Is peer-to-peer fundraising finally dead?

Image courtesy https://unsplash.com/@miryam_leon

No. But our constituents have moved away from how we have always done it. They even started calling it something different—social fundraising. But we didn’t call it that.

We haven’t kept up.

The (stellar) Peer to Peer Professional Forum will soon meet in Atlanta. This year’s conference theme is “Back to the Future.” Promotional content reads, “Together, we’ll revisit the essential best practices that have shaped peer-to-peer fundraising over the last 50 years and explore fresh strategies to modernize these foundations, adapting them to meet the evolving needs of today’s—and tomorrow’s—fundraisers.”

Yes, the best practices still work. They work because they tap into basic human psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and connectedness. But community now forms and is sustained differently. Communication tools have evolved, and personal values are expressed in new ways. What’s uncertain is whether we peer-to-peer fundraising professionals will adapt to these changes.

Why Won’t We Change?

If we fail to evolve, there is only one reason—we fear becoming irrelevant. We worry that our own expertise has outlived its usefulness.

Let me be more direct: you're afraid of change. And I get it. Humans aren’t built for individual change. We are built to keep doing what we do which may cause us to die sooner than the other people who have adapted and live on to bear more offspring than we did. That’s evolutionary pressure. But you can rise above your genetics, override your DNA-inspired fear, and change. And if you love peer-to-peer fundraising, now’s your moment.

Nonprofit P2P Programs are Optional

For a while, we talked about nonprofits being simply a way for constituents to pursue their own will and fix what they want to fix in the world. Nonprofits are intermediaries, which means that today, we are also optional. We exist to get things done. Now, we are competing to remain a viable option for getting things done.

The GoFundMes and Facebooks of the world will take our place unless we deliver what the volunteer fundraiser wants – connection, meaning, autonomy, and modern tools that fit today’s world. Unless we provide an experience tailored to them, they will bypass us entirely—giving directly to a mission, a person, or a nonprofit that speaks their language and understands their world.

Right now, some volunteer fundraisers are sidestepping your programs while still supporting your nonprofit. Case in point: the peer-to-peer platform Tiltify is up 300% over last year, driven by volunteer fundraisers who aren't participating in the very programs represented at the P2P Professional Forum conference. They’re not gamers or streamers, but they are using donor engagement tools that Gen Z expects.

Our traditional walks, runs, and rides are becoming like a wired phone on the kitchen wall—familiar, but obsolete. Once people realized they could not only talk while reaching the refrigerator but walk around the block while on a call, wired phones disappeared. Younger generations want digital fundraising tools like they have in the rest of their lives. But many of us are fully vested in traditional walks, runs, and rides. And we resist change. It’s a new environment, with new ways to communicate, new levels of connection, and a different language. By underinvesting in innovation, dismissing new models as failures, and clinging to the past, we have failed to evolve as our constituents have.

You Can't Tweak Your Program Enough

That means we must let go of how we define peer-to-peer fundraising and listen to how volunteer fundraisers define it. Peer-to-peer must shift to a fundraiser-centric model, just as nonprofits are pivoting to donor-centric models. Right now, we’re stuck in an organizational-centric mindset. When we ask younger generations, “How do you see peer-to-peer?” we can’t walk in thinking about tweaking our existing programs. That’s the wrong mindset. Trying to force-fit new ideas into old structures won’t work. And we don’t have time for trial and error. With the hits our organizations are taking from the current Presidential administration, individual fundraising is more critical than ever. Peer-to-peer drives all other revenue streams. We can't afford to fail.

If you’re at the Peer to Peer Professional Forum this week (and you should be!), talk to people who are making bold moves. Ask how they are evolving peer-to-peer fundraising to engage generations who aren’t thinking about stair lifts and 5:00 PM dinners. (No shade—I’m one of those people.) Talk to:

Aimee Yrlas Simpson of the Immune Deficiency Foundation – demonstrating that EVERYBODY is a content creator. (We used to call them ‘influential team captains.’)

Michael Wasserman – Tiltify's Founder and a voice crying out in the wilderness (yep, got all Southern Baptist on you). He hears from constituents who are sick of being shoved into our programs because we built them for us, not them.

Lou Adducci – mobilizing Gen Z for Doctors Without Borders.

So, Kill My Walk?

Not necessarily. Some traditional walk programs still thrive because they aren't just about raising money. Boomers are in their prime giving years, and there’s still juice in these events—if they’re well-executed.

Kayln Henkel, CDO of the Parkinson’s Foundation, leads a walk program that nails it. The Parkinson’s Foundation’s peer-to-peer events aren't just fundraisers; they're mission-driven gatherings. Henkel puts it best: the walks are a place where “people with Parkinson’s can shake so much that food falls out of your mouth, and it is okay.” These walks aren't just surviving—they're growing. They embody the true essence of peer-to-peer fundraising: helping people achieve something meaningful in a deeply satisfying way.

The Grief Cycle

Henkel also said, “Our walk may not match their grief cycle.” That hit me. I should have realized it sooner. Maybe this is why we struggle to connect with younger generations. While boomers went along with our events regardless of timing, younger generations seek something that aligns with their emotional journey because they can. We could be that option—if we get serious about change.

DIY Failure: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

What exactly am I pushing for? Is it just DIY fundraising? First, we must kill the name “DIY,” which sounds amateurish. And we have to stop underfunding these programs, then using poor results as proof they don’t work.

Tiltify’s 300% growth wasn’t fueled by nonprofits recruiting fundraisers—it happened because people acted on their own. Most were folks who felt boxed in by nonprofit programs that dictated how they should raise money. No dollars were spent acquiring these fundraisers. They weren’t invited, persuaded, or coached. They just did it. That tells us something important: there is already massive energy for fundraising out there, if we stop blocking it. The rapid rise of GoFundMe (and Facebook fundraising before it) proves the same point: younger generations want to fundraise—but on their terms. If we position ourselves correctly, we can tap into that momentum instead of resisting it.

DIY fundraising wasn’t designed to be a growth strategy—it was an afterthought. It was the “other” option on the menu, the catch-all for those “out-of-system” people who wanted to run cross country, climb a mountain, or do something else that didn’t fit into our tidy fundraising events. DIY was a way to keep their dollars and data inside our ecosystem without actually building something for them. We created DIY for us, not them. And that’s why it has never truly taken off. We treated it like a compromise instead of an opportunity. It’s time to fix that.

Great peer-to-peer fundraising isn’t about forcing fundraisers into our mold. It’s about connection, meaning, and mission delivery. Forget the team captain’s meeting and tee shirt distribution night. Focus on “why,” not “how.” That’s what I hope to see in Atlanta. And I’ll be cheering you on.