Best practices to create effective P2P fundraising pages for nonprofits

Erin Booker

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July 24, 2024

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5 minutes

Nonprofit Trends

P2P Fundraising

What is a peer-to-peer donation page?

There are two types of peer-to-peer pages: Nonprofits create P2P campaign pages to provide a way for peer-to-peer fundraisers to create their own pages, which are the second type of nonprofit donation page. P2P fundraising pages allow supporters to create a personalized fundraising campaign, which they then share with friends, family, and colleagues to solicit donations.

Why do nonprofits need optimized P2P donation pages?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising has become an increasingly popular and effective fundraising strategy for nonprofits to raise funds. For nonprofits to maximize the potential of P2P fundraising, it's essential that they optimize their peer-to-peer fundraising campaign pages as well as their giving experience. A smooth giving experience maximizes donor acquisition and engagement, meaning more online donations and impact.

If you're like, "Wait, start at the beginning! What's peer-to-peer fundraising?!", it's ok, we got you. We hope you find this peer to peer fundraising guide helpful.

6 Key elements of a fundraising page

Personalization and branding
Compelling visuals
Sharability
Additional resources
Clear impact
Accessibility

1. Personalization and branding of fundraising pages

A top key essential element of any fundraising campaign page is consistent branding and strategy across all channels and web properties. Keeping the branding tight makes your organization look profesh and ensures peer donors and volunteer fundraisers can trust that you're not scamming them. In a world where optics are everything, custom branding is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

2. Compelling, storytelling visuals

We all know the impact of a well-told nonprofit story. Whether your organization uses video, audio, photographs, an interactive experience, or magic, the goal is to motivate your donor base to give. Putting that story on your nonprofit donation page templates means that not only will donors give the most, it also is the catalyst that gets supporters jazzed to fundraise.

3. Sharability

The whole point of a peer-to-peer fundraiser is getting your network of supporters to donate to the cause you're supporting. If you can't share your fundraising page with your friends, family, colleagues, and community, how in the world can you make a difference? That's why having the ability to share your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign assets is so necessary. Got it?

4. Lots of resources and support for fundraisers

You're a nonprofit fundraiser. That means you have a lot of experience and knowledge about a specialty topic. Your sweet, passionate volunteer fundraisers don't have that same level of understanding when it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising events or peer-to-peer fundraising tools. That's why having lots of resources like email templates, a pre-written story, and step-by-step instructions on how to build a successful campaign.

5. A reason to give

Sometimes, when we have personal goals, we can lose sight of the Why behind that personal goal. This is where an impact statement on your website can make a big difference. Peer fundraising goals are all the more achievable when they're paired with big, major impact right in your face.

6. Accessibility

We are in the 2020s, friends. There is no reason that you should have any lack of accessibility within your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. That's all.

Select a peer-to-peer fundraising software option

When we say "Select a peer-to-peer fundraising software option", we mean "Select Funraise for your P2P software. Funraise is the must-have software for successful peer-to-peer campaigns—and the best fundraising platform for nonprofits. Raising 2x the amount of top P2P programs, Funraise's peer-to-peer fundraising platform outranks other peer-to-peer platforms.

For more fundraising software options, take a look at this our list of P2P fundraising platforms for nonprofits.

Optimization for conversion and usability

As we said earlier, individual fundraisers using Funraise raise 2x the amount of top P2P programs. Your active fundraisers want to achieve their individual goals to support your cause, and designing fully customizable p2p fundraising websites for an exceptional donor experience will help everyone blow past their goals.

Funraise's Giving Forms have an industry-leading conversion rate of 50%, thanks to the awesome giving experience they offer, in addition to the P2P page customization and branding options offered by Funraise.

Take a look at Funraise's Giving Forms for yourself:

Now that you've seen our forms, check out the options Funraise provides for beautifully branded P2P pages:

Pre-made campaign page templates

Funraise's nonprofit website builder has all the features needed for effective fundraising sites. Nonprofiteers can easily create campaign pages from page templates and enable P2P fundraising for nonprofits for a revenue boost while supporters create customizable fundraising pages with individual goals and share them with others.

Check out Funraise's campaign site page templates:

Fundraising thermometer

Sometimes called a progress bar, fundraising thermometers are one of Funraise's most popular tools for peer-to-peer campaigns. These custom nonprofit donation goal progress bars track your campaign progress and keep virtual fundraisers and donors engaged—right on your website!

Multiple payment options

More payment options encourage one-time donors to use their preferred payment method when they make their individual donation—and more payment methods mean more donation conversions! Funraise's online donation forms can collect credit card, ACH, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, crypto, and more.

Prompt social donors to give monthly

It may seem far-fetched to think of P2P donors signing up to be monthly donors, but it's not as implausible as it sounds. Funraise's recurring upgrades tool is a way for your nonprofit to convert prospective donors to monthly donors when they first encounter your cause. This feature suggests a monthly donation option to one-time donors giving less than $100. Funraise makes it easy to add this feature to any online donation form—one click and done.

Facebook integration

83%: The increase in the amount raised when fundraisers use the Facebook integration. Yep, you read that right... your P2P fundraisers are going to want to share their peer-to-peer campaigns on social media, and when they do that thing that seems so natural, they're supercharging their individual fundraising campaign—but only if they use Funraise's Facebook integration.

