Balancing Event Thermometers

Allison King

Have you ever thought about what's inside your peer-to-peer event and participant's progress thermometers?

What a silly question, you might be thinking. Everyone knows that donations to participants and to the event causes the level in the thermometers to rise. But is that always the case?

When using TeamRaiser for peer-to-peer fundraising, your organization can decide if you want to include unconfirmed gifts and registration fees in the fundraising totals or leave them out.

Well, why wouldn't you include them? Every dollar counts, right?

Counting unconfirmed gifts toward fundraising totals is a great way for participants to see that the $50.00 check from Aunt Kathy helps them reach their goal. It might even be the final donation that helps them achieve their goal! Thanks, Aunt Kathy!

But what if the participant forgets to bring the check to the event—and then continually forgets to send it in? This doesn't happen often, but if it happens enough—or with enough participants—there can be a distinct variance between how much your organization looks like it raised and how much was actually raised.

Since registration fees are often used to offset the cost of the event, some organizations count them differently for bookkeeping purposes. In these cases, adding the fees to the registration totals can interfere with financial reporting. On the other hand, including the registration fees might make your participants feel as though they've already made some progress toward their goal.

Ultimately, it's up to your organization to decide what goes into your TeamRaiser thermometers. While most organizations do at least include unconfirmed gifts in the totals, it's a good idea to take some time and look over your past events to figure out what's right for you.

Want to learn more about the myriad options you can configure for a TeamRaiser event? Or just learn more about TeamRaiser in general? Check out Blackbaud University's newly revised Luminate: Setting Up TeamRaiser course. And once you set up your event, learn how to create a communications strategy with Luminate: Successful TeamRaiser Communications.