7 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Obstacles (& How to Solve Them) - Joshua Meyer

Aug 22

If you want to build supporter relationships while raising funds, peer-to-peer (P2P) campaigns and events are what you host. However, these community-based fundraisers have increasingly faced challenges in recent years.

For example, a Nuclavis study found that:

54% of P2P program managers reported losing staff in the last year due to employee layoffs or voluntary departures.
100% of programs that experienced a staffing change in the last year also reported challenges acquiring new participants, and 62% also reported challenges retaining past participants.

To maintain momentum for your program and get participants excited about your campaigns, this guide covers the following peer-to-peer fundraising obstacles and strategies to overcome them:

Your goal is unclear or unrealistic.
Supporters aren’t aware of the fundraising opportunity.
You can’t easily manage many individual fundraising pages.
Potential participants feel too intimidated to join.
Your campaign has a lot of “zero-dollar fundraisers.”
Your donation page is hard to use or not compelling enough.
You don’t have a clear follow-up strategy with supporters and donors post-campaign.

Don’t let these challenges deter you from starting a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. Think of them as opportunities to assess your nonprofit’s fundraising strengths and weaknesses. Once you know where you’re succeeding and where you need to adjust, you can make changes that will help you raise more funds in the future.

1. Your goal is unclear or unrealistic.

Successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns start with a clear, achievable goal. Think about establishing an objective that is:

Specific: Vague goals such as “earn more through peer-to-peer fundraising” or “recruit more participants” will be hard to measure and analyze. Instead, set specific goals, such as “raise $5,000 through our next campaign” or “recruit at least 50 peer-to-peer participants.”
Measurable: Ensure progress toward your goal can be measured using quantitative metrics, such as dollars raised or the number of participants who met their personal goals.
Attainable: Don’t set an unrealistic goal, especially if this is your first peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. Review past fundraising results to set a slightly higher goal than usual that your team and supporters can reasonably achieve.
Relevant: Your peer-to-peer fundraising goal should align with your nonprofit’s overall fundraising objectives for the year. Tying your goal to your organization’s work will help supporters see how their participation will directly impact your mission.
Time-based: Your campaign should have a start and end date to help your team and supporters stay on target. Creating a time-based campaign also creates greater urgency surrounding your fundraising efforts, encouraging donors to give immediately rather than waiting until later.

Workshop your goal with various team members to determine whether it seems reasonable. Your goal will be a core component of your recruiting message, so ensure it’s as straightforward and actionable as possible.

2. Supporters aren’t aware of the fundraising opportunity.

Generating interest and awareness is challenging for all online campaigns, including peer-to-peer fundraisers. Comprehensive marketing and communications strategies are key for getting the word out because you have to engage potential volunteer fundraisers and donors.

To reach a broad audience, create a marketing strategy for promoting the campaign on your social media pages and via email. You can even use SEO strategies, such as creating website content targeted to high-traffic keywords.

In addition, target specific supporters in your recruitment efforts. Specifically, reach out to individuals who have already expressed interest in your nonprofit to boost participation. Use your nonprofit’s donor database to identify potential participants who have already engaged with your organization in the past, such as:

Past peer-to-peer participants and donors
Volunteers
Donors to other types of campaigns
Board members

If these individuals aren’t interested in becoming volunteer peer-to-peer fundraisers, ask if they would be willing to donate to your campaign or share your fundraising page on social media.

By using broad and targeted outreach efforts, you can reach a wider audience of potential participants and donors and boost your recruitment efforts.

3. You can’t easily manage many individual fundraising pages.

Managing your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t have an easy way to track participants’ individual campaigns and their progress.

Peer-to-peer fundraising software makes it easy to view and manage all fundraising pages related to your overarching campaign. Search for a peer-to-peer fundraising tool that offers the following features to stay organized:

Unlimited events and donation forms. Ensure the peer-to-peer fundraising platform you use doesn’t limit your ability to create events and fundraising pages, ensuring all supporters who want to participate can do so easily.
Team fundraising. To inspire active participation, use features like a leaderboard and recruitment and fundraising goals for every team. Give team captains control over their group’s fundraising pages to keep teams organized and motivate them to reach shared goals.
Progress and impact reporting. Ensure your fundraising solution allows you to track all campaign-related metrics in one central dashboard, including donations, event registrations, high-performing supporters/donors, and recruitment data.

With these features, you can stay informed on all important data, including who your volunteer fundraisers are, their team leaders, and donors giving to campaign pages. These tracking capabilities make it simpler to identify and reward top fundraisers and donors with special prizes, such as gift cards or baskets. Plus, you can more easily identify engaged supporters who are willing to participate in future campaigns.

4. Potential participants feel too intimidated to join.

Getting involved can be daunting for supporters who have never participated in a peer-to-peer campaign. After all, most of your supporters aren’t well-versed in the ins and outs of fundraising and marketing.

To reassure new fundraisers that participating will be easier than they think, create a peer-to-peer fundraising guide outlining the tools and strategies they need to launch a successful fundraiser. The guide should include tips on how supporters can:

Set up their personal campaign page and choose the right goal. Provide tips for how participants should customize their campaign pages with information about their personal connection to your cause. If you don’t have a set goal for fundraisers to reach, help participants determine the right goal for their individual campaign.
Create compelling social media posts that drive donations. Offer marketing tips, such as which platforms to post on and when. You can even create a recommended social media posting schedule that participants can follow to increase visibility for their fundraising page. Write template posts that participants can easily customize to start promoting their campaigns immediately.
Reach out to close family members and friends to ask them to give. Create fundraising scripts for phone calls or emails that participants can use when contacting close family members and friends.

