Achieve peer-to-peer fundraising zen

Grab some coffee and sit with me for a few minutes and think about how your year and your projects are going.  Are you adhering to the goals you had set for the year?  Or, do you feel as though things are going off the rails a bit?  At the beginning of the year, I made a resolution.  It's something that I hadn’t done in a long time.  I said I would define 2015 by focus.  I would focus on the things which matter most, recognize my capabilities and let go of the things that don't hold a lot of long-term value.  In my resolution post, I encouraged nonprofit professionals to do the same and to take a step back and focus on the strategies and projects which would yield the best results.

We're well into March now, and I figure it's a good time for a gut check on my own resolution, and a good time for organizations to be able to do the same. 

While my resolution and 2015 focus challenge was pretty generalized to online marketing for nonprofits, I would like to apply it to a specific type of fundraising, my favorite topic in fundraising: peer-to-peer. 

Question: Taylor, why did it take you until March to get focused on "focus" for your favorite fundraising topic?

Answer: I've been writing other blogs and papers.  Yes, it's definitely time for a Spring gut check. Wink, wink.

Whether you need a little a post-St. Patty's day hangover clarity or some "umph" to psych yourself up for Spring events, let's challenge each other this April to a greater level of focus for peer-to-peer fundraising in the remainder of 2015. Let's talk about three areas of focus for peer- to-peer fundraising, which everyone in the P2P space should be evaluating from time to time and zeroing in on to make sure you have laser sharp focus.  I'm talking "sharks with laser beams" focus.

Are you ready?

Focus.

Take a vow to evaluate these three things in your peer-to-peer program this year.  If you have time to make changes for Spring or Fall events, do it!  If not, at least start talking about what positive changes you can make for 2016.  Focus in 2015 to make positive change in 2016.

1. Event Sign Up Form.

Are you asking too many questions? Are you asking the right questions?  Who has time for twenty questions, anyways?  There are definitely questions you need to ask during registration.  But, sometimes I think we want to collect certain data points just for the sake of having more data.  I mean, it feels good to have more data, doesn't it?  It feels powerful sitting on top of a mountain of data, right?  True….sometimes.  It can also be overwhelming. 

Take a step back.  Focus.  Look at the data you are collecting and ask yourself this question: Am I doing anything with this data?

Focus in on the data which you are using.  Is it useful?  Or, is it time to re-evaluate the data you are asking for during your registration process?  A clunky registration process-- one due to too many unnecessary questions -- can be the stopping point for people.  If it's too difficult or asks just a hair too much personal information (information which seems unnecessary), people can and WILL walk away.  I know.  I've done it. 

It's easy to walk away at the beginning of a relationship.  So, don't give people that as a choice.  Ask what you need to ask, questions which seem relevant to the reason for which someone is signing up for your event, and don't ask a lot else.  Well, at least not in the beginning.  There are always ways and touch points to get at that additional data later.  Profiling campaigns and surveys within your online participant fundraising center and personal touch points like phone calls are great opportunities to tap into the more personal information you need to help build the individual relationships  you have with your participants. 

2. Event Program (and distances). 

With your event, are you trying to be all things to all people? Or are you sticking to your guns and keeping with the original spirit and format of your event, and your mission?  Over the years, I've had some interesting conversations on this particular topic with a variety of organizations evaluating a variety of events.  Questions like this come up: Should we add more distances?  Should we change the fundraising minimums?  What always seems to come to the surface is that when you try to be too many events in one, or cater to too many people, you can dilute the mission of the event.  You can dilute the original target market for your event.   The cheerleaders who once signed up for your event because it was focused-- very specific either around the event itself or the mission-- eventually become confused or bored.  And who wants to hang out with a bunch of bored cheerleaders?

Don't lose those cheerleaders.   Don't let them find a new challenge.  Keep them coming back to your event by sticking to your guns about what your event is and what your event isn't.  Keep them excited about recruiting new cheerleaders.

Focus.  Look at your event.  Are you trying to be too many events in one?

3. Coaching In Segments. 

In the same manner that segmenting your online fundraising campaigns is vital to keeping your reader's interest and building upon your relationship with them, peer-to-peer coaching communications require the same level of thought.  It's pretty simple, really.  If I'm a team captain, I want news and information pertinent to team captains.  If I'm an event volunteer, I want to know what volunteers need to know.  If I'm an individual participant, I want to know how I can make a difference on my own, and perhaps I want to know how I can get tapped into the event network or meet a team to join.  Event segmentation doesn't even have to be that complicated.  If you are looking for a started, one of the simplest distinctions to make is this: Did the participant sign up as individual, member of a team, team captain or volunteer.   From there, you can look at things like event participation type, fundraising goals and milestones as they are achieved to get even more targeted.  

When you have an hour to block off, grab a coffee, take a walk, sit down in a comfy chair and meditate a little on these three things.  Thing about what is going well and what is not going well and determine how you can adjust your focus and fine-tune.

You can achieve peer-to-peer fundraising zen.  This is your year. 

Is Your Nonprofit Crowdrisking?

