Peer to Peer

Our Groundhog Day conversation starts this way: “What activity should we pivot to right now?” We are going to make several arguments, most of which you will probably hate.

Segmentation is about talking to different audiences in different ways, depending on who they are and how they might be interested in your cause. Email communications are most effective when you personalize the message, information and asks based on what you know about the audience.

Community building is the climate change of social good. Building a community delivers future value as rewarding as the survival of humankind. Building and nurturing a community ensures your mission’s success.

Nonprofits put a lot of time, energy and money into acquiring peer-to-peer event participants, so it's vital to retain them year-over-year. This podcast will examine the best tactics for peer-to-peer participant retention, which starts at each participant's initial event signup, to help grow your event as well as fundraising dollars raised.

When it comes to timing of email communications for your peer-to-peer events, there are three big levers you can adjust. Timing also varies by type of event, which breaks down into four categories. Let’s look at how peer-to-peer email timing levers vary for each event type.

Though education around peer-to-peer fundraising has improved over the years, there is still a significant number of nonprofits unaware of what this fundraising method is or, more importantly, the benefits it can have on revenue. Peer-to-peer revenue was hit hard by the pandemic, but regardless peer-to-peer efforts -- even when pushed to virtual formats -- continue to get results. Check out our "2021 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study" to learn more.

Moving forward, organizations should steward new relationships virtually and bring moves management strategies into their digital fundraising programs.

Organizations are requiring more robust software functionality to ensure virtual and hybrid campaigns connect as deeply with participants and donors as in-person events. In response, peer-to-peer software vendors are offering more tools for organizations and participants to engage in richer and more meaningful ways.

Establishing a strategy for your peer-to-peer fundraising email communications is critically important. Of course, when you have a lot to do, taking time to think about strategy might seem like a luxury. But keep in mind that there’s no point in sending emails just to send emails. They need a purpose.

Instead of getting great at running events, we should have been systematizing and improving methods that foster community. Providing peer-to-peer participants with a way to communicate with each other is key. We have been shouting at constituents instead of building ways for them to talk to each other.