The social and economic disruption caused by the COVID 19 is devastating for every industry. Nonprofit fundraising is not an exception. This is one of the reasons why virtual peer-to-peer fundraisers are so important these days.
Virtual events are proving to be a boon for organizations that cannot conduct offline peer-to-peer events in this pandemic including walks, rides, and runs. Virtual events can also help nonprofit organizations communicate and engage with potential donors and volunteers and make them realize that they’re an important part of their community.
We’ve prepared this handy guide to help your organization take advantage of virtual peer-to-peer fundraising in 2021. Here are some of the most effective ways to optimize the process of conducting virtual fundraising events and how to better engage with the participants with the ultimate goal of increasing donations.
Let’s dive right in:
Use Social Media to Encourage Online Community
Use your nonprofit’s Facebook page to create a dedicated group page for online fundraising. Invite all participants to the group so that you have a virtual gathering space to converse, support each other, and recognize people who are going above and beyond.
You can also use this space to issue your participants small challenges that will engage them. Ask them to post photos related to a certain theme, or sound off in the comments with the number of donations they received that day. Keep the page light, engaging, and encouraging.
Ask Your Fundraisers to Create Videos
Make sure to keep your participants motivated to help each other in raising donations. Request your top fundraises to create some short videos on why they believe in your cause and what are their best strategies for raising money from families and friends.
Ask them to keep their videos to under a minute in length, and to keep their messaging positive and encouraging. Post the videos in your online community as a way to compel others to step up their fundraising game.
Find a Way to Incentivize Your Participants
Have some extra merch you can give away? Is there a musical act in your community that can give a live online performance? Think of a special way you can reward and incentivize your community, whether it’s through free giveaways or fun online events that fundraisers have exclusive access to. This will keep up motivation and excitement within among participants.
Keep Consistent with Communication and Messaging
We already talked above about creating a Facebook Group to act as an online gathering spot for your fundraising efforts, but it’s important to broadcast your event on other channels as well. Make sure you’re properly advertising your fundraising across Instagram, e-mail, and your website as well. You can use live video streams on both Instagram and Facebook in order to give your followers regular live progress updates. Continuing to post lively images and videos on social media will keep the awareness of your event high and your users engaged.
Keep the Online Fundraising Going
While peer-to-peer fundraising events are fun, leverage this switch to online fundraising throughout the year. You don’t need a reason to continue to encourage online donations. Ensure that you’re online donation page is always accessible and available via all platforms, and continue to post content on your channels that showcases your amazing impact and encourages people to donate.
The key to successful virtual peer-to-peer fundraising is to keep your participants motivated and engaged to raise funds for your nonprofit. With a little bit of effort and creativity, you can achieve this goal with aplomb.
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