2. Today’s Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Events
Media Group Online has created this complementary Philanthropy 2018 Profiler because your station often sponsors and/or promotes peer-to-peer events, such as cycling, endurance, 5K and walk (previously known as “A-Thon fundraising”).
According to the 2016 BlackBaud Peer-to- Peer Fundraising Study, participant registration declined during 2016 in all 4 categories: endurance, -11%; 5K, -10%; cycle, -7%; and walk, -5%.
As measured by online revenue, the YOY decreases were a bit better than participation registration: cycle, -9%; 5K, -9%; and endurance, -1%. The walk category, however, increased 3% YOY.

3. Generating Revenues Online
Online fundraising is defined as online donations, but not self-donations. The Blackbaud study clearly indicates that online fundraising is the primary source for all 4 types of events: cycle, 80.2%; endurance, 78.5%; 5K, 44.7%; and walk, 72.3%.
During 2016, 3 of the events had YOY increases in the percentage of participants fundraising online: cycle, +0.8%; endurance, %; and walk, +0.5%. The YOY percentage for 5K events declined very slightly by 0.1%.
Cycle events generated the most fundraising per participant during 2016, at $579.56; followed by endurance, $332.59; walk, $81.25; and 5K, $32.71.

4. Generating Revenues from Online Self-Donations
As the title implies, online self-donations are fundraisers who give to their event. Walk had the highest percentage during 2016, at 25.7%, but 5K had the largest increase from 2015, or 18%, from 19.9% to 22.4%.
Of the 4 categories of self-donating participants, cycling had the highest percentage during 2016 of those who self- donate and also fundraise from their peers, at 30.8%. In the self-donate-only category, walk had the highest percentage, or 14.6%.
In the fundraise-only category, cycle was once again #1, at 24.4%, while 5K had the largest percentage of those who made no online donations, at 85.2%. The others were quite high too: walk, 68.4%; endurance, 55.3%; and cycle, 31.7%.

5. Generating Revenues from Registration Fees
Registration fees, as a source of 2016 event revenue, were very small percentages of cycle events, 5.1%; endurance, 7.6%; and walk, 2.6%. In the 5K category, registration fees generated 42.5% of revenues, second only to online fundraising, at 44.7%.
According to Blackbaud analysis, charging a registration fee for a 5K event typically decreased participants’ efforts to fundraise from their peers. Conversely, walk events that did not charge a registration fee resulted in more people fundraising from peers.
Reflective of the bullet point above, 84% of 5K participants paid a registration fee, which resulted in just 16% giving an additional gift. It was the opposite for a walk event: 16% paid a registration fee, but 84% gave an additional gift.

6. The More Participants Who Return for Next Year’s Event, the More Money Raised
Participants of peer-to-peer fundraising events who return to participate in the following year’s event are more likely to raise more money per individual fundraiser cycle events had the largest percentage of returning participants, at 40.2%, a 1.3% increase.
Cycle events during 2016 were also the top performer in the percent of new participants and returning participants who raised money online, at 65.2% and 70.4%, respectively. Conversely, 5Ks were the lowest, at 12.4% and 18.5%, respectively.
Cycle events also led the other 3 – endurance, 5K and walk – in average dollars raised per new participants ($433.07) and returning participants ($679.68). Again, 5K events had the lowest, with new participants, $20.55, and returning participants, $51.51.

7. Participants’ Email Are Critical
The Blackbaud study clearly shows that participants who send s raise more money. For example, senders for endurance events raised an average of $1, during 2016, compared to $ for all participants and $ for fundraisers.
Although cycle event participants sent the highest percentage of s, at 28.6%, endurance event participants were the only group to increase the percent of s sent, or +8.5%. Cycle declined 9.5% from 2015; 5K, -3.4%; and walk, -16.5%.
“Super” senders (15 or more s) had the highest percentages of raising money online, compared to no s sent or an average number of s sent (less than 15). Cycle, endurance and walk were all 94% or greater, while 5K was 88.1%.

8. Advertising Strategies
These peer-to-peer fundraising insights provide you with another opportunity to engage with advertising prospects and clients, emphasizing how their support and/or participation in a station-sponsored and/or promoted event elevates their brand in the community.
Share this Profiler with your station’s promotion manager/coordinator to improve station’s your engagement with the community. It will also provide you with the opportunity to network with more potential advertising clients in a “giving” environment.
Help local businesses and your clients promote their participation in local peer-to-peer events, especially if they are a co-sponsor of an event your station is sponsoring and/or promoting, with suggested in-store signage; customer flyers, employee participation, etc.

9. New Media Strategies
Suggest that local businesses and your clients assign one or more employees to participate in the event, recording videos of their experiences and interviewing other participants, and posting the content on their business Websites and social media pages.
Local businesses and your clients can offer to create a page on their Websites and/or social media pages to promote events, provide links to the event’s online registration page and content (blog posts, videos, etc.) of why local citizens should participate and/or donate.
Suggest that local businesses and your clients purchase ads on your station’s Website post- event to share information about the success of the event, how many people participated and/or donated, total donations, how the donations will be used, etc.