In 2020, Hospice Orillia and Mariposa House Hospice were forced to quickly transition their annual Hike for Hospice fundraising event to a virtual format. Despite the hard work of the fundraising team, the 2020 virtual event brought in only half the revenue of previous years and saw registration drop by 60%.

The Hike for Hospice planning team knew they had to change things up for 2021 and, after attending a webinar about the peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities of CharityVillage’s Crowdfunding platform, they decided to switch platforms and take a new approach to their 2021 event.

We interviewed Amanda Tevelde, Communications & Fundraising Coordinator at Hospice Orillia, to find out what they learned from their 2020 experience and how they used this to create a bigger and better 2021 virtual event. Read on to learn more, including Amanda’s key takeaways for a successful virtual peer-to-peer fundraising event.

Amanda, can you give our readers a little background about the organizations you represent, who are involved with Hike for Hospice?

Hospice Orillia offers practical, emotional, and spiritual support to those in our community coping with advanced illness, death and bereavement. Our services are offered to anyone living with a life-limiting illness and/or their friends, family members, and caregivers at the client’s home, wherever “home” is, or at our office location in a private space. Hospice Orillia is partially government funded, with the balance of expenses being covered through the financial support we receive from the community.

Mariposa House Hospice’s goal is to “honour every moment of life” one person at a time. They provide high quality end-of-life palliative care to those in the Orillia area who need support, while welcoming and supporting family and friends. Each person receives the care and emotional support they need in a comfortable, safe, home-like environment where a dedicated team of RNs and PSWs is available 24/7. Operating costs are partially covered by provincial funding, and partially covered through donations, fundraising, and grants.

Tell us a little about the Hike for Hospice event and the work it supports.

Hospice Orillia and Mariposa House Hospice collaborate on this annual event to increase support for both organizations. The Hike for Hospice is integral for us as it enhances our sense of community, increases awareness of Hospice Palliative Care, and raises much-needed funds. In fact, although the event is nationwide, 100% of the proceeds stay in the Orillia area by directly supporting the services offered by Hospice Orillia and Mariposa House Hospice. These organizations work together to provide services across the continuum of hospice palliative care, from diagnosis through end-of-life, including bereavement support for surviving loved ones.

When COVID struck early last year, how did this impact your planning and delivery of Hike for Hospice in 2020?

With the uncertainty that COVID-19 brought in early 2020 we were faced with the difficult decision to pivot to a virtual event where our participants were invited to participate in their own hike on their own time.

What were your 3 biggest challenges in hosting the event in 2020? How successful was your event compared to previous years?

We found the lack of face-to-face interaction with our participants was a huge adjustment for our team and for our donors. It was also difficult to know how to engage with the public without an in-person event. Finally, people were understandably uncertain as to what their financial futures would look like after COVID, so it was difficult to demonstrate the need for funding.

Ultimately, these challenges and others led to us bringing in approximately half the revenue of previous years and the number of registrants dropped by approximately 60%.

Clearly you saw a need to try something different for 2021. What made you choose CharityVillage Crowdfunding for your 2021 Hike for Hospice?

We learned about CharityVillage’s new crowdfunding services, and that they could be used for peer-to-peer fundraising events, at a free webinar where the service was showcased. We were attracted to the ease of use in setting up campaigns and events and that it was so easy to make the campaign aesthetically pleasing for our participants, all while keeping brand alignment. This was not easy to do in the platform we used for our 2020 event.

We also found participant engagement was a big barrier in our 2020 event. We knew we needed a platform that could allow us to get regular updates out more easily to each of the registrants in a timely way that was also efficient for our team, without creating a lot of extra work. The CharityVillage platform made that incredibly easy and efficient and was an effective way to keep registrants engaged.

Finally, we liked that there is seamless integration with PayPal to increase the amount of funds that our organization could receive.

Did anything about your event change from 2020 to 2021? Are you trying any new engagement strategies, particularly any that tie in with platform features available through CharityVillage Crowdfunding?

We started proactively planning for a virtual event in January. No volunteers were needed since we weren’t hosting an in-person event, and our committee consisted of only two staff members from each organization.  The planning came down to a modified timeline from our usual one.

We have relied upon the power of social media this year to get our updates out to the community from the CharityVillage Crowdfunding site. This has been a great addition for our participants as well, especially the ability for our them to be able to send out updates to all of their contacts directly from the platform.

What was the outcome of the event this year? Did it meet or surpass your goal?

We are so pleased with the revenues this year – we more than doubled our goal of $15,000, raising a total of $32,200. In total we estimate there were 75 participants, however not all of them used the online platform.

What tips can you share for our readers who are running a peer-to-peer campaign, especially a virtual one? What strategies led to your success?

First off, start planning as soon as your previous one ends. We found that conducting a virtual event takes more hours from the communications team to ensure regular outreach to donors and registrants, which is another great reason to start planning early. You’ll want to ensure you are engaging with the community in all ways possible. Finally, use your local media as much as possible, even if you are running a virtual event instead of an in-person one.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, Amanda. Let’s end off with the 3 tips you’d give to someone starting a peer-to-peer campaign on CharityVillage for the first time.

Use the free coaching option that CharityVillage provides. Once you get the initial setup done on your campaign, you can book a free session with a crowdfunding coach to help ensure you are getting the most out of the platform. This was very valuable to us.

Put the time in to personalize the page and align it with your organization’s brand and cause. Use images that connect to your cause and inspire people to donate. Finally, be realistic and set a reachable fundraising goal for your organization.

Want to learn more about virtual peer-to-peer fundraising events and CharityVillage’s Crowdfunding platform? Download our Guide to Virtual Peer-to-Peer Fundraising – you’ll also have an opportunity to set up a free coaching session with our Crowdfunding Associates to make the most of your virtual event. Click here to start your crowdfunding campaign.