Peer-to-peer fundraising is about as dead as direct mail.

I’ve seen and heard lots of discussion that the traditional events — the staples of peer-to-peer fundraising like cycling, endurance contests, 5Ks and walks — are no longer relevant. After all, revenue from these events seems to have stagnated.

Of course, the same is said of direct mail by the uninformed and inexperienced. In reality both peer-to-peer and direct mail are far from dead.

In the hands of informed, data-oriented practitioners there’s plenty of revenue, and even more untapped potential.

The doubters and naysayers fail to see what an exquisite corpse the ‘dead’ peer-to-peer process truly is.

That’s why The 2013 Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study is so welcome. Anyone charged with peer-to-peer will want to download it immediately and study it carefully.

The Study combines three years of event data from 39 organizations that used Blackbaud’s peer-to-peer fundraising platforms from 2011 through 2013. These organizations hosted more than 44,000 events and raised more than $1 billion online.

If you want to better understand where the bulk of the money comes from and benefit from some mighty solid expert tips, this Study is for you. Here are a few key findings and trends:

• The percentage of event participants raising money has remained relatively flat over the past three years. HOWEVER, over the three years donors gave more, and more participants returned online each year.

• Participants who return for the second or multiple years generally raise more than double the amount of first time participants. For example, the average amount raised by a returning participant for an ‘Endurance’ event is $1,150.22 — for a new participant it’s $694.18.

• ‘Team captains’ represent a small segment of the participant population, but they raise the majority of event fundraising revenue.

• Endurance events generate the most revenue from fundraising efforts (94%); 5K events generate the least (33%).

• Cycling events attract the most participants … have shown the greatest year-over-year gain … and produce an average gift of $73.42

As in all fundraising, ‘retention’ is the key to income growth. Here are the 2^nd year peer-to-peer retention rates by types of events:

• Cycling — 51%
• Endurance — 33.04%
• 5K — 23.6%
• Walk — 23.8%

According to Jori Taylor, Blackbaud fundraising consultant, the key reasons for improved retention are:

• More organizations are segmenting and targeting communications to specially recognize the most valuable participants — team captains;

• Engagement with team captains and other top performers is both more personal AND continual throughout the year.

• Organizations are making the process for re-registering easier and accessible earlier in the year, essentially promoting the next year’s event in the follow-up communication for the current year’s event.

When you realize that the value of returning participants averages between $227 and $669 each, there’s no question that additional attention and investment in retention is money well spent. Of course the wisdom of investment in retention ain’t limited to peer-to-peer.

You can download the full Report here.

Get the Infographic with the Study’s vital statistics here.

And benefit from an on-demand Webinar on the Study’s key findings here.

Roger

P.S. This Study is jam-packed with helpful, commonsense advice proving that experience, knowledge, and opportunity come with maturing markets.