Evaluating and Improving Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Program
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You’ve recently finished your nonprofit’s peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, so what’s next? It’s the perfect time to recap, review and revisit your campaign so you can improve your nonprofit’s peer-to-peer fundraising results for next year. But where do you begin with evaluating and improving upon this year’s campaign?
It may seem overwhelming when deciding what to measure – there are so many different components that go into a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign! Below are a few suggestions on where to begin when thinking through how to improve your peer-to-peer fundraising for your fundraisers, your donors, and your organization.
Amount raised and donors acquired are both key metrics to measure year over year, but they’re not the only ones to take into consideration. Social media statistics, email metrics, and fundraiser survey effectiveness are all components to consider as you look improve your next campaign.
Collect the following data and then consider the related questions.
Total amount raised/ Total costs to implement the campaign
How much did your campaign raise, and where did it come from? How much did you spend to implement your campaign. Chances are 80% of your funds came from 20% of your fundraisers/efforts. What can you do to cultivate that 20% next year. What excess or unnecessary expenses can you cut?
Open and click rates on emails
Did some emails receive better open rates than others? If so, what language received a better open rate or click through rate. Can you A/B test subject lines next year with a small subset of subscribers before sending to the group at large?
Conversion rate from interest to fundraiser
Compare how many individuals clicked through your emails vs. how many fundraisers joined the campaign. If it’s lower than you are happy with, consider a stronger call to action, better images or artwork, or an incentive program.
Number of inactive ($0) fundraisers vs. active fundraisers
Take a look at how many individuals who created a fundraising page actually raised money. Everydayhero has a built in page creation wizard which encourages people to take 4 steps we know make them successful: uploading a photo, updating their story, making a donation to themselves and sharing their page. This increases the conversion from inactive to active fundraiser. Consider how you might help encourage fundraisers to take these actions through additional communications, incentives or coaching.
Average amount raised per fundraiser
How much did each individual raise? If you’d like to increase the amount raised per individual, what type of programming can you put in place? Consider a fundraising minimum, incentive prizes, competitions or more coaching for your fundraisers. Can you recruit a matching gift sponsor?
Likes, shares, and comments on social media channels
How many likes and shares did your social media posts receive? You can quantify how many people liked each post on Facebook, or how many times you were retweeted on Twitter. Did a particular photo or graphic get retweeted more than others? Take note of both small and large successes and make sure to write down what worked best. What type of comments or posts did people leave? Reading through these posts can provide valuable feedback and insight.
Survey responses and feedback
Are you conducting a post campaign survey? Ask your participants for their honest feedback. Collect the responses and see if there is a running theme, and if so, take action! Whether it’s positive or negative, you’ll know if you’ve struck gold with a certain element of your program or if something specific needs immediate attention.
Analyzing basic numbers provides you with a jumping off point to make assumptions and to set new goals. It also provides you with foundation to think about both subtle adjustments and more drastic changes you may want to make to yield more success and growth in your program.
It takes time to evaluate and decide what to improve upon, but the positive results of this practice may astound you. Once you have finished this process, it’s time to start setting goals for your next campaign. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
It may seem overwhelming when deciding what to measure – there are so many different components that go into a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign! Below are a few suggestions on where to begin when thinking through how to improve your peer-to-peer fundraising for your fundraisers, your donors, and your organization.
Amount raised and donors acquired are both key metrics to measure year over year, but they’re not the only ones to take into consideration. Social media statistics, email metrics, and fundraiser survey effectiveness are all components to consider as you look improve your next campaign.
Collect the following data and then consider the related questions.
Total amount raised/ Total costs to implement the campaign
How much did your campaign raise, and where did it come from? How much did you spend to implement your campaign. Chances are 80% of your funds came from 20% of your fundraisers/efforts. What can you do to cultivate that 20% next year. What excess or unnecessary expenses can you cut?
Open and click rates on emails
Did some emails receive better open rates than others? If so, what language received a better open rate or click through rate. Can you A/B test subject lines next year with a small subset of subscribers before sending to the group at large?
Conversion rate from interest to fundraiser
Compare how many individuals clicked through your emails vs. how many fundraisers joined the campaign. If it’s lower than you are happy with, consider a stronger call to action, better images or artwork, or an incentive program.
Number of inactive ($0) fundraisers vs. active fundraisers
Take a look at how many individuals who created a fundraising page actually raised money. Everydayhero has a built in page creation wizard which encourages people to take 4 steps we know make them successful: uploading a photo, updating their story, making a donation to themselves and sharing their page. This increases the conversion from inactive to active fundraiser. Consider how you might help encourage fundraisers to take these actions through additional communications, incentives or coaching.
Average amount raised per fundraiser
How much did each individual raise? If you’d like to increase the amount raised per individual, what type of programming can you put in place? Consider a fundraising minimum, incentive prizes, competitions or more coaching for your fundraisers. Can you recruit a matching gift sponsor?
Likes, shares, and comments on social media channels
How many likes and shares did your social media posts receive? You can quantify how many people liked each post on Facebook, or how many times you were retweeted on Twitter. Did a particular photo or graphic get retweeted more than others? Take note of both small and large successes and make sure to write down what worked best. What type of comments or posts did people leave? Reading through these posts can provide valuable feedback and insight.
Survey responses and feedback
Are you conducting a post campaign survey? Ask your participants for their honest feedback. Collect the responses and see if there is a running theme, and if so, take action! Whether it’s positive or negative, you’ll know if you’ve struck gold with a certain element of your program or if something specific needs immediate attention.
Analyzing basic numbers provides you with a jumping off point to make assumptions and to set new goals. It also provides you with foundation to think about both subtle adjustments and more drastic changes you may want to make to yield more success and growth in your program.
It takes time to evaluate and decide what to improve upon, but the positive results of this practice may astound you. Once you have finished this process, it’s time to start setting goals for your next campaign. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
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everydayhero Blog
08/08/2017 12:32pm EDT
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