Check in with fundraisers regularly to provide assistance as needed and help them promote their pages. This support will give new fundraisers greater confidence and a positive experience that will encourage them to participate in future campaigns.

5. Your campaign has a lot of “zero-dollar fundraisers.”

Zero-dollar fundraisers are peer-to-peer fundraising pages that have raised no money yet. The Nuclavis study found that “Activating $0 Fundraisers was the most-reported challenge across programs, with 54% of respondents reporting they are having trouble getting P2P participants to raise funds.”

Too many zero-dollar fundraisers can damage your campaign’s PR, especially if you publicly share your fundraisers’ pages on your campaign’s website. Reduce the number of zero-dollar fundraisers associated with your campaign by taking these steps:

Clearly explain your expectations. Participants should know whether your organization expects them to commit to raising a certain amount before they get involved. For example, create an onboarding guide with a note explaining how you expect all fundraising participants to raise at least $100.
Advise fundraisers to make the first gift to kickstart their campaigns. Contributing the first gift themselves will make it easier for fundraisers to gather additional support. When prospective donors see that a page already has some contributions, they’ll be more inclined to donate because the fundraiser will look more legitimate. Plus, when fundraisers make at least one donation to their page, it will reduce the number of zero-dollar fundraising pages associated with your larger campaign.
Encourage participants to share their personal stories. The more personalized and compelling fundraisers make their campaign pages, the more donations they’ll secure for your cause. Provide examples of ways fundraisers can personalize their pages, whether by sharing the story of an emotional volunteer experience with your organization or their past experiences as a beneficiary of your mission.

Ensure your communications with peer-to-peer fundraisers are upbeat and encouraging to inspire them to continue pushing toward their goals. For example, you may send an email halfway through the campaign to fundraisers who still need to reach their goal with the subject line “3 Quick Tips to Finish Your Campaign Strong!💪” The email should thank participants for the work they’ve already done and provide a few final best practices for closing out the campaign.

6. Your donation page is hard to use or not compelling enough.

Your peer-to-peer campaign should feature a simple, user-friendly donation form that will be included on participants’ fundraising pages. This form should compel potential donors to give and make donating online easy.

Bloomerang’s donation page guide recommends following these tips for optimal design:

Make the page user-friendly and accessible. Keep your giving form as simple and easy to fill out as possible. Only ask for necessary information, such as donors’ names, contact details, and payment information. Also, make the form more inclusive by following accessibility best practices. For instance, include alternative text for images and sufficient color contrast between the text and background.
Include a brief description of your fundraiser’s purpose. Describe how donations impact your organization’s mission. Be specific—let donors know that a $25 donation helps you purchase a month of food for a shelter dog or that a $100 donation pays for summer camp fees for a local elementary school student.
Use compelling images that illustrate your mission. Choose one or two compelling photos that showcase your nonprofit’s work. These can be images of volunteers, community members, and other individuals directly involved in your mission. Photos help donors see exactly how their contributions can make a difference.

After making these updates, your online donation process will be optimized for peer-to-peer fundraising success. It will also work for other future online giving campaigns, like crowdfunding or email fundraising.

7. You don’t have a clear follow-up strategy with supporters and donors post-campaign.

Post-campaign engagement is critical for retaining peer-to-peer fundraisers and donors as long-term supporters. That’s why you need a strategy for following up with participants and donors to thank them for their hard work and continue engaging with them.

To follow up with your P2P audience post-campaign, you should:

Highlight supporters’ accomplishments on your marketing platforms. Keep your post-campaign messages focused on celebrating participants’ and donors’ achievements. This recognition helps supporters feel like equal partners in working toward your mission. Communicate your gratitude via social media, email, and on your website, and update your audience on what their support will help your nonprofit achieve.
Send a heartfelt thank you letter. Consider writing thank you messages by hand to add a personal touch to your outreach efforts. Whether you send a handwritten, typed, or email, personalize the messages by addressing the supporters by name. Reference their specific accomplishments, like whether they exceeded their goal or engaged an impressive number of new supporters.
Offer additional ways to get involved. To encourage supporters to stay involved in your work, suggest other ways to get involved. For instance, you can discuss upcoming educational events, volunteer opportunities, monthly giving membership programs, or advocacy initiatives.
Send an unexpected gift. Recognize your most active peer-to-peer fundraisers or your campaign’s largest donors by sending them an unexpected gift, such as a free t-shirt, mug, or tote bag branded with your nonprofit’s logo. Thank these supporters for their efforts to go above and beyond to support your campaign.

By stewarding your supporters after your P2P campaign ends, you can encourage them to participate in future campaigns and support your organization in multiple ways. Next time you have a supporter-led fundraising initiative on your calendar, you can rely on these experienced volunteers for assistance.

Joshua Meyer, VP of Marketing at Bloomerang

Joshua Meyer brings over 20 years of fundraising, volunteer management, and marketing experience to his current role as the VP of Demand Generation for Bloomerang. As a member of the Bloomerang marketing team, Josh manages the organization’s growth marketing efforts. Through his previous roles at the Human Rights Campaign and OneCause, he has a passion for helping to create positive change and helping nonprofits engage new donors and achieve their fundraising goals.

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