How to Get Your Donors to Fundraise for You
Written by David Mattingly, Director of Customer Success and Product Strategy
At GiveGrove, we’re always evaluating how our events perform and looking for ways to better support our clients. We track how long it takes for organizations to set up their events, upload items, and how all of this ties back to the funds they raise. From our analysis, we've found that the highest return on time invested in the platform comes from the peer-to-peer or voting module.
If you're not unfamiliar with this concept, it’s where individuals or teams have their own voting page where they can share their goals and personalized link. They then send that link to family and friends to gather votes, which are essentially donations. A great example is the annual BBQ and Brew Fest in Elkhart, Indiana, benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of Elkhart County. At this event, teams from local businesses create delicious food for visitors to sample, and attendees “vote” for their favorite dish by donating $1 per vote. Teams can also raise money before the event by sharing the donation link with their friends, family, and coworkers for support.
This event is one of the most successful events we see, year after year. And interestingly, while it includes a Silent Auction, the voting portion always seems to be the highlight among donors! What’s clear from our data is that the effort involved in setting up a voting campaign is significantly lower than managing a silent auction—no need to gather items, build baskets, take photos, or set up starting bids. You just create a team, assign a price per vote, and let the fun begin!
One reason voting events do so well is because people can vote multiple times. In a Silent Auction, only one person wins the item. But in a voting fundraiser, everyone can contribute multiple times. For example, if my team is falling behind, I might vote again to help push us into the lead. This kind of participation is a big reason why the voting module accounts for almost 40% of all transactions on GiveGrove—it’s simple and effective.
BBQ & Brew Fest | Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County
A common question we get is how to come up with “voting” teams. Honestly, anything that taps into competition, bragging rights, or even a fun trophy can get people excited to support your cause. The more fun it is, the better!
If you’re interested in learning more about how the voting module works or want to see some examples of what other organizations have done, feel free to reach out to me. Just email me at David@givegrove.com and I’ll be happy to share some examples with you!
GiveGrove makes events and auctions for fundraising easy. Check us out at GiveGrove.com or email info@givegrove.com for more info. Click here to sign up for our mailing list.
