Online fundraisers taking part in organized events use social media to reach close to 600 people and inspire others to take on challenges for charity, according to new data from JustGiving.com
Speaking at Making every step count: How to maximize participation and fundraising at your event, Howard Bell, Director of Partnerships at JustGiving revealed new data showing that each individual fundraising campaign is seen by an average of 562 people on Facebook.
What's more, the event fundraising 'network effect' means fundraisers encourage others to follow their lead. One in four fundraisers will choose either to take part in the same event for charity the next year or will inspire a friend or family member to take part instead.
The Making every step count conference, which took place today at the Commonwealth Club in central London, brought together speakers from JustGiving and ACTIVE Network to showcase their integrated event registration and fundraising tool for UK charities and event partners, aimed at helping event managers sell out their events and maximize fundraising, with zero up-front costs.
The data, taken from the analysis of JustGiving fundraising pages and their sponsors at fundraising events, marks the importance of fundraising to event organizers, suggesting that exposure from fundraisers actually helps fill places for future events, while helping charities to acquire new advocates. In a recent survey, 99% of fundraisers said that they would recommend the event that they participated in to a friend or family member.
Howard Bell, Director of Partnerships commented, "We've been exploring the fundraising network effect - the idea that by participating in an event, fundraisers actually encourage their friends and families to do likewise. This data shows that not only do event fundraisers have a large online social reach, they act as inspiration for others, bringing in new advocates for their charity and new participants for their chosen event. By encouraging fundraising, event organisers give themselves a powerful word of mouth marketing tool."
Sejal Pietrzak, SVP of International at ACTIVE Network, sid, "We've found that friends and family are huge motivators in not only participating in an event, but also fundraising, and that social media's ability to foster participation is a critical component."
