Peer-to-peer fundraising: Mobilize supporters, maximize impact

If your nonprofit is eager to engage new supporters and make a bigger impact than ever before, peer-to-peer fundraising might be for you. 

Whether you’re thinking about launching your first peer-to-peer campaign or looking to improve your existing efforts, we’ll share best practices and the five steps you need for success. Plus, we’ve got a free downloadable toolkit to help you and your team get the ball rolling. 

What is peer-to-peer fundraising?

Let’s start with the peer-to-peer fundraising definition! Peer-to-peer fundraising, also known as “peer 2 peer” fundraising or “P2P,” empowers supporters to raise money on behalf of a nonprofit by rallying their social circles and personal connections. 

In P2P campaigns, individuals personalize their own fundraising pages, or they can create or join a team fundraising effort and compete against other groups to raise the most money for the cause.

What is the difference between peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding?

While similar in nature, crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising have key differences. Crowdfunding is an umbrella category of social fundraising in which a single individual, group, or organization solicits donations from the people in their wider social network to reach a fundraising goal. These campaigns are typically managed on a fundraising page by one entity—a person, club, or nonprofit—and usually have time parameters (e.g., “Help us raise $10K in 30 days!”). 

Like crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising is often time-bound and elicits support from social networks—a donor base, friends, family, colleagues, former clients, etc. However, P2P campaigns are made up of not just one but several different fundraising pages led by individuals and groups, all connected to a central nonprofit fundraising initiative. 

Benefits of peer-to-peer fundraising

P2P fundraising can have a huge impact. In 2023 alone, the top peer-to-peer fundraising programs in the United States raised $1.1B in collective revenue. Let’s explore more reasons nonprofits choose this fundraising strategy.

Peer-to-peer fundraising can… 

✅ Create friendly competition: P2P campaigns often raise funds quickly because they add gamification with team leaderboards, individual fundraising goals, and fundraising thermometers. 

✅ Save time and money: People who participate in P2P campaigns are volunteer fundraisers, which can reduce costs and save time for you and your staff.

✅ Expand your network: Every peer-to-peer or team fundraiser participant opens the door to new networks of potential donors for your organization.

✅ Empower your supporters: A P2P campaign gives your most passionate, engaged followers the opportunity to become advocates, strengthening your relationships and their commitment to your cause.

What are the disadvantages of peer-to-peer fundraising?

Of course, like with any fundraising tactic, there are a few possible pitfalls of peer-to-peer fundraising to consider before diving in headfirst.

Cons of P2P fundraising may include the following: 

❌ Individuals can get lost: Sometimes, an individual fundraiser does not follow through on their commitment to raise a certain amount of funds. When you’re on a team, it can be easy to hide behind everyone else. 

💡Solution: Encourage participants to set their own individual goals as part of the team’s goal. Use automated reminders and group check-ins to help members stay motivated and engaged.

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❌ Difficult to manage: Without the right tools, nonprofits can find it challenging to provide the infrastructure team fundraisers need for success.

💡Solution: Utilize a robust peer-to-peer fundraising platform to easily manage volunteers and track fundraising progress.

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❌ Leaders don’t always take responsibility: As much as a nonprofit might equip a team leader, that individual may not have the bandwidth or know-how to follow through.

💡Solution: Provide realistic, measurable, and easy-to-understand training before they begin. The more guidance you give early on, the more successful they will be!

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❌ Difficult to bring supporters on board: Setting up a personal fundraising page might be intimidating for anyone new to this kind of campaign.

💡Solution: Keep it simple! Givebutter’s user-friendly tools allow anyone to sign up and create their own personalized P2P pages in minutes. 

How to create a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign

Launching a successful peer-to-peer campaign is all about nailing the strategy and execution. Follow these five simple steps to make the most of your efforts.

Step 1: Set your goals 🎯

Like with any successful fundraiser, the first step involves setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals so your event is as focused and effective as possible.

• Specific: In detail, clearly define what you want to accomplish—e.g., Raise $75K. 
• Measurable: Consider what metrics you’ll track to determine your success—e.g., The number of fundraisers recruited, total funds raised, and average amount raised per fundraiser.
• Achievable: Set goals that are challenging, but not too out of reach—e.g., Based on last year's performance, we’re aiming for a 20% increase in donations.
• Relevant: Make sure your goals are related to your cause and mission—e.g., Funds will go directly to support the four programs that our animal shelter runs.
• Time-bound: Determine when the fundraiser will start and end—e.g., Our P2P campaign will run for six weeks, from September 1 to October 15.

