Next-Gen Donors Are Powering the Future of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is an effective way to leverage the networks of your donor base. But there’s even more opportunity for reaching new audiences with Next-Gen (Gen Z and Millenial) supporters. They’re savvy, passionate, and connected. In this edition of Fundraising Accelerator, we’re diving into how Next-Gen donors can amplify your peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns for stronger impact.

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a powerhouse for growing your donations

Peer-to-peer fundraising allows you to mobilize your supporters and engage audiences in a more personal and meaningful way. We see this in the performance of individual fundraising pages, which bring in an average of 20 donors according to our annual State of Modern Philanthropy report.?

By empowering individuals to create their own fundraising pages and share with their networks, you can leverage word-of-mouth marketing that’s based in community and shared values. Reaching a broader audience also means raising more money to support your cause. Time-based campaigns that include peer-to-peer raise on average 3.8X more than all other time-based campaigns.?

There are many ways to help your supporters become experts in peer-to-peer fundraising. From virtual food drives to run/walk/bike-a-thons, we’ve compiled 15 creative ways you can get your community involved in peer-to-peer fundraising.

Next-Gen donors don’t just join conversations, they start conversations

Gen Z and Millennial donors aren’t just passionate about the causes they support. They also have access to resources, networks, and communities that extend beyond the reach of more traditional marketing methods. They’re especially tuned into current events and are ready to act when crises arise. According to our annual Why America Gives report, the Next-Gen population is uniquely positioned to make an impact with peer-to-peer fundraising:

• Next-gen donors are 2.7X as likely to host an individual fundraising page on behalf of an organization they support.
• Next-gen donors are 1.6X as likely to be motivated to donate following a sudden news event or crisis than traditional donors.

Thirst Project saw potential in empowering its Next-Gen community and activated student supporters through peer-to-peer fundraising. By leveraging Classy’s peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities, they gave student donors the toolkit to help bring more freshwater wells to developing communities. The students’ campaigns raised $500K over Thirst Project’s $1M goal, which built over 100 water projects and gave over 50,000 people clean water for life.

Next-Gen learn about causes from new sources

69% of Next-Gen donors prefer to hear from organizations on social media. With this in mind, leveraging supporters who are already part of social conversations daily, especially if they have a growing voice in their communities, is the best way to reach that audience.

In our latest LinkedIn Live, Build Life-Long Supporters with Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, Katrina VanHuss from Turnkey shares:??

“When a fundraiser asks for a donation, their family and friends are going to change their level of affinity or trust.? Even if they don’t give, in their mind, the organization is solid now because someone they do trust, trusts the organization.”

Empowering Next-Gen donors with tools like Classy’s Facebook Integration also puts the agency in their hands to push their fundraising page to Facebook and fundraise both on Classy and social media.?

Are you set up to empower Next-Gen supporters?

In our upcoming launch of The Nonprofit’s Guide to Engaging Gen Z, published in partnership with Pursuant and GivingDNA, we take a deeper look at the motivators and donation habits within the Gen Z population.?

Guided by values, 53% of Gen Z donors are likely to repeat a donation for a cause they feel passionate about, according to our guide. We found that trust and authenticity matter most to Gen Z when vetting causes. Learn more about this demographic of donors and be among the first to receive our guide once it’s live.

Classy is a giving platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about. Classy's platform provides powerful and intuitive digital fundraising tools to convert and retain donors.