always have compelling calls to action or links to take them back to the main or individual fundraising pages.
• Your website: Give your campaign a dedicated page or a complete microsite (especially for more complex campaigns). Use your campaign pages to clearly explain your goals, mission, and the impact that success will have on the community.
• Email: Provide email templates for participants, and send campaign announcements and appeals to broader segments of your donor base to give everyone the chance to donate to your cause.
• Direct mail: When so much of fundraising is focused on digital channels, direct mail can help your cause stand out. It’s especially useful for announcing and explaining any events that you’ll host as part of the campaign.

The main idea of peer-to-peer fundraising is that your supporters will take the lead with spreading the word and securing donations. However, you still need a concrete marketing plan to maximize fundraising. The most effective P2P campaigns supplement their participant strategy with comprehensive multi-channel outreach and promotion plans.

Stay connected with participants.

Your generous participants donate their time and attention to help your campaign succeed, so make sure they feel supported. Spend time during the planning process to flesh out the touchpoints, updates, and outreach your team will use to make them feel special, connected, and inspired to keep fundraising.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Schedule regular check-ins throughout the campaign. Use these meetings to review progress towards your goals and allow fundraisers to share their own challenges and tips.
• Create a sense of community for your fundraisers. Since your fundraisers will already be sharing their fundraising pages across their personal networks, there’s no better place to connect with fellow participants than on social sites like Facebook and Instagram. Set up a Facebook group or group chat just for your volunteer fundraisers so they can easily encourage one another and hold each other accountable.
• Proactively identify potential issues by looking at real-time data throughout the campaign. If some of your participants are falling behind, reach out to offer extra encouragement and support before the campaign reaches the final stretch.
• Be available to support your fundraisers whenever they need it. Designate a team member to serve as the primary coach or guide for your participants. Have them head the initial recruitment and training process, host the check-in meetings, and stay accessible via email throughout the duration of the campaign.

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns only exceed their goals when volunteers feel truly empowered and supported, so it pays to go the extra mile. Plus, this will create a much more engaging and positive experience for them, increasing the chances that they’ll volunteer for future campaigns and stay involved with your organization for years to come.

Proactively track your performance data.

Your fundraiser will generate a lot of engagement and donation data. If you don’t actively collect, track, and analyze this data, you could miss critical insights that can strengthen your current and future campaigns.

Before your campaign, ensure you have a process in place for collecting engagement and donation data. Ideally, your peer-to-peer fundraising software will integrate with your database or CRM, so incoming data is immediately reported and organized. Next, create (and stick to) a set of protocols for managing incoming data. For instance, you should:

• Ensure incoming donations are automatically associated with existing donor profiles or brand new ones as needed.
• Determine which data points to save for each new donor, such as the participant’s giving page.
• Standardize data entry specifics, like how you’ll format dates or abbreviate address details.
• Set a cadence for reviewing, cleaning, and studying your data throughout and after the campaign.

As the data rolls in, you’ll see a clearer image of your campaign’s performance over time. Are you meeting your overall benchmark goals? Are certain types of donors or fundraisers driving the most revenue? Gathering these insights helps you course-correct during the campaign. For instance, if you see that giving is down among previous donors, you could quickly create a new targeted email campaign to engage them with your fundraiser.

Your data is also extremely useful once your campaign ends. With comprehensive engagement records, you can drastically simplify follow-up and stewardship. Segment donors by donation amount or other markers, then use that data to improve future campaigns.

Launch your peer-to-peer campaign with Bonterra.

Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to dive into the planning process for your next peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. By using this guide as a resource and investing in the best technology to support your campaign, your nonprofit can set itself up for even greater fundraising success moving forward.

Remember, Bonterra’s fundraising software has all the peer-to-peer functionality you need to succeed. Contact our team to learn how our technology can power your next campaign.

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Bonterra Editorial Team

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