Fine-Tune Your Website for Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Success
This article was originally posted on NonProfit PRO’s blog.
We work with nonprofit organizations at every stage of peer-to-peer fundraising. Some are just kicking off their very first peer-to-peer (p2p) fundraising campaign, while others are getting ready to celebrate their 25-year, or even 50-year, anniversary p2p campaign. Often the organizations that have been running peer-to-peer campaigns and events for multiple years fall into the routine of simply hitting copy and paste for the new p2p season.
One thing we’ve seen time and again is that it pays to take a step back to review each new p2p campaign with fresh eyes. Even a few tweaks and simple additions to your website and campaign site can make a big difference.
Here are a few simple yet impactful ways to fine-tune your website for your next peer-to-peer fundraising campaign or event:
- Review and tweak your website.
Make sure it’s easy for people (participants and those donating to your participants’ campaigns) to find the information they’re seeking on your campaign site. Start by pretending you know nothing about your campaign and go to the home page of your website. Step through the online process. Ask yourself these questions, take notes as you go, and work with your website manager to make improvements:- How easy is it to find:
- Information about the campaign or event?
- How to register as a participant?
- How to donate to participants versus to teams?
- How easy is it to complete the registration process? To make it easier on participants, be sure that you’re asking only the questions you really need to get them on board. You can always ask more questions later.
- How easy is it for participants to get started fundraising? Once they’re registered, will they know what to do next? Consider adding a “kickstart your fundraising with a self-donation” button as a first step to get participants going.
- How easy is it to find:
- Add gamification.
Gamification is a great way to add friendly competition and make the campaign more fun. For example, add progress meters to show participants how the overall campaign, their team, and they are tracking toward goals. Add badges for things like fundraising milestones, number of people recruited, self-donations, miles completed in a physical challenge, and more. - Give donations a lift.
Add a few donation-boosting enhancements to your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign website. A few ideas:- Include an option for donors to cover the cost of transaction fees. Adding this simple option can give a significant boost to your overall funds raised.
- Add a virtual shopping cart to show donors actual examples of how their donation can help your organization achieve its mission. Letting someone know their donation will feed a family of four, for example, is much more compelling than simply asking for a specific amount of money.
- Use a matching gift solution, such asDouble the Donation’s 360MATCHPRO or HEPdata’s eMatch Portal Program to make sure you don’t leave dollars on the table.
- Add a monthly giving pop-up box: When donors make an online donation, present them with the option to make it a recurring give via the convenience of automated monthly payments. This approach encourages donors to give more over time.
These are just a few examples of the many ways to fine-tune your site for your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign or event. Just remember: Taking a little time to review and tweak your next campaign can help ensure your campaign is always improving.
Need more ideas or an extra set of hands for your virtual events or campaigns? Contact Cathexis Partners.
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by Laura Higgins, Strategic Consultant, Cathexis Partners
Laura specializes in fundraising and community-building events, and has worked with nonprofits for more than 15 years.
