Season 3 Episode 7: Casting A Wider Net For P2P Growth with the American Diabetes Association’s Megan Gavin

This week, Megan Gavin from the American Diabetes Association joins the show to discuss how her team is leveraging marketing, technology, and staffing to fuel peer-to-peer (P2P) growth.

As many P2P programs strive to expand, organizations often grapple with a core question: should they focus resources on deepening engagement with current supporters or invest in acquiring new ones?

The answer isn’t always one strategy over the other—it’s important to consider your mission’s scope. For causes that directly impact millions, investing in participant acquisition can also help drive broader awareness and connect more people to essential services and support. For missions affecting a smaller community, creating deeper connections and boosting engagement may be more effective.

In today’s episode, Marcie Maxwell sits down with industry veteran Megan Gavin, Vice President of Field Campaign and Community Initiatives at the American Diabetes Association. They dive into how her team developed a strategic plan to drive exponential growth for their flagship P2P event, Step Out Walk, aiming to engage more of the 38 million people living with diabetes in the U.S.

Tune in as they also discuss:

– Using data to guide staff toward high-impact activities
– Leveraging AI tools for lead generation
– The critical role of effective event leadership

Mentioned Links

www.diabetes.org
On Facebook (@American Diabetes Association), X (@AmDiabetesAssn), and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn)

Stay Connected on LinkedIn

Connect with Megan
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Connect with the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum

Podcast Guests

Megan’s keen ability to connect with large cross-functional teams and effectively assess organizational needs allows her to quickly innovate with businesses to streamline key initiatives, drive efficiency, and position them for sustainable growth. Megan has 20 years of fundraising strategy, operations, and relationship management experience and operates with a data-driven approach to achieve desired organizational results.

Currently, Megan is the Vice President of Field Campaign and Community Initiatives at the American Diabetes Association where she leads the development, execution, and operations of all national fundraising and community engagement programs. Previously she worked at Shatterproof and enjoyed a long-standing career with Breakthrough T1D where she led the centralization of nationwide fundraising operations and drove fundraising success through strategic and tactical consultation and execution focused on key fundraising & stewardship program elements.

Throughout her career in non-profit management, Megan has been a change champion for national event development, auditing and streamlining existing processes, developing centralized strategies and systems, and truly loves bringing people together. Her ability to create powerful relationships and a culture of integrated operations makes Megan the go-to person to make positive change.

Podcast Host

Marcie Maxwell is the Managing Director of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. Marcie joined the P2PPF team in 2021 after 15+ years as a front-line fundraiser, national events & campaign director and fundraising consultant. In her role, Marcie serves as a primary thought leader and community builder for the peer-to-peer fundraising industry. She started her career in fundraising with 10+ years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she ran local fundraising events, managed national volunteer partnerships and launched their national walk program. She then spent 5+ years as the Director of Chapter Fundraising Events with Make-A-Wish America, where she provided strategy, support & training to 60 chapters on the full event portfolio – walks, school fundraising, an endurance hiking program and galas & social events. In her most recent role at Charity Dynamics, she partnered with clients to provide strategic guidance and analysis to help them optimize and grow their peer-to-peer fundraising events & campaigns. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in Ethical Leadership from Christian Brothers University. She resides in Memphis, TN.