When peer pressure is good for your cause

The basic mechanics of peer-to-peer fundraising are familiar to most of us: Someone connects with a cause, creates their fundraising page, reaches out to their network, and their friends and family donate to show support. They shoot for their fundraising goal, hopefully exceed it, and everyone feels good about making a difference. It’s a tried-and-true formula that works because it taps into our social connections.

But when a donor looks at an individual’s fundraising page, are they really just responding to their peer’s ask or for an opportunity to give back?

In a study published in The Economic Journal, researchers at The Centre for Market and Public Organisation suggest that there’s actually something fascinating happening beneath the surface – a subtle dynamic among P2P donors themselves: Like a hidden conversation happening through numbers, donors are influenced by the amounts that others have already given.

Between friends, we might call this dynamic friendly competition, or perhaps even peer pressure. They call it the “peer effect”.

Empirical findings

Imagine that one of your closest friends is running a marathon and fundraising for a local food bank. You visit on their fundraising page, eager to support their cause. But then comes the question: exactly how much should you give?

To explore this, the Centre for Market and Public Organisation researchers did exactly this, examining 10,597 personal fundraising pages from the London Marathon, one of the largest online peer-to-peer fundraising events in the UK.

Across several variables and a series of tests, they identified that higher average donations from peers increase subsequent giving amounts to a runner’s fundraising page. They were even able to quantify the effect: “A £10 increase in the mean of past donations leads to people giving £2.50 more on average.”

They also find that bigger donations trigger a greater and longer-lasting response from subsequent donors than do smaller donations. For example, if the average donation to a page is £20, after someone gives £150, then next 10 or so donations will be in the neighbourhood of £30-45; but the donor gave £10 instead, then average amount of gifts thereafter might dip.

And while large donations can spark increased giving, their influence actually diminishes over time – a £150 donation has less impact after 15 other people have given compared to when it appears early on the page. Even more fascinating, this peer effect nearly disappears once a fundraising target is reached, suggesting donors benchmark differently once that initial goal is achieved.

In practical terms

The peer effect that they observe might bring back memories of the school yard.

When you land on your friend’s fundraising page, the amount you choose to give is in some ways a reflection of your level of generosity and the closeness of your relationship to the fundraiser. A bigger gift means a “better” friend (even if it’s not always true). In a public setting, where others will know (or judge) what you gave, that relative pressure becomes even more pronounced.

Just like on the school yard, maybe you want to stand out and be first in the crowd – but you certainly don’t want to stand out for being last.

A natural heuristic for what you should give, then, is what the people you know have already given.

As Smith, Windmeijer and Wright argue, “donors observe the distribution of past donations and use this to form – or update – their beliefs about how much they should give. These beliefs are likely to be donor (and possibly fund-raiser) specific; donors will have some idea of where they should locate within the distribution depending on their characteristics relative to those of other donors, including the proximity of their relationship with the fund-raiser, their support for a particular charity and their income (and possibly what their peers know about their income).”

So you scan the page and notice most people have donated $25, but another pal in your shared social circle has given $50. Showing your support is important – but so is demonstrating how close a friend you are. So you decide to give $75. Going forward, your $75 becomes the benchmark for others who visit the page after you, and the effect cascades over time…

Amplifying the “peer effect”

Understanding these peer effects opens up powerful opportunities to amplify giving. Here’s a few ways to make the most of this social dynamic:

Personal fundraising page

Given Smith et al.’s findings, your fundraising page setup matters more than you might think. A fundraising goal and a thermometer demonstrate progress and “drive towards a goal”, but prominently featuring a list of donations, amounts and donor names is equally important. A scrolling honour roll creates a subtle but powerful influence. When potential donors see what others have given – especially larger gifts – it helps them benchmark their own contribution.

Combine with donor psychology

Consider the psychology of your form itself, and ways to influence the peer effects your donors already feel with your charity’s quality. Instead of leaving the form open-ended, provide suggested giving amounts tied to specific impacts: “$25 provides emergency food for a family for a week” or “$50 supports a month of meals” or “$75 earns the fundraiser a running kit”. This matrix approach, combining concrete outcomes with strategically chosen amounts, helps guide donors toward more generous giving.

Social shout outs

For fundraisers, encourage ways to leverage social proof in their outreach. Updating their network about fundraising progress is a time to highlight and thank your most generous donors. These social media shoutouts not only recognize their generosity, but also signal to others what constitutes a significant gift and serve as motivation to get some social credit themselves.

Better tools make better fundraisers

Finally, make the most of your fundraising platform’s communication tools. Many offer Participant Centre email where you can import contacts, send targeted messages, and track engagement. This systematic approach to email outreach ensures your fundraisers are connecting with their entire network and not duplicating efforts, while monitoring who’s giving, how much and which messages are working to drive donations. Incorporating top.

Just like back in school, peer pressure lives on in online fundraising – but at least in this space, it’s getting people to do something wonderful. When we understand the subtle psychology behind how donors influence each other, we can find ways to generosity to multiply generosity, turning that age-old social pressure into a force for good.