A View of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising from the Constituent Side
This isn’t your typical peer-to-peer fundraising technology article. It’s a personal story about how I came to see peer-to-peer fundraising from the constituent side.
Let me start from the beginning.
My start with peer-to-peer fundraising technology
I chose Information Systems as my bachelor’s degree, and worked for many years in IT. After I left my corporate job, I was able to use my background in technology to follow my passion into the nonprofit sector.
I worked at the headquarters of a large nonprofit that used Luminate Online, including the TeamRaiser peer-to-peer fundraising platform. I helped deploy new software systems as well as support the administrative side of Luminate Online for all of our offices and events nationwide.
After leaving that large nonprofit, I went to work for Cathexis Partners, which allowed me to support many nonprofits through the Luminate Online implementation process and with ongoing support. In 2014, I decided to take a step back and focus on my family.
When peer-to-peer fundraising came close to home
A couple days after Christmas in 2016, my daughter, Annabelle, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Over the next year, I engaged with our local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (now Breakthrough T1D) chapter and began to develop a community and support system that is very dear to our hearts.
In 2017, we formed our first walk team in honor of my daughter for the JDRF One Walk. It was a humbling and moving experience to have friends, family, teachers, and doctors walk beside us and contribute to our cause.
The first challenge was coming up with a team name that was unique and incorporated all of these people in our lives that were willing to show up for us. We landed on Annabelle’s Armada. While the word “armada” is usually associated with ships, one of its definitions is “a large force or group usually of moving things”.
My daughter, Annabelle, now attends a summer camp for kids with type 1 diabetes that relies heavily on donations and fundraising efforts. She can be seen in this year’s North Texas Giving Day campaign for Camp Sweeney.
How my constituent view of peer-to-peer fundraising helps nonprofits
Now that I’m back at work with Cathexis Partners, the idea of an armada sticks with me every time I get to work with a new nonprofit client and learn about their mission. Whether the organization is big or small, the people behind it are always a force, and they are definitely always in motion!
I also have the privilege of now knowing what peer-to-peer fundraising is like from the constituent side, and can put that understanding to work, making the entire peer-to-peer fundraising experience as user friendly and helpful as possible.
I’m happy to bring this deeper personal understanding and appreciation for the technology that brings people together and fuels online fundraising efforts. And I look forward to helping even more nonprofit clients by implementing peer-to-peer fundraising technology and supporting their ongoing efforts.
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by KC Strohbehn, Account Manager, Cathexis Partners
With a combined background of technology and nonprofit experience, KC works alongside clients to successfully put their online events and fundraising campaigns into action.
