Aug 19, 2020

Champion fundraisers…and where to find them.

champion fundraiser

Champion Fundraising:
A form of peer-to-peer fundraising that focuses on top advocates to drive awareness and funding for your mission. These top advocates are your champion fundraisers.

You’ve likely heard of peer-to-peer fundraising and how you can leverage current supporters to achieve even more. There are many types of peer-to-peer fundraising where your donors encourage their personal networks to support your cause. 

Champion fundraising is a form of peer-to-peer fundraising that focuses on top advocates to drive awareness and funding for your mission. These top advocates are your champion fundraisers. Here are a few steps to get started with a champion fundraiser:

1. IDENTIFY A CAMPAIGN

Is this campaign going to be a walk-a-thon like the Relay for Life by the American Cancer Society where constituents form teams? Perhaps it’s a virtual dance event. Or, is this campaign going to be among your board members? National awareness month? 

Once you’ve identified the type of campaign you want to run it should become clearer who your champions will be. 

2. IDENTIFY YOUR CHAMPIONS

Maybe your champions are your biggest impact accelerators. Though you might ask them to help a lot, so to avoid burnout you want to focus on another group. Would your volunteers be interested in participating? Or, are they senior board members who have the networks and pull to get people to give. Maybe it’s your entry-level employees who have engaged social networks. 

When you identify your champion fundraisers, you want to gauge their interest. You can simply ask them one-on-one or you can send out a survey. You want a high level of interest to ensure that they’ll follow through with participation and be excited about it. 

3. ENGAGE AND EMPOWER CHAMPION FUNDRAISERS

Once you have your group identified, you’ll want to incentivize them and set them up for success. The easier you can make the campaign for your champion fundraisers the better off they’ll be. Set them up with whatever they might need, templates for phone, email, mail, social media. Is this campaign running specific times? Make sure the schedule and all relevant links and sites are accurate and easy to understand. 

Amid this campaign schedule, set a timeline and goals for your champions so that they can work towards things as you go. Celebrate small wins and encourage them to keep going, even when they get ‘no’s’.  

Remember, this is meant to be fun! It’s not a sales pitch but a genuine way to expand your reach within your community, whether you’re looking to raise funds or awareness. 

4. MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CAMPAIGN

Depending on the campaign you’ve run, you’ll want to think about what you hoped to get out of the campaign, then measure things like: 

  • Dollars raised 
  • Did you expand your reach? Things you can look at to determine this are: 
  • New donors 
  • New advocates 
  • New sponsors 
  • New volunteers 
  • Increase in social media followers 
  • Increase in website traffic 

  

Watch our latest webinar:
Engaging Champions for Your Cause
> Watch webinar <

If you’d like to see how GiveSmart can support your next Champion Fundraising campaign,
let us know here.

Related:
How nonprofits can utilize social media insights
Webinar: Engaging champions for your cause
Peer-to-peer fundraising guide
Webinar: peer-to-peer fundraising

 

Explore GiveSmart’s Peer-to-Peer Fundraising product

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