Turning Peer to Peer Fundraising Benchmark Data into Action
1. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 1
Turning Peer-to-Peer
Fundraising Benchmark Data
Into Action
Jeff O’Toole, Sr. Client Success Manager
Tammy Radencic, Client Success Program Manager
2. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 2
In this session we will:
• Overview the most comprehensive report for finding Peer-to-
Peer Fundraising benchmarks to measure against
• Discuss use of primary event categories for “apples to apples”
benchmark comparison
• Review key findings from this report from across the Peer-to-
Peer Fundraising landscape
• Outline the top 5 Metrics that Matter and provide an action plan
for each
• Q&A
AGENDA
3. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 3
• The 2012 Peer-to-Peer Event Fundraising Benchmark Study provides:
- High level view of today’s competitive event fundraising world and gives
event organizers valuable reference data
- Allows you to determine the effectiveness of the events you manage by
comparing them to similar fundraising events in the industry
- Data collected January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011
BENCHMARK DATA OVERVIEW
4. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 4
• 1275 organizations sampled (28,000 event candidates)
• Provides median value for each key performance
indicator
(the halfway point in the data set)
• Mean – Average. Add all of the numbers in the set and
divide by how many numbers are in the list.
• Median – Arrange in order from lowest to highest. The
number in the middle or the average of the two middle
numbers is the median.
• Mode - The number in a list that occurs most often.
BENCHMARK DATA OVERVIEW
Mean
• 1,12,30,30,45,50=28
Median
• 1,12,30,30,45,50=30
Mode
• 1,12,30,30,45,50=30
5. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 5
• Cycling - Multi- and single-day events devoted solely to cycling. A registration
fee is generally charged and there is often a minimum fundraising
requirement.
• Endurance Runs/Walks - Multi- or single-day events that are longer than 10
miles. They generally charge a relatively high registration fee and often have
a required fundraising minimum.
• Runs/Walks With a Registration Fee - Often provide some upfront
incentives to participants, such as an event t-shirt. Most short distance
competitive races fall into this category
• Runs/Walks Without a Registration Fee - Participants are typically
encouraged, but not required, to fundraise. These events aim to include
as many people as possible in an effort to spread awareness
of their mission and gain new supporters
EVENT CATEGORIES
Event categories make it easier for you to classify your own events when making
comparisons to the benchmarks in the study.
(Events that do not fall into these categories — bowling or golf events, galas and luncheons, for example —
are not included in this report)
6. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 6
• The event fundraising industry across all event types experienced
growth in fundraising and participation despite continued uncertainty
in global economy and increased competition from new event
programs.
• Donors contributed more per transaction than they did in 2010.
• For short-distance running and walking events, the absence of a
registration fee has a positive impact on participant fundraising
performance and year-over-year retention rates.
• The number of emails sent from the participant center continues to
decrease as social networks increase in popularity and as events
adopt mobile applications to support fundraising efforts.
• Returning participants and team captains continue to be the most
valuable participants for traditional and third-party events.
• Returning participants' fundraising can be double to triple the amount
of a first year participant.
KEY FINDINGS – TRADITIONAL EVENTS
7. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 7
KEY FINDINGS
• When comparing your event against these metrics, focus on the percent of
change rather than actual registration/fundraising number.
• If your event is outpacing the percent growth, then your event is healthy —
even if the actual participant count or fundraising total is below the median.
8. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 8
1.Participant Retention
2.Team Participation
3.Percentage of Zero-Dollar Fundraisers
4.Engagement: Participant Participation
5.Donor Contributions
TOP 5 METRICS THAT MATTER
11. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 11
• Participants who
return online
from year to year
outperform
participants who
are new to the
online
fundraising tools.
• Past participants
are more
effective because
they already
know how to use
online tools.
METRIC: PARTICIPANT RETENTION
12. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 12
• Create a Communication Calendar to organize your
communication strategy
• Be sure your plan targets most valuable groups for
retention:
- Top fundraisers from last year
- Past team captains
- Multi-year participants
• Send at least 2 emails targeted to each core retention
group
ACTION: PARTICIPANT RETENTION
14. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 14
Other ways to increase participant retention:
• Use reporting to understand who your most valuable
participants are. Look at activity as well as revenue.
• Communicate with your participants throughout the year - not
just during the event season. Help them understand the impact
of their support.
• Invite participants to other activities in your organization. The
more engaged they are with you, the more likely they are to
participate and fundraise next year.
• Build personal relationships with your most valuable
participants!
