The 2016 conference is jam-packed with opportunities to hear from P2P experts, network with others P2P professionals and pick up insights to strengthen your program.
Take advantage of pre-conference opportunities including four focused workshops and one-on-one consulting sessions. Explore the conference schedule to get more information on program summits, plenary and breakout sessions and our stellar line-up of speakers.
Wednesday, February 24
Pre-Conference Workshops
Require pre-registration, additional fee applies
- [Workshop] Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 101: What You Need to Know – Whether you’re new to peer-to-peer fundraising or looking to improve your understanding of the fundamentals, this session will give you the insights and tools you need to improve your programs. Employing a straightforward yet sophisticated approach, Laurie Schaecher and Sara Jo Malinske from Plenty will take you on a learning journey through recruitment, retention, and fundraising activation and performance, program analytics and optimization. Recommended for newcomers to peer-to-peer fundraising.
- [Workshop] Master Your Tech to Improve Recruiting, Fundraising, and Retention – Eager to boost your program’s performance, but frustrated by the difficulty of moving the needle? Invest four hours with Charity Dynamics’ Donna Wilkins and Sue Dalos and you’ll emerge with a prioritized plan and content guide to tap the power of your digital channels and technology.
- [Workshop] Strengthening Your Peer-to-Peer Program Mix – This interactive session lead by Plenty’s Jeff Shuck and Kari Bodell will start by setting the criteria for a well-rounded peer-to-peer program portfolio. You’ll use that knowledge to assess your program mix. After identifying the reasons why people participate in each of your programs, use Plenty’s proprietary methodology to create a clear, strategic path to refine your portfolio into a robust, mission-fueling set of programs. Recommended for senior peer-to-peer fundraising professionals.
- [Workshop] Sponsorship Sales – Want to take your corporate sponsorship program to the next level? Join expert trainer Maureen Carlson for field-tested strategies and tactics to build strong relationships with cash and in-kind sponsors.
One-on-One Consulting
Get valuable advice on a problem you’re grappling with from an industry expert. Space is limited in these free, 25-minute sessions. Sign up when you register for the conference.
Conference Kick-Off
1 PM – 2:30 PM: Opening Plenary Session
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Thirty Premiere – Be the first to see the 2015 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Thirty, the annual benchmark report of America’s largest peer-to-peer programs. Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum President David Hessekiel will unveil the findings and share unique insights about the results.
Behind the Numbers – Don’t miss Plenty CEO Jeff Shuck’s analysis of key trends impacting the top thirty, overall dynamics of the peer-to-peer revolution, and the latest thoughts on how to unlock abundance in a networked world.
Program of the Year – Get the behind-the-scenes story of one of America’s most dynamic initiatives from a key leader of our first Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Program of the Year. The winner will be revealed at the conference.
2:30 – 3 PM: Networking Break
3 – 6 PM: Program Summits
Considered by many the highlight of their conference experience, program summits immerse you in conversation and learning with colleagues focused on your kind of peer-to-peer fundraising. Choose from:
6 – 6:45 PM: Opening Reception
6:45 – 8:15 PM: Cash, Sweat & Tears Award Dinner
Join us in honoring the year’s most inspiring volunteer fundraiser.
Sponsored by
8:15 PM: 10th Anniversary Celebration
Join us in toasting a decade of working together to raise billions to support worthy causes. Lots of fun and games planned!
Sponsored by
Thursday, February 25
8 – 8:30 AM: Exhibit Hall Breakfast
8:30 – 10 AM: Morning Plenary
Optimizing Your P2P Portfolio – We’ve come a long way technologically in a short time: from paper pledge forms to online donations. Now, we’re faced with the challenge of increasing peer-to-peer revenue in a world where anyone can launch a fundraising campaign in minutes. Blackbaud’s Shana Masterson explores how our industry can adapt to compete in this evolving fundraising landscape.
Millennials and the Future of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising – America’s leading thinker on millennials and giving back, Achieve President and Social Movements for Good author Derrick Feldmann helps you understand how cause engagement is changing and what your organization should do to capture this generation’s support. Derrick will describe a 2016 millennial P2P engagement study and how your organization can benefit from taking part in it.
