To forge a path forward for pledge-event fundraising, Canadians should take note of a few key takeaways from a niche conference recently held in Atlanta, Georgia.  

The Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum 2014 annual conference, an event formerly known as the Run Walk Ride Fundraising Conference, attracts key stakeholders from organizations large and small across North America. This year, there was a special focus on the evolution of peer-to-peer fundraising events at the national and local/regional levels.

Hjc shares three key takeaways from the event:  

Key takeaway 1. Pledge events are moving beyond runs, walks and rides

While walk, run and ride events continue to raise a lot of money for organizations, these events are evolving to include other concepts such as growing facial hair, swimming and sleeping in tents—and even non-event peer-to-peer fundraising programs. In turn, this evolution allows peer-to-peer professionals to tap into new markets and increase awareness—all to the benefit of the communities in which they work.

The bottom line is that this field is not about what people do. It’s about how they do it and why they do it. It’s up to you, as peer-to-peer event professionals, to provide your participants with the tools and support they need to raise more money and make a bigger impact.

Key takeaway 2. A little competition is not bad

Executive Director Kimberley Goff revealed that her local event, the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, had major competition from the larger national Komen 3-Day walk. The latter event had a strong presence in the community and larger advertising budgets. Despite challenges around brand confusion with the Komen 3-Day Walk, the Atlanta 2-Day continues to grow—this year raising over $850,000.

Key takeaway 3. Segmentation is key to participant engagement

Michael Johnston, President of hjc and Amy Milne, Director of Events at SickKids Foundation in Toronto, presented a session on pledge event participant engagement. They shared their best practices to keep fundraisers from feeling overwhelmed, which included using a customer-service model built on multi-channel communication: prizes, fundraising tools and stewardship. The key to making all of this come together? Segmentation. Download a copy of their presentation here.