How Social Media can Supercharge your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

When it comes to P2P campaigns and events, nonprofit fundraisers have tried it all. Email blasts, traditional marketing, and more – if it’s out there, it’s been done. But there’s a new channel that is revolutionizing the P2P fundraising game: social media. 

By leveraging Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for your P2P fundraising, you create a giving experience that is social, mobile, and fun!

Here is what you need to know about social media for nonprofits as well as innovative ways to leverage these channels during your next P2P campaign or event:

1. Social media is one of the most popular channels to find and engage new donors
2. It’s important to design your P2P campaign with social in mind
3. Launch your social campaign from the start
4. Make it easy for participants to get involved
5. Create a fun, engaging donation experience for all involved

Social media is one of the most popular channels to find and engage new donors

One reason that social media is the perfect channel for P2P fundraisers is that there are literally millions of new donors waiting to be engaged online. 

Nonprofits (and their P2P campaign participants) can capitalize on the growing social opportunity by strategically using social media to increase the reach of their campaigns while increasing donations.

Social media is also the best place for your team and P2P supporters to engage with the largest growing group of charitable donors: Millennials.

Did You Know?

• 25% of the giving population identifies as a ‘social donor’ who gives to events or P2P campaigns.
• 43% of Millennial donors are inspired to give to charities because of social media.
• 72% of Millennial donors prefer to donate to nonprofits through an online giving platform.

With your P2P supporters posting updates and mission highlights on your behalf, they’re showcasing the value and charitable backbone of your team. Their efforts:

• Help bring in new donations
• Attract new supporters
• Spread your mission to a wider audience

It’s a win-win for everyone involved! 

It’s important to design your P2P campaign with social in mind

Integrating social fundraising into a P2P campaign involves so much more than just adding a few social sharing buttons or letting participants sing into a donation portal with their social account information. 

Social engagement tools are critical to reaching social networks, yet social engagement functionality is often lacking in many P2P solutions. Be sure to look through the supporter lens to evaluate how easy social sharing is from your P2P solution. 

Other ways to include social media during your planning stages include:

Hashtags: 

• Create a unique hashtag to connect new supporters with P2P campaign participants, other donors, and your mission. First, search www.hashtagify.me to see if someone is already using the hashtag you have in mind.
• Because hashtags are used across all social media channels, you want to make sure that yours is unique to your campaign. This way supporters can instantly see other posts and other people who are involved. 
• Another hashtag best practice is to make sure that it shares something about your mission or charitable goals. #AugustCampaign, for example, doesn’t spike as must interest as #CleanDrinkingWaterChallenge. 

Meta description:

• If you’re unfamiliar with SEO practices, a meta description is what shows up in online search results and can influence whether or not a person clicks through to your site. 
• In a P2P campaign, this meta description shows up on participant P2P giving pages and team pages. Remember to keep it below 160 characters and create short, snappy copy that is compelling and relevant.

Shareable content with clear CTAs:

• Although it’s tempting to give your P2P participants huge swaths of content that highlight every single thing about your charity and mission, this just isn’t scalable. 
• Narrow down your content offerings into short posts that people can easily use (and easily share). 
• Create a compelling reason or hook that gets people to share and spread the word via social media. Things like photos, videos, trivia, and personal stories are a great start. 
• Ensure you have a clear CTA like ‘Click Here’ or ‘Donate Now’ that will help facilitate activation. 

Live social stream: 

• Try live streaming on your online giving site or nonprofit website to facilitate ongoing conversations. People will be even more compelled to share if they can see tangible proof that they are part of a mission with impact.
• Adding a social media stream to your online sites aggregates all of the mentions and posts with your hashtag in a single space, allowing supporters to see what other people are saying.

Launch your social campaign from the start

Events like runs, walks, and bikeathons might take place on a single day or weekend, but the planning surrounding these events lasts a long time. 

Kicking off your P2P campaign with a social focus increases the likelihood that you can reach new donors and create lasting momentum to reach your goals. Here’s your quick steps to success:

• Reach out to supporters with large social followings to promote your P2P campaign.
• Post on your organization’s social channels with any relevant links and hashtags.
• Keep up with inbound messages, posts, and online engagements.
• Engage with social posts by sharing, retweeting, or liking as many posts as you can.
• If the demand is overwhelming, then just focus on that initial influencer group.

Interacting and engaging with social posts shows that your team is aware of the commitment your P2P campaign participants are making and that you’re thankful to everyone who donated and took time to engage.

Make it easy for participants to get involved

Let’s face it, social media can amplify your fundraising efforts, but only if your well-rounded social strategy is supported by easy-to-use technology: 

When creating your P2P campaign, choose a platform that:

• Seamlessly integrates with your own fundraising site
• Allows participants to easily connect their social media accounts
• Provides supporting content such as ‘suggested social connections’ or ‘recent social posts’

Social donors are spending more time than ever before on their mobile devices. Make sure your donation process is mobile optimized, that all social links work, and that your mobile payment process is secure!

Create a fun, engaging donation experience for all involved

P2P campaigns should be personal, casual, and deliver a fun experience for all involved. As you’re building your P2P campaign’s social media strategy, don’t lose sight of the personal touch. 

Send your P2P campaign participants personalized thank you’s and let them know how you’re using the funds that were raised. If your P2P campaign is a success, turn to social media to start amping supporters up for next year. 

Supercharging your P2P social strategy is so much more than social sharing buttons or and social accounts. A strong social media strategy ensures your audience is helping you spread the word to get the most out of your efforts!