2019 Blackbaud
Peer-to-Peer
Fundraising Study

The Ultimate Source of Event Fundraising Data

The Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study is back for its ninth publication. We've collected and analyzed traditional event statistics from 281 organizations—which collectively hold 17,416 events across the United States and Canada—with 10.5 million participants raising nearly $1.3 billion online.

But we didn’t stop there. Expanding on the traditional event fundraising typically covered in this Study, we also focused on international fundraising trends and insights, the rise of do-it-yourself (DIY) fundraising and crowdfunding, the importance of analytics and personas, and the influence of Facebook® on modern giving behavior.

This Study combines traditional event fundraising stats with never-before-published event data, giving you a comprehensive breakdown of 2019’s major trends, hurdles, and wins.

Download your copy

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Snapshot

The 2019 Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study is primarily organized by common event types: Cycle, Endurance, Walks and 5Ks with registration fees, and Walks and 5Ks without registration fees. Although every event is different, you can use this Study to identify opportunities for growth, find out what motivates your participants, and celebrate wins. The data in this Study can help you craft more effective fundraising strategies and set your organization up for success.

Key Findings and Trends

Check out some of this year’s highlights! For more takeaways, download the full Study.

Quality over quantity is key.
Participation rates in our core traditional peer-to-peer fundraising events declined from 2017 to 2018. However, the fundraising value of those participants is growing impressively across all event types.
Returning participants raise significantly more than new participants.
In No Reg Fee events, a returning participant secures more than 3.5 times the contributions of a new participant, with other event types averaging 1.5 times more.
There are distinct fundraising behaviors present in similar events with and without registration fees.
Participants in events without registration fees are more likely to join a team and fundraise. They also are more inclined to make a self-donation and raise more money from more donors.
Participants who update their personal pages raise 6–18 times more than participants who do not update their pages.
They are also more likely to send emails. Both actions are critical to fundraising success, as they’re frequently found in the Great Fundraisers category.
Team captains and team members do the heavy lifting in most event categories.
In Cycle and No Reg Fee events, teams raise 86% and 79% of donation revenue, respectively. In the Walk category, 93 cents of every dollar raised comes from teams.
Diversifying your fundraising portfolio is crucial to success.
Whether it’s adding a DIY program or increasing your use of Facebook Fundraisers, your organization must adapt to changing donor and participant engagement expectations. The number of DIY programs has grown 400% since last year, and participation has increased threefold. Use these supplemental fundraising methods to retain event participants in your organization.

HOW DO YOU STACK UP?

While tracking your own organization’s yearly event progress is the best way to measure success and opportunity, it can’t hurt to explore how other organizations with similar events are performing. Use our new interactive benchmark tool to evaluate the health of your programs and discover new areas for growth.

Start benchmarking

INSIDE THE BLACKBAUD
PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING STUDY

Download the full Study today to get insights and detailed performance data covering:

  • Traditional Event Fundraising Trends
  • Fundraising Status and Performance by Individuals
  • Loyalty: The Importance of Retention
  • Participant Engagement
  • Gender and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
  • Team Performance
  • DIY Fundraising and Non-Traditional Events
  • A Closer Look at Canadian Trends
  • Crowdfunding and International Performance
  • Analytics Personas
  • Facebook Fundraising

Can't get enough? Our team of peer-to-peer fundraising experts will work with you to create your own personalized benchmark review. Email us at solutions@Blackbaud.com.

Get your copy today.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Resources

Advice from the Experts

Our Latest Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Publications

Our Past Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Studies

Blackbaud’s Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Solutions

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, foundations, corporations, education institutions, and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through software, services, expertise, and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and relationship management, digital marketing, advocacy, accounting, payments, analytics, school management, grant management, corporate social responsibility, and volunteerism. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.