Peer to Peer

Participants in a 5K show up because they want to run a 5K. While a rare few may have a mission connection that they are acting on, the vast majority are motivated extrinsically. They simply want a 5K experience—any 5K experience. These participants, for the most part, have little or no mission attachment. Why does the difference in motivation make adding a 5K to your walk a bad idea?...

In my experience, major donors have a reputation for being untouchable. Communication with this group is often a delicate dance in which few risks are taken due to the high-dollar annual contributions that are at stake. Not surprisingly, there are a few issues with this ultra-sensitive approach to managing your major-donor relationships. The first is…

As nonprofit fundraisers, we use many of the same channels as corporate brands and political candidates to reach our intended audiences, including direct mail, telemarketing, social media, emails, and offline and online advertising. Yet, there is one, relatively new fundraising approach that is experiencing great success: peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms....

OK, I’ll just say it: I’m a nerd. Or maybe I’m a geek. Either way, I spend more of my personal time than I like to admit keeping up to date on all things peer-to-peer, social media, technology, marketing and fundraising. Many times, all of the resources and information out there start to sound a bit like…

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising has become an important element of nonprofit development, with more and more organizations recognizing the potential to increase their donations. The beginning of the year is a great time to strengthen and grow your organization’s strategy. Here are 10 ways to build on your P2P efforts as you head into the new…

I heard a client struggle today in trying to figure out her organization’s value proposition. “What is it that we do that makes interacting with us worthwhile, something people can’t do without?” Being something that people feel they can’t do without is a high bar, but attainable. But then I thought, if I were selling high-end sneakers, would my athlete buyer respond to the same value proposition as my fashion buyer? Sometimes yes, but sometimes no...

A recent study about donor engagement and nonprofit marketing shows there are critical areas where what nonprofits are doing is not what is optimal for donors.

Otis Fulton, my husband and Turnkey’s psychologist, leapt from his chair with a shocked expression on his face and social science book-of-the-day in hand. “The Ice Bucket Challenge was not peer-to-peer fundraising!” he said. “Don’t you see? Peer-to-peer is a closed loop. The Ice Bucket Challenge was an open loop...”

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising isn't new. For years, many organizations have engaged their supporters—from staff and volunteers to program participants and current donors—to raise funds on their behalf. Traditionally, these campaigns take the form of walk-a-thons or similar kinds of events at which supporters enlist sponsors from their own networks of colleagues, friends and family. Informally,…

In the early 2000s, we didn’t call it “P2P.” We called it “online event management solutions” or “online solutions for pledge-based special events.” Some of us had noticed that nonprofits gained a lot of their annual support through these pledge-based special events, and many were still using paper pledge forms to walk around and ask for donations. The world has changed significantly since then, particularly when it comes to communications technology...