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Recruit Team Captains and Individual Fundraisers

Goal: Get the right people signed up to fundraise on your behalf — team captains who'll organize their groups, individuals who'll mobilize their networks — and give them what they need to succeed.

Two recruitment streams​

  • Team captains — recruit a person to lead a team. They'll then recruit their own team members.
  • Individual fundraisers — recruit each fundraiser directly.

Most P2P programs benefit from both. Teams scale faster (one captain bringing 5 teammates is easier than recruiting 6 individuals); individual fundraisers add personal stories that resonate with their networks.

Who makes a good team captain​

Look for:

  • People who've fundraised for you before and did well
  • Connectors — they know everyone, and everyone knows them
  • Corporate point-people who can bring colleagues
  • Board members — both as captains themselves and as recruiters of other captains
  • Past homeowner partners — their stories are powerful

Reach out personally. A direct ask — "would you be willing to lead a team for our walk?" — outperforms generic recruitment messaging.

Who makes a good individual fundraiser​

The criteria are similar but lighter touch:

  • Past donors with active social presence
  • Recent volunteers who feel connected
  • Anyone who's reached out asking how to help
  • Repeat attendees of your events

For individual fundraisers, a templated invitation works fine — the personal touch isn't as critical as it is for captains.

Inviting captains and fundraisers​

Use Communications to send invitation emails. Include:

  • Why this campaign / event matters
  • What participants will be asked to do (set a goal, build a page, share)
  • The signup link to the public P2P page
  • Suggested goals (recent averages help — "most participants raise $500–$1,500")
  • Available support — copy templates, photos, your team's help

Setting goals​

Don't dictate goals to participants — let them set their own. But give them anchors:

  • Your event's average per fundraiser
  • The top fundraiser's amount last year
  • A few representative goals from peers ("Most of our walk fundraisers aim for $500")

People stretch when they have benchmarks. They struggle when they have nothing to compare against.

Onboarding once they sign up​

When someone signs up as a participant:

  • Their public fundraising page is created (templated, but they should customize)
  • They get a welcome email with next-step prompts: "Personalize your page" → "Make the first ask"
  • They get the participant dashboard at /p2p/my/:donationToken to track progress

Send the welcome email within 24 hours of signup. The energy fades fast.

What good fundraising captains look like​

The captains who drive the most for you:

  • Make their first ask within a week of signing up
  • Personalize their page with story and photos
  • Recruit their team members fast — within 2 weeks
  • Share progress updates publicly
  • Thank donors personally

You can teach this. A captain handbook (one page, no more) covers what to do; the rest is encouragement.

Re-recruiting past participants​

Past participants are your highest-conversion recruitment pool. For each new P2P year:

  • Reach out personally to last year's top fundraisers
  • Send a "you raised $X last year — will you do it again?" email to all past participants
  • Offer a small recognition incentive (early-bird signup gets first pick of team names, etc.)

Past participants often raise more in the second year than the first. They've learned what works.