Imagine tens, or hundreds, of individual fundraising teams raising money for your organization independently. This is what team fundraising can do for your nonprofit.
All you need are the right tools to empower your community to raise money for you as a team. This starts with peer-to-peer fundraising software, but it doesn’t end there. Your peer-to-peer solution needs to allow for teams to raise money together as well.
Why Peer-to-Peer Fundraising is Better as a Team
Team fundraising uses the same critical tool as peer-to-peer fundraising: your community. Your community comes together to motivate each other to give in ways that you might not otherwise have inspired.
With teams, you get more reach because there are more people involved. It’s free advertising in the form of word-of-mouth marketing.
In fact, Top Nonprofits found:
- Team members raise 70% more than the average individual
- Events with teams raise 28% more than those without them
- Teams on average raise 59% of overall funds for an event
So, when you implement peer-to-peer fundraising, make sure you allow for teams as well as individuals.
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Get the full GiveWP Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Suite today to allow your supporters to raise money for you.
Types of Fundraising Teams
Fundraising teams are all unique, but there are six main types you will encounter. In order to excel with team fundraising, you need to know how to speak to each type of team.
Just as it is important to know your donor personas, it’s important to know your fundraising team types.
Beneficiaries
Some of the best fundraisers for your organization are those who have benefited directly from your work. Their story is best told to potential donors by the beneficiaries themselves. They can inspire giving in a way that other types of teams can’t.
Don’t be afraid to encourage your beneficiaries to start teams and share their stories.
Tributaries
A lot of team fundraising revolves around tributary-type of giving. These teams are made from folks who know, or knew, someone affected by your cause. They want to make a difference because of that person.
Encourage these folks to share their stories as well. The impact of your mission spreads beyond beneficiaries to those around them. Tributary teams make that clear.
Cause Supporters
Cause supporters generally believe in your cause, but have no personal connection to it.
It’s your job to provide these types of teams with stories to tell about your organization. Otherwise, their peer-to-peer fundraising efforts are less appealing than those who have personal stories to share. Fill the gap by providing these impact stories.
Activity/Event Participants
Many sports junkies love to look for activity, or event-based, fundraisers in which to participate. These types of teams usually show up for the fun and the competition. They also have the potential to raise the most money.
You can both motivate and help these types of teams raise money by adding a little gamification into your team fundraising platform. They need to know where they stand in comparison to others.
Corporate Squad
Corporations love to get involved in team fundraising. It’s a great way to motivate their employees to give. Usually this involves a core “squad” who forms the actual fundraising team.
You can help these teams by providing stories about your organization, imagery, and any data you might have. Corporate teams generally have the hardest time raising money unless they put their own marketing funds behind their campaigns.
Combination Lineup
Realistically, you will have a lot of teams with a variety of these types of team members. There will always be a mix of people who want to raise money for your cause. Make sure you speak to each of them at all times.
Key Roles for Team Fundraising
Forming the actual team to raise money can be hard for some people. It’s a little daunting when you realize the coordination that might be involved to actually raise your goal amount. You can empower your fundraisers to do well by giving them ideas of specific roles they can fill in their teams.
According to Top Nonprofits, most teams have six members on average. Here are some basic roles your fundraisers might think of assigning:
Team Captain
The team captain is the person who registers to start the fundraising team. Their first goal is to put together the rest of the team. To do that, they need to think of some other roles they need to fill.
Provide team captains with this information so that they can recruit the right people for their fundraising team.
The team captain is also responsible for leading meetings and ensuring that the fundraiser is making overall progress.
Fundraiser Manager
The fundraiser manager is responsible for all the technical aspects of the fundraiser. They are the go-to resource for “how to give” as well as the status of fundraising and donor relationships.
In order to set this role up for success, giving to a team fundraiser should be as easy as possible. Make sure that team pages are intuitive and easy to find.
Marketer
The marketer is responsible for any advertising done on social media. They also help direct what kinds of content to create and post.
Nonprofits who implement team fundraising should consider providing editable marketing materials to their fundraisers to set the marketer role up for success.
Designer / Photographer / Videographer
Having a person on the team with design skills never hurts. A photographer or videographer is also always good to have around, especially if the team fundraiser revolves around some sort of in-person event.
Encourage your fundraisers to use their meetings to post behind the scenes and other types of content that bring attention to their campaign without directly asking for donations. This type of passive fundraising ask is great to use to break up your content.
Communications Manager
It’s also ideal to include someone on a fundraising team who can reach out to publications, whether their local news or a local school newspaper for parents. No publication is too small when it comes to team fundraising.
Provide some ideas of places your teams can connect to reach more people. Here are some we might include:
- Elementary, middle, and high school newsletters to parents
- Local media outlets
- Bloggers / Influencers
Social Media Manager
While the marketer ensures overall visibility online, the social media manager makes sure that there is constant engagement around the fundraiser. This role is responsible for using the campaign hashtag and posting the images or videos created by the designer in the group.
To help this role succeed, your organization can provide a sample social media schedule, some written post ideas, and a fundraiser-wide hashtag to use. You might even consider giving each team their own custom hashtag to use.
Rally Your Community
Set up your peer-to-peer fundraising platform so your community can raise money with you. Harness the power of team fundraising and watch your cause grow.
Available Now
Get the full GiveWP Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Suite today to allow your supporters to raise money for you.
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