Power ups

Power Ups? Yep, Funraise’s Power Ups are more than just tips, they're tools, tweaks, and tricks that lead to successful campaigns for organizations just like yours. When it comes to P2P, Funraise is your magic wand. 🪄

Spotlight matching gifts

On Giving Tuesday, your own giving day, or all year round, when donors see a progress bar on your website marching toward a matching gift that will double—or triple—impact, they’re much more likely to get out their wallets.

Use social proof

Sometimes we can talk 'til we're blue in the face, but all one-time donors hear is, "Money, please!" When your volunteer fundraisers speak up on your behalf, though, potential donors listen—it's something called "social proof." But don't listen to us, Fundraising Specialist Dani Lockard says,

"Of course, ongoing P2P campaigns require a careful balance of urgency and commitment, but nonprofits who keep up the thread of engagement and utilize multiple types of communications are winning at the P2P game."

"Of course, ongoing P2P campaigns require a careful balance of urgency and commitment, but nonprofits who keep up the thread of engagement and utilize multiple types of communications are winning at the P2P game."

Need more social proof? David Schwab brings it home:

"Getting your donors' head and heart buy-in is a matter of tapping into that investor mindset. The most impactful nonprofit stories engage their audience with an authentic moment of vulnerability and draw the donor in so they are invested in a better outcome."

"Getting your donors' head and heart buy-in is a matter of tapping into that investor mindset. The most impactful nonprofit stories engage their audience with an authentic moment of vulnerability and draw the donor in so they are invested in a better outcome."

Prioritize mobile optimization

Do you know anyone who doesn't have a smartphone? While we're sure they're out there, the vast majority of Americans now own some kind of mobile device, so you want to make your mobile online donation process as streamlined as your desktop one. Plus, it's proven: Funraise converts more donors—the premium mobile experience allows everyone to give any time, anywhere.

Provide P2P push notifications

Through Funraise’s app, you can give P2P fundraisers the ability to manage, share, and receive push notifications. so they can encourage their social network to give more, give now, and give often.

Enable abandoned donation notifications

Funraise offers abandoned donation notifications that gently remind supporters-turned-donors to finish their gift when they navigate away from your site. This tool also stores donor information for their next visit and provides an easy one-click option to resume the online donation process.

Build a contextual giving experience

When donors are engaged in a success story that inspires them, it's important to maintain that connection. Funraise's embedded forms seamlessly integrate custom online donation forms into your website and pop up with the click of a button, meeting donors at just the right moment.

Succeed with multi-step donation forms

Multi-step forms can improve conversion rates by guiding donors through sets of questions one or a few at a time, ultimately leading to higher levels of accessibility, mobility, and transparency.

Implement impact cards

When deciding on displaying suggested donation amounts on your website, remember they can be featured beyond just the online donation form. Consider including them in your nonprofit's narrative, social media posts, or donation page itself.

Mobile phone with donation form and donation charts floating around the phone.

Woman looking at fundraising chart with button to book a call.

Yellow shapes in background with donation form in front with stylized text, build an intelligence giving experience.

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FAQ (from AI): P2P fundraising pages

How does peer-to-peer fundraising work?

Peer-to-peer fundraising involves a nonprofit creating a campaign, supporters setting up fundraising pages, participants soliciting their personal network of friends, family, and colleagues, and donors making direct individual donations. The organization provides lots of resources, support, and incentives for participants to reach their fundraising goals, such as matching gifts or prizes for top fundraisers.

What resources does a P2P fundraiser need?

P2P fundraisers need a user-friendly online platform that allows them to easily create and customize their fundraising pages. Additionally, P2P fundraisers need access to compelling visuals that highlight the impact of their fundraising efforts. Fundraisers also require support like fundraising tips, tools, templates, and links to share their pages.

What is the secret to peer-to-peer nonprofit fundraising?

The secret to successful peer-to-peer nonprofit fundraising lies in the power of your supporters. Helping P2P fundraisers bring in incoming donations by creating effective and compelling fundraising pages inspires donors to take action and support your cause. Here are some secrets to success: tell a compelling story, use visuals, and make it easy to share.

Is there an app for nonprofit fundraising?

Yes, Funraise has an app for nonprofit fundraising that helps organizations create effective peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising pages. Funraise's app is designed to make it easier for nonprofits to raise funds for their cause. In addition to an app, Funraise offers a comprehensive suite of tools for nonprofits to create P2P fundraising campaigns.

What is the best way to communicate with P2P fundraisers?

One of the best ways to communicate with P2P fundraisers is through personalized messages and regular updates. Additionally, hosting check-ins or virtual meetings provides an opportunity for fundraisers to ask questions, share successes, and learn from each other. Utilizing social media platforms like Facebook is also an effective way to communicate with P2P fundraisers.

What makes a successful P2P fundraising campaign page?

When creating effective P2P fundraising pages, a compelling story shown through photos, videos, and impact cards can help ensure the success of a campaign. Supporters are more likely to donate if they feel emotionally connected to the cause and understand the impact their individual donation will have. Including visuals helps bring the personal story to life.

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