Step 2: Assemble your team 💪

P2P fundraisers have a lot of moving parts—far too many for just one person to handle. Plan to assign staff and volunteers to assist with every part of the campaign, such as: 

• Campaign Manager: Oversees the entire campaign from start to finish, including setting timelines, making high-level decisions about the fundraiser, and coordinating with all departments.
• Marketing Coordinator: Handles all print and digital advertising, including the campaign's overall messaging strategy and branding. 
• Sponsorship Lead: Identifies and reaches out to potential corporate sponsors, creates sponsorship levels, and manages relationships.
• Volunteer Coordinator: Recruits and trains individual fundraisers, provides ongoing support and motivation to participants, and creates fundraising toolkits and resources.
• Donor Stewardship Lead: Develops and implements donor communication strategies, follows up with major donors, oversees donor recognition, etc.

Step 3: Get the right tools 🧰

Selecting the right peer-to-peer fundraising platform is essential so your team can quickly reach out to their entire network via social media, email, text messages, and more. Start by assessing your goals and budget. And, most importantly, you’ll need to make sure the platform has the essential tools, including:

• Individual and team fundraising features 👥 
• Personalized pages with custom links 👩 
• Leaderboards 🏆 
• Easy social sharing 🗣️
• Peer-to-peer texting 📱
• Supporter feed 👋 
• Donation tracking 🤓 

When you sign up for a free Givebutter account, you gain access to top-notch peer-to-peer fundraising and a collection of highly rated fundraising solutions. On top of that, Givebutter offers a built-in CRM, event pages, and email marketing tools, allowing you to easily engage new donors, communicate with your P2P fundraisers, and track campaign progress—all in one place, for free.

Step 4: Rally the troops 📣

To set your campaign up for success, recruit a team of enthusiastic P2P fundraisers and have them create their own custom campaign pages that they'll be excited to share through social media posts, text, and email. (Download our P2P toolkit for more recruitment tips!)

Step 5: Blast off 🚀

Equip your team by sharing plenty of fundraising resources, like a donation request letter, high-quality images and videos that showcase your cause, and fundraising FAQs. Track your P2P fundraisers' progress, share updates, provide tips, answer questions, and express your gratitude along the way.

Download your free peer-to-peer fundraising toolkit

Whether you're a first-timer or looking to improve your P2P chops, this guide has all the basics and best practices for planning a successful campaign.

Freebie alert!

Download the free peer-to-peer fundraising toolkit ->

Get started with these peer-to-peer fundraising ideas 

When it comes to hosting a successful peer-to-peer fundraiser, the options are limitless. What matters most is that your event excites and motivates your target audience. Here are some P2P fundraising ideas to help get your wheels turning:

• Fitness events like 5Ks, dance marathons, and basketball shoot-a-thons 🏋 
• Contests and tournaments like trivia, game night, or a golf tournament 🏆 
• Unique social challenges like No Shave November 🥸
• Merchandise sales like T-shirt sales or gourmet cookie sales 🍪 
• Corporate matching gift campaigns 💰
  

💥 Pro tip: Look for ways to foster friendly competition (and recognize your donors!). For example, give a special social media shoutout to the first team to sell 20 event tickets or secure a $500 corporate sponsorship.

9 peer-to-peer fundraising best practices

As the nonprofit organizing a P2P campaign, it’s your job to make sure the individual and team fundraisers have a seamless experience from start to finish. 

An important peer-to-peer fundraising tip is to go beyond ensuring the experience is fun—they need to feel well-equipped and prepared. Provide all the necessary tools, resources (like images or logos), and communication scripts to help them get started. 

1. Recruit all-star fundraisers ⭐ 

When recruiting, target your most dedicated and active stakeholders (e.g., your Board of Directors). Don’t forget to see if these leaders have connections to companies that match donations so your fundraisers can double their impact.

2. Help teams pick a theme ☁️

Letting teams choose what they want to do is usually the best route, but sometimes, they need help figuring out where to start. Give them a list or send a link to past team fundraisers so they can get moving ASAP.

