4 Steps to Recruit More Peer-to-Peer Fundraisers
Hosting peer-to-peer fundraising events (in-person, virtual, or both) can be highly rewarding. But they can also take a lot of time and resources to pull off. That’s why it’s so important to attract participants and get them started with fundraising for your nonprofit – so you can see as much return on your investment as possible.
Your peer-to-peer fundraising software platform should include tools to help you market to potential participants, get them registered for your event, and encourage them to fundraise.
TIP: Find the right peer-to-peer fundraising software for your nonprofit. Use The Nonprofit Toolkit for Selecting Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software.
So, let’s look at four steps for putting those tools to use to recruit more peer-to-peer fundraisers for your event:
1. Target and inspire your ideal fundraisers to participate.
Think about your ideal peer-to-peer fundraisers so that you can segment your audiences based on various characteristics and target them with different messages. For example:
- Where do they live?
For those in your nonprofit’s service area, you might want to invite them to sign up to run/walk/ride/climb in your event. If they’re outside of your service area, consider inviting them to join virtually. - Why do they want to participate?
Some might only be interested in joining because they want to participate in the actual event. For those folks, you might want to give them a bit more background about your organization and how the event helps you achieve your mission. Others might be past fundraisers who are more interested in helping your mission. For those people, you might want to target them with messages around the impact they can make by fundraising again this year. - How have they participated in the past?
For past participants, it’s important to segment them by their past participation, past team membership, and past fundraising. By doing so, you can send targeted messages — such as an early announcement email to past team captains, inviting them to register and reclaim their teams for your current campaign. Targeted communications like these can help foster a sense of importance in constituents as they receive “insider” information.
A few days after the early announcement, you could send an email to all past participants, excluding those who have registered. The hope would be that your general past participant audience will click through to see teams that have already been formed, with participants registered and fundraising for the new campaign — encouraging them to take action as well.
TIP: Learn more best practices for creating effective peer-to-peer fundraising emails. Read the guide, Building Powerful Emails Communications for Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns and Events.
2. Make the registration process easy (and inspiring).
A long, tedious registration process can be a turnoff to potential registrants. So, just as you optimize your online donation form, be sure to keep your online registration process streamlined as well as inspiring. Here are some ideas:
- Keep the number of online form fields to minimum.
While there are some types of information that you will need to collect – such as contact information, emergency contact information, a liability waiver, and t-shirt size – avoid collecting unnecessary information. For example, asking how a registrant heard about your organization is interesting and helpful information, but not something you need to ask at this point. - Explain how you’ll use their information.
For the information you do collect, be sure to tell registrants how you’ll use it. For example, let them know what types of email communications you’ll be sending them and when/why you would call them. Tell them why you need an emergency contact name/number and how you will/won’t use it. - Add some celebratory language.
Throughout the registration page, include some fun, encouraging language to make the experience feel more personal. For example, include messages that let registrants know that by registering, they’re on their way to making a big impact for your organization’s mission.
3. Ease participants from registrants to fundraisers.
Fundraising can seem intimidating to people who haven’t done it before. But there are ways you can make it easier for registrants to get started. Here are some tips:
- Include fundraising prompts on your registration confirmation page and auto-email.
After thanking participants for registering, let them know how they can help to make the event an even bigger success by inviting their friends and family to donate. Encourage registrants to start fundraising by including a link to a video or tip sheet that gives them some basic steps. Also, you can include a prominent button that they can click to set up their fundraising dashboard/page. - Start a new registrant email welcome series.
Set up a series of automated emails that gently encourage registrants to get started with their fundraising. For example, one email might encourage registrants to set up their fundraising page. The next might include a few simple steps and templates to help them get started fundraising with friends and family. The next might include a video from a top fundraiser who offers tips on how to fundraise.
4. Communicate participants’ impact.
From the moment a registrant signs up, take every opportunity to thank them and remind them of the impact their participation and fundraising makes on your organization’s mission. This approach will help to keep them motivated to not only continue fundraising, but also to return as participants for your next peer-to-peer events.
If you need more ideas or an extra set of hands for your online fundraising events or campaigns, the Cathexis Partners team is ready to help. Contact us today.