ACTION: PARTICIPANT RETENTION
16. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 16
METRIC: TEAM PARTICIPATION
*Alzheimer's Association, Easter Seals, March of Dimes, American Diabetes
Association, Arthritis Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
17. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 17
METRIC: TEAM PARTICIPATION
• Team captains
consistently
outperform
participants who
are registering
as individuals or
participating on
an existing team
• Team
involvement
also has a direct
relationship to
retention, which
also helps
increase
fundraising
20. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 20
• Put primary focus on recruiting and enabling team
captains
• Encourage all registrants to form teams as part of your
engagement email series
• Be sure team captains are targeted with tips and tricks for
how to grow their teams
ACTION: TEAM PARTICIPATION
22. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 22
Other ways to increase team participation:
• Incentivize team formation:
- Early/discounted registration
- Prizes for largest team, most raised, best costumes et
• Make it easy – set up FAQs, guides, email templates*
• Don’t be afraid to foster competition
• Recognize top teams regularly
• Encourage corporate teams (event sponsors can be good
prospect pool)
• Remind participants that banding together for a cause with
friends and family members is a great way to reconnect.
ACTION: TEAM PARTICIPATION
24. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 24
<35% of Total
Participants
METRIC: ZERO DOLLAR FUNDRAISERS
Benchmark Metric Data
Run/Walk w/ Registration $ 1000
Average Raised per Part. $50
Zero Dollar Fundraisers 40%
Total Raised $30,000
Total Raised @ 35% $32,500
25. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 25
• In all marketing, messaging etc be sure participants understand that fundraising
is the key purpose of the event!
• Be sure participants can easily make a self-donation as part of the registration
process.
• Ask for a donation in the "Thank You For Registering" email.
• Coach participants to kick-start their fundraising by making a donation toward
their own goal.
• Target those participants who have not fundraised within a week or two of
registering. Send them coaching emails that encourage them to log in and start
fundraising.
• Consider dropping a registration fee. If the revenue brought in from your
registration fee is less than the combined increase in both the percent of
fundraisers and the amount brought in per fundraiser, you might end up raising
more money.
• Provide incentives or contests based on number of emails sent from the
participant center.
• Provide email message templates that participants can easily
customize and send.
ACTION: ZERO DOLLAR FUNDRAISERS
26. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 26
ACTION: ZERO DOLLAR FUNDRAISERS
DAY 1 SPONSOR YOURSELF $30
DAY 2 ASK THREE RELATIVES FOR
$20
$60
DAY 3 ASK SIX FRIENDS FOR $10 $60
DAY 4 ASK FIVE COWORKERS FOR
$10
$50
DAY 5 ASK FIVE NEIGHBORS FOR $5 $25
DAY 6 ASK YOUR SPOUSE OR
PARTNER
$25
DAY 7 CELEBRATE YOUR
SUCCESS!
$250
HOW TO RAISE $25O IN A WEEK
All you have to do is ASK!
30. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 30
• When setting goals and measuring
the progress of event fundraisers,
you should monitor and measure the
following areas of performance:
- number of emails sent by participants
- number of gifts raised per participant
- amount raised per participant
METRIC: PARTICIPANT PARTICIPATION
31. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 31
• Half of all participants are asked by a friend or family member to
participate in the event – Encourage team formation & make recruiting
easy w/ email templates & social media sharing
• Half of all participants have personal connection to the cause – don’t
forget your donor and volunteer groups as prospect pools for event
fundraising
• Encourage participants to set a fundraising goal so their progress can be
reflected in the fundraising thermometer that appears on their personal
fundraising page.
• Teach participants how to personalize their fundraising page, share
stories, use the online tools to fundraise
• Have a documented communication strategy for engagement!
ACTION: PARTICIPANT PARTICIPATION
34. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 34
• The average amount of money a
donor gives online when an event
participant asks for his or her support.
• This metric can greatly impact the
overall revenue of the event.
• For cycling events and long-distance
events with a high fundraising
minimum, fundraisers tend to ask for
higher gift amounts, resulting in a
higher average online gift.
• Across all event types, the data shows
an uptick in the amount that donors
were willing to give in 2011 compared
to 2010.
METRIC: DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS
35. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 35
• Ensure that your donation form is short and easy to view on any
device — computer screen, tablet, and smart phone.
• Provide a mission-related “value proposition” next to the level you’d
like donors to choose, such as “$120 will help immunize 172 children
against polio for their entire lifetimes.”
• If you are running multiple events in tandem, test out different
suggested donation levels on donation forms for different events.
• Suggesting $25 as the lowest donation level may discourage someone
who wants to give $20, or it may encourage someone to increase the
amount he or she initially intended to give.
ACTION: DONOR CONTRIBUTION
36. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 36
CLIENT SUCCESS METRIC SCORECARD
Segment
Benchmark/ All
Participants
Benchmark / Fundraisers
only
YOUR EVENT
Average raised per fundraiser $51.36 $227.55 XXXX XXXX
# gifts per participant 1.01 4.36 XXXX XXXX
$0 participants as part of total
participants
<35% XXXX
Average gift size $47.63 XXXX
% of participants on a team 66% XXXX
Participant Retention Rate 16.76% XXXX
37. 10/7/2013 #bbcon 37
Tammy Radencic
Client Success Program Manager
tammy.radencic@blackbaud.com
910-988-8162
@tammyradencic
Jeff O’Toole
Sr Client Success Manager
Jeff.O'Toole@blackbaud.com
843-261-4757
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
