A note from the Event 360 Team: Our friends at Qgiv recently put together this piece about gamifying peer-to-peer fundraising events, and we thought it might be a good fit for our blog audience. If you’re not already doing these things, we hope this post inspires you to make your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns fun for your supporters!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
By Abby Jarvis, guest blogger from Qgiv
If your nonprofit has been active in the online fundraising world, you already know that peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are among the most popular fundraising methods these days. If you’re looking to take your peer-to-peer fundraising efforts up a notch, try adding gamification tools to the mix!
In this article, we’ll answer the top questions we hear about gamifying peer-to-peer fundraising. These include:
- What is peer-to-peer fundraising gamification?
- Why does gamifying peer-to-peer fundraising work?
- How can you integrate gamification into online fundraising tools?
- How can peer-to-peer fundraising gamification support lasting engagement?
When fundraising is fun for your participants, you’ll reach your goals more quickly and grow your community like never before. Let’s dive into these key questions and get to the heart of how to make gamification work for your peer-to-peer fundraisers.
1. What is peer-to-peer fundraising gamification?
Gamification in fundraising refers to the use of tools and incentives that add an element of competition into your fundraising campaigns. There are lots of ways to introduce gamification into your fundraising efforts, and when it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising, certain gamification tools really shine.
Some of the classic gamification tools nonprofits love include:
- Fundraising thermometers. These help participants and donors visualize the fundraising goal and the progress made toward reaching it. In a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you’ll either maintain an organization-wide fundraising thermometer, reflecting the progress of all of your fundraisers, or individuals will have their own thermometer representing their personal goals. You can also do a combination of both.
- Fundraising badges. When your nonprofit offers fundraising badges, you’ll benefit from motivating peer-to-peer fundraisers to go the extra mile. These digital badges of honor help distinguish participants for various achievements in fundraising, like being your top fundraiser or raising the most individual donations.
- Fundraising leaderboards. Show the rankings of your fundraisers in one place with fundraising leaderboards. Individuals can then work to outrank their peers, motivating them to keep sharing their campaign pages and to solicit larger donations from their personal networks.
However, these tried-and-true gamification strategies aren’t the only options your team has when thinking of how to incorporate gamification into your peer-to-peer fundraising strategy.
Consider implementing some of these into your next fundraising campaign:
- Offer actual prizes. When your participants reach certain milestones, reward them with prizes or gifts. You might send them items like gift cards, branded t-shirts, tickets to an event, or another tangible reward.
- Reward long-term participation. Offer special awards or distinctions to participants who return year after year.
The bottom line? The more you can “reward” and recognize participants by distinguishing them for their achievements, the more inspired they’ll be to keep fundraising for your cause!
2. Why does gamifying peer-to-peer fundraisers work?
When it comes to fundraising, all that really matters is that your organization reaches its goals.
However, gamifying your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns can be a good-natured strategy for kicking your participants’ efforts into high gear. Because participants aren’t only motivated by your organization reaching its goal―they’re also motivated by their personal sense of achievement in supporting your goal.
When your participants feel like they have a record to beat or can stand out in some way as a top fundraiser, they’ll be more likely to play a meaningful part in reaching and surpassing your goals.
Gamifying your peer-to-peer fundraising efforts isn’t just about incentivizing your participants, though. In fact, gamification can also influence how motivated their personal networks are to contribute.
When friends, family members, coworkers, and others see that a participant is close to being recognized as a top fundraiser or close to outranking a fundraising “competitor,” they’ll be more motivated to contribute to the participant’s fundraising campaign.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why so many nonprofits are turning to gamified peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. Since these tools galvanize both your participants and their networks, you get double the benefit to your fundraising efforts!
Gamifying your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns proves to be an effective fundraising strategy because it offers a low-cost way to maximize the number of donations your nonprofit receives.
Whether you already have a peer-to-peer fundraising platform in place or you’re looking to partner with a peer-to-peer fundraising provider, the bottom line is that you’re already making an investment in your fundraising software to enable this kind of fundraising campaign for your community.
3. How can you integrate gamification into online fundraising tools?
Another reason why gamifying peer-to-peer fundraising is so popular among nonprofits is that it’s really simple, as long as you’ve invested in the right software.
With smart digital fundraising tools, you can completely customize your peer-to-peer fundraising strategy from the bottom-up. This includes designing a completely unique fundraising page and adding key gamification tools to your fundraising event.
If your nonprofit is looking to give gamification a try for your next fundraising event, you’ll need to have the right fundraising software on hand to get the job done. Be sure to choose a platform with the following key features:
- An intuitive form builder that gives your team plenty of control over the design of the fundraising pages your participants will use.
- A menu of gamification widgets that you can seamlessly add to your fundraising pages based on the preferences of your team.
- A robust email and social media automations platform that aids your nonprofit in getting the word out about your campaign.
- Customized progress reports that outline your fundraising successes, the reach of your campaign online, and the achievements of your participants.
- An interactive dashboard interface to control all of these features with ease from behind the scenes at any point in your fundraising campaign timeline.
Remember, you’ll want to choose a peer-to-peer fundraising platform that offers the features your nonprofit will need in the long term. It’s always best to pick a platform with lots of configurations that you can scale to your organization’s priorities as you grow.
Bonus! Thinking of starting a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign? You’ll need to find a best-fit fundraising platform first! Check out Qgiv’s list of peer-to-peer fundraising platforms for some suggestions and be sure to also check out Donor Box!
4. How can peer-to-peer fundraising gamification support lasting engagement?
Since peer-to-peer fundraising is driven by sharing on social media sites, individuals far outside your core community will encounter your campaigns online. To capture the sustained attention and support of these new community members, gamification tools are a must.
When these new donors engage with a gamified peer-to-peer fundraising page, they’re more likely to become reliable donors in the long run. Primarily, this is due to the fact that when they see the spotlight you shine on top fundraising participants, they’ll want in on the action, too!
Gamification adds an inherent element of competition to fundraising campaigns, which can help positively build your community when participants cheer on one another, compete to outrank one another, or otherwise interact over the web.
When your participants build friendships and connections online, that means they’ll be there to keep each other involved with your organization in the future. After all, the best way to guarantee the success of your organization is to build a base of continued support. When your motivated supporters get together, they’re bound to lift one another up!
Another key way that peer-to-peer fundraising gamification is a useful fundraising strategy is because it fosters a culture of repeat giving.
While it sometimes can be tough to encourage donors to give a second or third gift to your latest fundraising campaign, gamification strategies incentivize them to give and to keep giving.
Not only that, but the more an individual engages and reengages with your organization, the more likely it is that they’ll want to get involved with your nonprofit in other ways.
Whether they volunteer to help out at your next fundraising event, make an effort to share your campaigns with their personal networks, or otherwise extend their relationship with your cause, doing what your team can to make your relationships with supporters last is crucial!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Gamifying the fundraising experience for your participants can make peer-to-peer fundraising even more impactful. And now that you’re a peer-to-peer fundraising gamification expert, you’re ready to start setting and achieving your organization’s most ambitious goals yet!
Abby Jarvis is a blogger, marketer, and communications coordinator for Qgiv, an online fundraising service provider. Qgiv offers industry-leading online giving and peer-to-peer fundraising tools for nonprofit, faith-based, and political organizations of all sizes. When she’s not working at Qgiv, Abby can usually be found writing for local magazines, catching up on her favorite blogs, or binge-watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.
