What’s shocking to most nonprofits in the peer-to-peer fundraising space is how many event participants they have registered who don’t raise a penny. These are usually people who signed up (probably because someone asked them to) but didn’t get around to fundraising until they felt it was too late. Maybe they walked in your event, or maybe they quietly (with guilt or embarrassment) bowed out, hoping you wouldn’t notice.
We tend to write off the zero-dollar fundraiser as just part of doing business. But have you looked at how many you really have? If it’s less than 20% you’re in the minority. Causes that hold fundraising events, but don’t require fundraising can find that over 80% of those who register don’t raise a dime. If your fundraising software is one that charges you by the record, you’re losing money on all those zero-dollar fundraisers loitering in your system.