Peer-to-peer fundraising has become one of the dominant models in nonprofit revenue generation. Blackbaud Institute's 2022 Charitable Giving Report found that online giving grew by 12.1 percent year over year, with peer-to-peer campaigns representing a significant portion of that growth — particularly in the health charity, athletic event, and faith sectors. But the model's economics are highly dependent on one variable: how many registered fundraisers actually activate and raise meaningful amounts.
Research consistently shows that activation rates are the biggest lever in peer-to-peer campaign performance, and activation is a function of how well the platform supports its fundraisers. Virtual assistants are enabling platforms to deliver that support at scale.
The Activation Problem in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
Industry data from the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum shows that in a typical campaign, 50 to 60 percent of registered fundraisers raise zero dollars. The participants who do activate tend to share common characteristics: they received a coaching touchpoint early in the campaign, they had a personal connection to the cause, and they were given simple tools and scripts for asking their networks. The gap between registered and active fundraisers represents enormous unrealized revenue.
Closing that gap requires communication — targeted, timely, personalized enough to feel helpful rather than generic. For a platform running dozens of simultaneous campaigns with thousands of participants each, delivering that level of communication is operationally challenging without dedicated support staff. Virtual assistants fill exactly this role.
VA Functions in Peer-to-Peer Platform Operations
Fundraiser onboarding sequences. When a participant registers, the first 48 to 72 hours are critical for activation. VAs manage onboarding email sequences, personalize messages based on registration data, and flag participants who have not completed their fundraising pages for a follow-up nudge. This early-stage support significantly improves activation rates.
Team captain relationship management. Many peer-to-peer campaigns are organized around teams, with captains responsible for recruiting and motivating their team members. VAs maintain a communication calendar with team captains, send weekly check-in messages, share milestone congratulations, and escalate struggling captains to a platform staff member for direct support. Keeping team captains engaged is one of the highest-leverage activities on a platform.
Mid-campaign coaching communications. During the active campaign window, VAs send targeted coaching messages to specific fundraiser segments: participants who have raised their first gift but stalled, those approaching a milestone, and those who have not yet made their own self-donation. These segmented touchpoints are more effective than generic broadcast messages and can be systematized with clear templates and decision rules.
Performance data and reporting. After each campaign, platforms need to analyze fundraiser performance, identify best-practice patterns, and prepare sponsor or client reports. VAs compile campaign data exports, format performance dashboards, and prepare summary reports — work that must be done but rarely requires senior platform staff expertise.
Scaling Support Without Scaling Overhead
The economics of peer-to-peer platforms put strong pressure on operational efficiency. Platforms charge clients a percentage of funds raised or a flat fee per campaign, creating a direct incentive to minimize cost per campaign while maximizing fundraiser performance. VA support costs — typically a fraction of what a full-time participant support coordinator would cost — fit cleanly into that model.
The Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum's benchmarking data indicates that platforms in the top quartile for fundraiser activation rates generate approximately 3x more revenue per registered participant than bottom-quartile platforms. A meaningful portion of that gap is attributable to better participant support infrastructure.
Implementing VA Support on a Fundraising Platform
Platforms should start by mapping the communication touchpoints that currently go unsent due to bandwidth constraints — these represent the clearest immediate opportunity. VAs can execute existing communication protocols consistently and at scale, with human staff escalation for unusual situations.
Peer-to-peer fundraising platforms looking to improve fundraiser activation and campaign performance should explore professional virtual assistant support. Stealth Agents provides virtual assistants with experience in email communication management, CRM operations, and data reporting — well suited to the operational demands of peer-to-peer platforms.
Sources
- Blackbaud Institute, 2022 Charitable Giving Report, blackbaud.com
- Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, P2P Fundraising Study: The Benchmark Report, peertopeerprofessional.org
- Association of Fundraising Professionals, Online Fundraising Trends, afpglobal.org