“Donors don’t give to institutions. They invest in ideas and people in whom they believe.” – G.T. Smith
Many people consider fundraising to be a necessary evil of charitable work. But it doesn’t need to be painful! In 2014 Americans gave $358 billion, 72% of which came from individuals. The opportunity for organizations to get a piece of the pie is bigger than it’s ever been.
So how do you build scalable fundraising models that yield big contributions, prevent distracting capacity issues, and don't make you hate your life?
The key is a robust peer-to-peer strategy that relies on personal relationships. 92% of Americans trust friend referrals over any other form of marketing. When asking for money, trust goes a long way. By empowering supporters to raise money on your behalf and incentivizing them to recruit their friends, you can dramatically amplify your impact.
A few basic things can go a long way in promoting peer-to-peer fundraising. But many of them are frequently overlooked.
Track your top recruiters. Knowing who your biggest recruiters are is incredibly valuable. Use recruiter links to track sharing and activity to see who your biggest assets are. Visualize progress and incentivize action with leaderboards to feature your top recruiters.
Include a social share prompt after asking people to donate. This is one of the easiest things for an organization to implement. It is supported by most tech platforms out there, and allows your network to multiply your impact without you having to lift a finger.
Set-up personal fundraising pages. Once you know who your top recruiters are, you can move them into deeper engagement by giving them their own personal fundraising pages. This enables them to make increasingly personal fundraising asks of their community, and feel deeper ownership over the organization’s success.
Building a strong peer-to-peer strategy will help distribute the burden of fundraising across your network, tap into personal relationships, and create a scalable machine for your network.
Download the NationBuilder Fundraising Guide for further insights on building a scalable fundraising strategy that pulls from the latest trends and organizational success stor
