3 Promotion Strategies to Boost Your Next On-the-Ground Peer-to-Peer Event

As any nonprofit team that has executed an on-the-ground peer-to-peer (P2P) event knows, they can require a lot of planning and logistics. When city permits, outside resources, and hundreds of volunteers are relying on you, there is no such thing as a small decision. After all the hard work invested, deciding how to promote your event can be critical to success.

Promoting on-the-ground events need not be daunting. In fact, it can be fun! If done right, it can give your nonprofit the chance to try creative and innovative promotion strategies to find new donors and hit big goals.

Because P2P campaigns rely heavily on supporters for donations and attention, most on-the-ground event promotional strategies include three types of campaigns: inbound, P2P, and social.

In this article, we’ll an overview of on-the-ground campaign types, as well as easy strategies to execute your best event ever:

1. Outbound Promotion

Outbound promotion campaigns include most of your traditional marketing channels such as email, direct mail, and print advertisements. While these channels might seem a little old-school (especially when compared with social media), they’re highly effective in garnering conversions and bringing in new registrations.

To uncover the most new donors and foster strong relationships with current audiences, it comes down to that initial impression, which makes traditional outbound campaigns so important. Afterall, the success of P2P fundraising lies in your ability to harness social networks and attract new donors, so your outbound advertising is key.

2. Online Promotion

To create affinity and engagement, P2P campaigns rely on socially optimized participant giving pages that allow supporters to bring in donations, share updates, and attract new participants via their social networks – without hefty oversight from the nonprofit.

With the right peer-to-peer software, you can minimize the time and effort needed to support on-the-ground fundraisers. The only thing you need do, is ensure your participants have the content and resources they need.

Make sure you arm your participants with the following:

• Mission and impact messaging
• How to’s for creating easy-to-setup personal fundraising pages
• Links to the larger campaign
• Deadlines, important dates, and matching gift details

As new donations and registrations come in through your P2P participants, make sure you’re encouraging and promoting a bit of competition through online leaderboards and social updates.

3. Social Media Promotion

Social media is a huge part of modern P2P campaigns and they are definitely a big reason why on-the-ground events have become as popular as they are (like walkathons and bikeathons). When it comes to promoting your next big P2P event, involve the community as much as possible through your social channels.

Follow as many influencers as you can, as well as local bigwigs who might have a connection with your organization. Additionally, tap into ambassadors who have strong networks and social clout in your community who can help you extend the campaign to new, untapped audiences.

As participants and registrants start to post on social as part of their individual P2P campaigns, like their posts as much as possible and use your event hashtag to continue cross-promotion.

Bonus! Your On-the-Ground P2P Event Campaign Checklist:

Don’t forget these critical steps when building promotional campaigns for your next on-the-ground P2P event!

• Keep your goals – both financial and non-financial – in mind while building your campaigns
• Think of your target audience and create campaigns targeted to these people
• Build comprehensive outbound campaigns that welcome new supporters
• Provide enough details and resources on your online giving site so participants can easily set up their own P2P campaigns
• Assign a dedicated resources to maintain a robust social media presence
• Include your event hashtag on all outbound, P2P, and social campaign assets for maximum exposure