For a nonprofit organization, getting new donors every year is crucial, and the best way to make this happen is through peer-to-peer fundraising. The reason behind this is the fact that people respond better to other people rather than an organization – this holds true especially if the person is someone they are acquainted with.

When you hear about a cause from a person close to you – be it a friend, colleague or family member – this triggers an emotional connection that influences the person to pay attention and consider looking at the request of favor.

Here are some of the best ways to use peer pressure as a way to drive donors and increase volunteers:

1. Tell a Story, Deliver, and Ask Nicely

When creating a fundraising campaign, it's essential to be as clear as possible. It doesn't matter how complex your mission is, or if your work covers some issues, you can still deliver a simple story by concentrating on one aspect, or you can narrow down your goal to a particular impact. Keep in mind; fundraising is all about sharing between networks. Make sure that your purpose and mission can be shared easily through an engaging story for potential donors and volunteers. Thus, it's imperative that your story is easy to share.

2. Encourage Your Peers to Ask for Set Amounts

If they ask for $40 donations, then they'll be getting at least $40 most of the time instead of just $5 or $10 donations. Make it as easy as possible to donate to your nonprofit by removing the variable of guessing on behalf of your donors. This approach has been shown to increase giving levels for nonprofits and can help your organization!

Ask them for a specific amount and tell a story (previous point) about what that money will accomplish. Tie the amount to different emotional triggers and you will be able to increase donations each donor engagement cycle.

3. Come Up with a Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Toolkit

Your primary purpose is to spread your campaign to as many people as possible. You don't want your message to be lost and forgotten.

To prevent that, you can create a toolkit and a series of weekly emails that you can share with those who have started the campaign to reach your overall goal. Success in this area will requires solid internet marketing strategies, but your nonprofit can reach your goals by paying attention to some key points of communication:

• Background information about you and your campaign with stories and photos.
• Identify key places where to promote your campaign like social media, message boards, and offline locations.
• Pre-written emails, social media messages, and other campaign copy.
• A high level of campaign schedule using a content calendar to ensure consistency across all platforms.
• Assets, like approved photos, images, and logos to keep your message and brand focused on your audience.

4. Turn It Into A “Game”

Let's all be honest; fundraising isn't as fun as you might think. However, you also want to prevent demotivating your peers halfway through the campaign. To prevent this from happening, you can consider turning your fundraising campaign into an entertaining game or competition.

Here are some easy steps to make that happen:

• Utilize Leader Boards: Leaderboards are a great way to determine who your top fundraisers are and how much money they have raised. With the help of a leader board, you'll be able to promote a friendly competition among your supporters.
• Offer Rewards: Prizes are a great way to keep your fundraisers motivated. It can be in the form of incentive that they would appreciate.
• Come Up with a Fundraising Thermometer: A fundraising thermometer is an effective way to update your supports fundraising efforts in real time. Wherein, every time someone donates to your campaign, the mercury rises.

5. Come Up with a Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Page

If you want to ensure that people would be joining your peer-to-peer campaign, then it's important that you come up with a branded and individualized peer-to-peer fundraising page. Your page should include the following:

• The organization logo somewhere in the form.
• An introductory text is similar to what you're using on your website.
• Same colors as what you're using on the organization website.
• Images often used by your nonprofit organization
• The theme and name of your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.

6. Get Scientific With Giving Levels

According to research, by giving your donors a choice on how much they can give could have a positive impact on the donation size. Simply put, giving levels is a way of informing donors what size is appropriate.

This is proven to be effective because if you think about it, even managers often ask this question, “How do I determine the amount to set for my peer-to-peer campaign fundraising event. This would automatically increase the suggested amounts throughout the period, as a way of encouraging higher donations.

7. Tell Them to Have Fun

Lastly, you have to tell your donors and volunteers to have a good time during the campaign and don't consider it as a task. A positive attitude brings positive results, and it also makes everything less stressful.

Driving Donor & Volunteer Engagement

Your audience has a lot of options on where to spend their time and money. If you want to increase your budget and volunteer base then you need to find innovative ways to drive engagement across your organization. One way to do this by leveraging peer pressure and other elements to keep the emotional aspect of your goals high. Use the above suggestions to drive more donations and attract highly qualified volunteers today!

Chris is a Digital Media Strategist in Orlando, FL and is an experienced freelance copywriter, PPC management, and SEO strategy. Chris is also passionate about startup marketing, environmental issues, and emerging technologies.