Every day we have to make choices and weigh the risks associated with our decisions.

Even the simple things we do involve some variation of risk: Should I get in my car and drive to the store?  I could get in a car accident, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take because I need groceries. Should I cross the street on the way to work? I could get hit by a bus, but, that’s a calculated risk I can mitigate. Should I  drink as much coffee as I do? Probably not, but for me the health risk is definitely worth the reward! These are all decisions we must weigh.

Each day nonprofit organizations must calculate risks.

Should we put funding toward a program that supports a controversial issue?  We have to protect our brand, but this issue is at the heart of our mission.  Should we spend the time and effort on this project or that project? What if it doesn’t pan out?  Donor dollars are at risk. Should we update our software systems? The old system works, but it takes me a day to build a report. The new software will take some time, money and training. But eventually that report will only take ten minutes to build and run.

And what about crowdfunding?

What about the risk of fraud?  An individual could claim to be raising money for a good cause while pocketing the money for themselves. It’s still a little bit like the Wild West out there, without a ton of guardrails in the landscape to (air quote) keep the order. Supporters could become fearful that their money is not really going to the right place.  Organizations have to combat that fear, and protect their name.

Does crowdfunding really do the most good?

Individual fundraisers may not be as equipped and experienced in fundraising. You could argue that money going to a crowdfunding effort may be better allocated and spent if it went directly to a nonprofit organization who specializes in that particular cause. And there is the one-to-many argument. While a crowdfunding site only helps one person in need, nonprofits are prepared to help many.

Think about the positives:  Anyone, anytime, anywhere can raise money for a personal need or for an organization’s work.  Anyone, anytime, anywhere can make an impact for good. With all of the bad stuff going on in the world, and the daily pressures and risks, this is something positive. It’s something that can give us hope, motivate us and have a positive financial impact on a bad situation. Nonprofit organizations are at a distinct advantage in the crowdfunding space over any individual or for-profit crowdfunding venture.  Nonprofits have reputation and brand loyalty. Nonprofits not only have experience in raising funds but in distributing those funds for maximum impact.

So, if you are a nonprofit organization the question is not: Do we support and/or promote crowdfunding.  The question is: How do we support crowdfunding? How do we get in on this, properly?  How do we take the risk in a calculated and thoughtful manner? How do we get in on what’s hot, but protect ourselves from any possible heat if someone were to commit fraud via a crowdfunding website?  Crowdfunding is a sort of popularity contest, too.  How do we compete with the cool kids and their heart-wrenching stories?

Here are 3 things you can do to embrace crowdfunding for little risk and great reward.

Get in on what’s hot, but stay out of the heat.
Be thoughtful about which crowdfunding websites you promote. Do your research. Is there capability for individuals to create a fundraising page and take the money for themselves? Or, is the process for taking the money going through a more stringent and vetted process? Does the individual set up a direct link to their bank account, or do they select an organization from a dropdown list so that  donations to go directly to the nonprofit.

If you haven’t already, look into Everydayhero. Everydayhero has the guardrails in place for your organization’s protection.  Everydayhero has a stringent vetting process for donation recipients. Any fundraiser can set up a fundraising page, but fundraisers themselves cannot receive money directly. Fundraisers only have the option to select a vetted nonprofit organization, to which the Everydayhero team then disperses the money. You cannot control all of the crowdfunders out there, but you can choose which crowdfunding sites you publicly acknowledge as credible AND SECURE sites for your donors to use.

Be smart about branding. 
Don’t try to control the crowd or put a damper on their passion. Instead, use your brand, reputation and communication opportunities to steer them in the right direction. What does this mean? Talk about crowdfunding.  Talk about how those passionate about your work can help and be a part of it.  And, show them the best avenue in which to do that. If you have a branded peer-to-peer fundraising website for “do it yourself” fundraising pages talk more about it. Push people in that direction. In your online marketing efforts talk about that site as a crowdfunding opportunity and the benefit of creating a fundraising page with your branded, organization-run program.

Hang with the cool kids.
Exude your confidence. Think you are popular.  If you’ve been around for some time now, donors must think you are doing something right. Popularity contests are won with confidence. It is true that many of the stories you see on crowdfunding sites are extremely compelling. But, you have compelling stories too. You are a nonprofit organization. You have a boatload of compelling stories. If you are telling your story and it’s not working, then maybe it’s the way you are telling your story. Exude your confidence when you tell your story. Help people understand how you are better equipped to do more good. Tell people about your experience and the wide net you are able to cast in terms of your outreach. The new freshman might be hot, but it’s the slightly older and wiser senior who typically wins prom queen.  That girl knows what it takes.

So, what is the reward? Why focus any brainpower on this?  Why add one more thing to think about?

First, crowdfunding is going to happen with or without you. You can either determine a strategy or be left behind.  Second, think acquisition. Like any tool you use for acquisition, crowdfunding is a tool. Crowdfunding can open new doors to new relationships. It can allow you to find, meet and court passionate supporters who you maybe didn’t know existed. Put yourself out there. With the proper approach and caution, it’s worth trying.  Take the risk.