Team Fundraising Vs. Individual Fundraising
Many charitable nonprofits rely on supporters and donors for some or all of their funding. This financial backing keeps your nonprofit running, enabling you to maintain and expand the valuable services you provide to those who need it most.
When raising funds for your nonprofit, you should always choose the most effective and efficient way to do so. Depending on the fundraiser, your organization may also need to decide between utilizing team fundraising or individual fundraising.
If fundraising is your organization’s main source of revenue, deciding between the two can become crucial to the success of your mission. Read on to learn about the value of each type of fundraiser and if it’s the right fit for you!
What Is Team Fundraising?
Team fundraising is when a group of individuals work together to raise funds for an organization or a cause. In this case, the team sets its own goal as to the amount that they would like to raise. The members of the team will then work together to raise that amount.
Upsides to Team Fundraising
Teams can provide an opportunity for people who have different levels of available time and networking to still be able to contribute to an organization.
Oftentimes, team members will enter into a friendly competition among themselves that can spur their enthusiasm and bring in more funds to the campaign.
There are those people who, regardless of their dedication to a worthy cause, might not be hardcore supporters. A team fundraiser can give those individuals an opportunity to get involved without feeling that they have made a major time commitment.
Downsides to Team Fundraising?
Some of the pros of team fundraising can also be the cons; it all depends on the team members.
Unfortunately, while team members may feel good about supporting their cause, they can also let “life” intrude and rely on other team members to carry the campaign rather than putting in much of an effort themselves.
Competition can be good-natured fun, unless it is taken too seriously. If the team loses sight of the goal of the campaign, there can be friction that turns supporting a worthy cause into an experience that few will want to repeat.
How We Can Help
Even avid supporters of your nonprofit can be daunted by the prospect of having to create and facilitate a campaign on their own. There are many requirements and many unknowns. FundEasy's Crowdfunding platform lends that helping hand when managing your campaign’s donations.
What Is Individual Fundraising?
Individual fundraising, or Peer-to-Peer (P2P), is an effective and popular form of fundraising. With P2P, an individual raises funds for your nonprofit. This type of fundraiser uses an individual’s existing network of friends, family, and coworkers to raise money on behalf of your nonprofit.
Upsides to choosing Individual Fundraising?
Gone are the days of individuals going door to door or making phone calls to solicit donations for a worthy cause. When your nonprofit uses a P2P software platform, it empowers your supporters and makes it incredibly easy for them to fundraise on your behalf.
P2P can help to grow your community of supporters while at the same time reaching your fundraising goal. The individuals who are using P2P to fundraise for your nonprofit tap into new potential donors that your nonprofit may not otherwise reach.
It is a given that people will give more readily to a friend’s campaign on behalf of your nonprofit because there is an endorsement. That connection is one of the reasons that P2P is so powerful as a fundraising tool.
When individuals participate in a P2P campaign on your nonprofit’s behalf, it grows your social media presence. We have learned in the past few years that the influence of social media is not to be underestimated. When people see that their friends and family are supporting a specific nonprofit, they want to learn more about that cause.
Downsides of choosing Individual Fundraising?
When using P2P, individuals who customize and engage with their fundraising are also the individuals who raise more donations for the nonprofit. Some individuals may get overwhelmed by having to do this without any guidance.
When your nonprofit makes this easy and fun for the individual, by providing a Peer-to-Peer platform for them to use, then it is a win-win situation.
Individual fundraising can be labor-intensive. If an individual has to spend time explaining the organization and cause to each potential donor, the chances are that not many individuals will have the time or energy to do so.
A P2P software platform eliminates the need to contact potential donors one by one.
Some individuals may be hesitant to ask others for money, and collecting that money and getting it to the nonprofit presents another difficult task for the individual.
Again, when your nonprofit has a software platform that they share with your supporters, it takes all of the challenges away. The solicitation and the collection of funds is all handled for them. All the individual has to do is share their fundraising page.
How We Can Help
Anyone who has planned and executed a less-than-successful fundraiser can relate to the many concerns that come along with insufficient funding. The fundraising platform (or lack thereof) that you rely on can make or break a campaign or event.
In recent years, nonprofits have found that using peer-to-peer campaigns can be very successful. With FundEasy's Peer-to-Peer software designed specifically for nonprofits, your organization is able to provide your supporters with an easy tool to run an effective campaign.
We know the proof is in the pudding which is why we created this sample P2P campaign page that shows just how user-friendly our software is.
With Peer-to-Peer, your supporters can raise funds individually, and be part of a team at the same time. It gives nonprofits the best of both worlds when making the choice between team fundraising or individual fundraising.
FundEasy's Peer-to-Peer platform has all of the necessary functions to make fundraising easy and efficient.
“At FundEasy, we know the important work of nonprofits is at risk because the process of fundraising is difficult. This is why we create software that makes fundraising simple, so nonprofits everywhere can thrive. ”
When your nonprofit provides supporters with FundEasy's Peer-to-Peer web page, it provides them with an explanation of how to set up and use their campaign page. FundEasy’s P2P software platform also provides users with a knowledge base that answers any questions they might have.
FundEasy’s P2P gives individual fundraisers the ability to customize their campaign page with photos, and a welcome message and gives the individual fundraiser the ability to update their progress on the page.
Incorporating Team and Individual Fundraising
When making decisions for your fundraiser, you may feel that you have to choose between team fundraising and individual fundraising. However, with the right software platform, that’s not the case.
When your nonprofit uses FundEasy’s P2P software platform, your organization can choose to set up campaign web pages as individuals or as a team. It is easy to do by simply turning on or off a function. Your nonprofit can customize its settings on FundEasy’s P2P platform so that it works just the way your nonprofit needs it to.
There are many campaigns that work beautifully with P2P that lend themselves to both team and individual fundraising. Some of the most popular are walks, runs, and bikeathons.
The nonprofit itself does not need to be hosting the run/walk or bikeathon, which is a huge bonus. This is also a plus for the fundraisers, whether an individual or a team, as they can use whatever event they choose and solicit donations based on their participation.
Golf outings and tournaments, too, lend themselves to both individual and team fundraising. There are numerous team and individual fundraising ideas. This FundEasy article gives you 26 fundraising ideas.
How Important Is A Software Platform For Team & Individual Fundraising?
Administration of a fundraising campaign can be one of the biggest time consuming efforts your nonprofit faces.
Fundraising campaigns take an enormous amount of time and it can often seem that your nonprofit might only break even with the effort it takes to facilitate a campaign.
FundEasy understands that your nonprofit strives to raise more money so that you can change more lives for the better. We also know that fundraising is difficult. Like our name, FundEasy, we strive to make fundraising simple so that nonprofits can thrive.
Visit our FundEasy site and watch a brief demo on how our Peer-to-Peer software platform can help empower your nonprofit, and your supporters, to easily and efficiently raise the funds needed to continue and expand your good work.
Once you have viewed the demo, If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out. We would love to chat!
Final Thoughts
We live in a busy world that gets busier by the day. The supporters of your nonprofit would love nothing more than to advance your worthy cause.
FundEasy's Peer-to-Peer empowers supporters to fundraise on your behalf. Not only does this software platform make it fun and easy for your supporters, but it also frees up time for your nonprofit, makes administration a breeze, facilitates your campaigns, and allows your nonprofit to concentrate on providing its important services.
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
Also, if you haven't joined already, we have an exclusive Facebook Group just for our customers! If you are a current FundEasy Customer and would like to join, go here to learn more and request to be added!
Crystal Hoag
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