3. Advise participants to set team and individual goals 🥅

Start by asking what they think is a reasonable goal. If the team has no clue, tell them what similar-sized teams have raised for your nonprofit in the past.

4. Recommend timelines ⏰

To help teams estimate a realistic timeframe for reaching their goals, consider their previous fundraising experience and current availability. Keep in mind that more funds typically require more time to secure, so it's important to factor that in if you’re setting a larger fundraising goal.

5. Guide teams on how to tell their stories 📖

Writing a personal fundraising story on the campaign page is usually the most intimidating part for new fundraisers. Make it easier on them by providing templated copy and examples.

6. Ask teams to commit to the first donation 🤑

Explain how making a donation to their own page can help individuals and teams kickstart their fundraising progress.

7. Coach teams through the ‘ask’ 🤔

Create a short, step-by-step guide that teaches your teams how to ask for donations. You can even provide a communication script or email template to make this as easy as possible for them. 

8. Share updates 👍

Share regular updates with teams on their progress (such as, "We've hit 75% of our fundraising goal and only have two days left. Please help us cross the finish line!"), and even call out the top fundraisers.

Additionally, encourage your fundraisers to share their own updates with their supporters at least every five days—this tactic makes campaigns three times more successful!

9. Celebrate your teams 🎉

In addition to thanking everyone who donated, thank every team member via email and with a handwritten letter or personalized video from your leadership. Personal touches go a long way! 

More to explore

Check out the 8 highest-rated peer-to-peer fundraising platforms →

5 successful P2P fundraising examples in action 

Ready to start planning your next peer-to-peer fundraiser? Check out these real-life campaigns from awesome nonprofits in the Givebutter community:

1. Fostering Great Ideas

💛 Why we love this peer-to-peer fundraising example: Fostering Great Ideas, an organization focused on improving foster care, used peer-to-peer fundraising as just one of their fundraising tactics. Together with matching donation opportunities and raffle ticket purchasing, this organization was able to surpass its initial goal!

💰 Raised: $166K+

💪 How you can do it: Create a campaign with a defined end time (like ten days) and offer supporters multiple ways to contribute (team fundraising, auction participation, social sharing, etc.).

2. Big Shoulders Fund

💛 Why we love this peer-to-peer fundraiser: When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down their signature fundraising event, Big Shoulders Fund launched a peer fundraising campaign championed by nearly 266 supporters. 

💰 Raised: $87K+

💪 How you can do it: Leverage any social, academic, or professional networks that have ties to your cause.

3. Hope Creek Academy

💛 Why we love this P2P fundraising example: This school for neurodivergent children rallied its community with a team fundraising campaign that created lively competition between school groups—middle school, staff, high school, etc. 

💰 Raised: $94K+

💪 How you can do it: Inspire fundraisers to join your campaign by gamifying it and building on existing groups for a fun, competitive spirit! 

4. L-CMD Research Foundation

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💛 Why we love this peer-to-peer fundraiser: To help fund various stages of a gene therapy project for LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD), their campaign leveraged emotional storytelling and social media to reach its goal.

💰 Raised: $2M+

💪 How you can do it: By using powerful peer-to-peer fundraising software, you can manage and streamline all of your fundraising efforts into one dashboard. This makes it easier to engage supporters through storytelling and social media, just as this campaign did to reach its impressive goal.

5. Move 4 Masks

💛 Why we love this peer-to-peer fundraising example: Pure Barre invited supporters to participate in a virtual day of fitness to raise money for North Memorial's COVID-19 Emergency Fund and Mask Cover Kit Fund through their Move 4 Masks campaign. A standout peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, Pure Barre’s event showcases how a virtual initiative can exceed goals and rally widespread support.

💰 Raised: $11K+

💪 How you can do it: Get in touch with vendors or organizations that might be interested in giving back and have some desirable services or experiences to offer in support of your virtual challenge or event. 

Start peer-to-peer fundraising for free with Givebutter

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns empower your supporters to take action, raise money, and rally new donors. They also enable you to foster relationships with people in your fundraisers’ networks, who can continue supporting your cause long after the campaign ends.

Givebutter provides all the tools you need to successfully launch a peer-to-peer campaign. This all-in-one platform comes complete with donation forms, fundraising pages, event management, auctions, a built-in CRM, and marketing tools—all for free. 

Ready to see how Givebutter can help you raise more for your mission? Sign up for free and get started today!