You might call them the 7 Deadly Sins – only in reverse – and only when it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising events. OK, that’s a few caveats, but Plenty Consulting offers more than half a baker’s dozen of what it takes to have a winning peer-to-peer fundraising event.
The firm, with offices in Chicago, Ill. and Michigan City, Ind., recently released an e-book called “The seven success factors of peer-to-peer fundraising,” to help organizations get the most out of their events and their volunteers:
- Clarify your strategy: Look at strategy in layers that come together to form an overall plan, decide and clarify the purpose; identify where your program sits within your organization overall, and identify where your organization sits within the entire peer-to-peer fundraising space.
- Define your audience: Ask yourself, who cares about the cause and why, and make your target audience large enough to succeed but small enough to manage.
- Create a compelling ask: Remember that fundraisers are not the same as traditional donors, and the asks comes in three parts: asking constituents, constitutions asking their network and you asking new donors to stay.
- Build an impactful event: Don’t limit to one moment of interaction but encourage repeat constituents, generate buzz, and build your brand.
- Provide great service: Keep mind whether you have enough staff to support constituents and whether volunteers are well-trained in customers service.
- Harness analytics: Follow the “one hand rule,” and only track as many measurements as you can on one hand. Those metrics should be based on good quality data and directly impact the bottom line or net revenue while being a core focus of your team.
Align your leadership: Clarify goals, repeat them, and make sure everyone understands and is on board with them.
