Participation dropping in peer‐to‐peer fundraising events

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30389
• Date: 01 December 2017
• Published date: 01 December 2017

6

DECEMBER 2017NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Nonprot Research

Participation dropping

in peer-to-peer fundraising events

The latest analysis of peer-to-peer fundraising

by nonprot management software rm Blackbaud

shows that in the face of declining event participa-

tion, retaining star walkers, runners and cyclers is key.

The 2016 Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Study looked at peer-to-peer fundraising statistics

from 171 different organizations, which collectively

held 16,855 events across the United States and

Canada, with 10.9 million participants raising over

$1.23 billion online.Nonprot Business Advisor

The study offers detailed performance data cover-

ing topics such as fundraising status and performance

by individuals, loyalty and the importance of reten-

tion, participant engagement and more.Q:You recom-

mend that NFPs prepare to scale their programs for

greater impact. What goes into evaluating a program’s

scalability?

Based on a deep dive in the data, Blackbaud identi-

ed some key trends in this arena, including:A:

• Quality wins out over quantity. According to the

report, participation rates for all types of traditional

peer-to-peer fundraising—including walking, run-

ning and cycling events—declined from 2015 to 2016.

But the fundraising value of those participants—the

amount of donations they bring to the table through

their involvement and networks—is growing across

almost all event types.

• Returning participants raise signicantly more

than new participants. In some cases, as in walk-a-

thons, they raise as much as three times as much.

• Fundraising did not decline at the same rate

as participation. That means that those returning

participants are holding their own when it comes to

bringing in donations, and even growing their overall

contributions. This could mean that organizations

are coaching existing participants to fundraise more

effectively, the company said. And it helps ameliorate

the drop in overall participation.

• Smaller groups of participants are bringing in

the lion’s share of revenue. Just 3 percent of 5K par-

ticipants are responsible for 65 percent of the dona-

Charitable giving linked to increased happiness

New research from the Women’s Philanthropy

Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family

School of Philanthropy shows that people who give

to charity are generally happier than those who

don’t, regardless of marital status or gender. And

the more they give, the happier they seem to be.

The ndings are included in the WPI’s annual

study, Women Give, which looks at the connection

between life satisfaction and charitable giving as

part of a broader effort to understand differences in

how men and women give. According to the report,

men and women experience the increase in happi-

ness differently, with men receiving a greater boost

when they rst become donors and women seeing

a greater increase in happiness when they increase

their charitable commitment.

The study also shows that when women drive

or share in charitable decisions, life satisfaction

increases for the entire family, and grows as the

percentage of household income given to charity

also rises. This impact is greater in middle- and

lower-income households, the report said.

According to the WPI, the ndings provide strong

evidence about not only the link between happiness

and giving, but also between happiness and the role

of women in their families’ nancial decisions.

“Our research suggests that increasing under-

standing of how gender inuences philanthropy will

help unlock a new era of giving,” said Una Osili, as-

sociate dean for research and international programs

at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of

Philanthropy. “When nonprot leaders are able to

appreciate and adapt to the different ways that men,

women, and families derive happiness from giving,

they can more effectively engage their donors, and

donors will gain greater joy from their gifts.”

To access the study in full, visit http://bit.

ly/2gLnmM8. ■

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