10 – 10:45 AM: Networking Break & Overtime Sessions
Talk among yourselves and with our sponsors in the exhibit hall or take part in a Q&A session with one of our keynote speakers.
10:45 AM – 12 PM: Breakout Sessions
Choose from:
- How to Get Your Team Aligned on Hot-Button Issues – You know you have a difficult conversation coming. There may be disagreement, dissent or passionate opinions on opposite sides of an important topic. Plenty’s Laurie Schaecher teams with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Betty Ross to talk about identifying potential hot-button issues, framing those issues, and facilitating the process of creating team commitment to a path forward. Participation limited to nonprofit director level and above.
- Analyze This: Using Data to Improve P2P Effectiveness – There’s gold in your data and tapping into it is easier than you think. Learn to gather and analyze campaign info to uncover trends and boost fundraising results from Cathexis Partners’ Mark Becker and Analytical Ones’ Lynn Howes. Then the American Brain Tumor Association’s Adam Wilt will show you how this approach is taking their P2P performance to new heights.
- Making Mobile Work for Your Program – Most peer-to-peer fundraisers aren’t yet effectively incorporating mobile messaging into their programs. World Vision Mobile Director John Overy will show you how to use text messaging to inspire participants, develop a winning mobile email strategy, better present within the mobile environment and more.
- Unleashing the Power of Customized Communications – Back in the day, our participants were sent the same messages whether they were newbies or returning top performers. Since then it has become best practice to segment and tailor communications to maximize fundraising, but it can be challenging. Frontstream’s Claire Kerr will offer advice on prioritizing activity, timing or other triggered custom communications. These lessons will be brought to life through a case study from Kids Help Phone’s Jenny Yuen.
12 – 12:30 PM: Pre-Luncheon Reception
12:30 – 1:45 PM: Lunch with & Learn from One Another
There’s so much to be gained from chatting with our counterparts at other organizations. Based on your pre-conference survey responses, you’ll be seated with peers with similar experience or interests to talk among yourselves.
Sponsored by
1:45 – 2:15 PM: Networking Break
2:15 – 3:30 PM: Breakout Sessions
Choose from:
- The Lightning Round – In this high-energy session, peer-to-peer veterans get ten minutes to share one big idea that will empower you to achieve greater success in 2016. Speakers include Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s Sydney Van Horne, Rallybound’s Joe Magee, JDRF’s Lisa DeAntona, EveryDay Hero’s Marssie Versola.
- Why do some fundraisers take action when others don’t? – Understanding why some people take action when others don’t will make you a far more powerful peer-to-peer pro. Turnkey’s Katrina VanHuss and Otis Fulton will describe key psychological phenomena and how they can be applied to your program design. Then, Robyn Mendez will show how these concepts were put into action for MD Anderson’s Boot Walk to End Cancer. You’ll learn to ride the wave of human decision-making instead of trying to swim upstream against it.
- The Perfect Email Recruitment Campaign – ConnectedNonprofit’s Mandy O’Neill, the master of peer-to-peer copywriting, will turn you into a lean, mean recruitment campaign machine. Leave with step-by-step instructions on creating effective campaigns and a set of “nearly done for you” emails that will supercharge your recruitment efforts.
- Next Gen Corporate Engagement: Teams and So Much More – If your corporate engagement strategy begins and ends at team recruitment, you are missing a huge opportunity. Learn how to cost-efficiently transform your program into one that generates far more value for you and your business partners from Armbruster Consulting Group’s Rachel Armbruster. Then hear case studies with lessons learned to apply to your organization from Project HOPE’s Lynn Jennings and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ Staci Cross.
3:30 – 3:45 PM: Networking Break
3:45 – 4:30 PM: Closing Plenary
- What’s Your Streaming Video Opportunity? – A few nonprofits are raising millions each year by tapping into the passion of video gamers via streaming video technology. Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman will educate us on the potential for many more to leverage all sorts of streaming content for good. Then Ettore Rossetti, Senior Director of Social Business Strategy & Innovation at Save the Children, will share lessons learned from his organization’s early ventures.
- The Decade Ahead – Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum Founder David Hessekiel closes out our 10th anniversary conference with predictions for the next decade.
4:45 to 5:30: Closing Reception
Sponsored by
