Looking to bring your university’s fundraising strategy to new heights? Find out how crowdfunding and matching gifts can help uncover support in this guide!
Summary
• To significantly boost your fundraising, prioritize raising awareness for corporate matching gift programs in all your crowdfunding materials. Embedding a matching gift search tool directly into your giving pages makes it easy for donors to double their impact and unlock unclaimed funds.
• By strategically combining crowdfunding with matching gifts, you can create a powerful multiplier effect for your fundraising campaigns. Donors are often more motivated to give, and give more, when they know their contribution can be doubled or even tripled.
• Crowdfunding is a fantastic way to engage a wider range of alumni and community members, tapping into the collective power of many smaller gifts for specific projects. It’s a digital-first approach that builds community and creates real-time momentum for various university initiatives.
• Corporate matching gifts are an incredibly underutilized revenue stream for universities, with billions of dollars going unclaimed annually. Many donors simply aren't aware their employers offer these programs, which could significantly amplify their generosity at no extra cost to them.
• Streamline your operations by integrating your crowdfunding platform with matching gift technology. This helps automate the process for donors and staff, providing a smoother experience and increasing the likelihood of successful match claims.
• Don't forget to track and celebrate both your crowdfunding successes and the added impact from matching gifts. Sharing these wins helps build trust, encourages future participation, and visibly demonstrates how donor generosity makes a tangible difference.
With the fundraising landscape more competitive than ever, universities today are looking for new and innovative ways to engage donors, increase participation, and maximize revenue. Two strategies that have gained significant traction in recent years are crowdfunding and matching gifts. Individually, each has the potential to enhance donor engagement and raise critical funds. But together? They can create a powerful multiplier effect that brings your efforts to new heights.
In this post, we’ll break down what these strategies are, how they work together, and what universities need to know to make the most of both.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
Whether you're part of a development office, a faculty member leading a campaign, or a student organization hoping to raise support, understanding how to combine crowdfunding with employer matching gifts is essential. Read on to find out how you can do so!
Unlike traditional fundraising campaigns that rely heavily on major gifts, crowdfunding leverages the collective power of many small-dollar donations—typically from students, alumni, parents, faculty, and friends—to reach a targeted goal. It’s fast-paced, digital-first, and deeply community-driven.
Crowdfunding in a university context generally involves launching time-bound, project-specific fundraising campaigns through online platforms. These campaigns are usually promoted via email, social media, and peer-to-peer outreach, encouraging supporters to give and share within their networks.
Universities use crowdfunding to support a wide variety of initiatives, including:
These campaigns tend to be more successful when they are tied to compelling stories, clear outcomes, and enthusiastic champions, such as student leaders or faculty. All in all, crowdfunding offers several unique advantages for universities:
Corporate matching gifts are one of the most underutilized opportunities in university fundraising, despite their incredible potential to multiply donor impact. When donors give to your institution, many of their employers are willing to match that donation dollar-for-dollar, doubling or sometimes even tripling the original gift. Thousands of companies—ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations—offer these programs as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts.
In other words, a matching gift is a charitable donation made by a company to match an employee’s contribution to a nonprofit or educational institution. For example, if an alum donates $100 to your university, their employer may contribute an additional $100, effectively doubling the gift at no extra cost to the original donor.
For colleges and universities, matching gifts represent a low-effort, high-reward revenue stream. Here’s why:
Despite the benefits, many institutions fail to maximize matching gift potential. As a result, billions of dollars in matching gifts go unclaimed every year, largely due to a lack of awareness and promotion.
By understanding the mechanics and benefits of corporate matching gifts, universities can take meaningful steps to close the gap and unlock a powerful source of untapped funding.
💡Bonus resource: Read How Higher Ed Leaders Leverage Matching Gifts for Success to gain insights from real university fundraising teams!
On their own, crowdfunding and matching gifts are powerful fundraising tools. When combined strategically, they create a multiplier effect that can significantly boost the results of university campaigns while also enhancing donor engagement and satisfaction.
Here’s what you need to know: Crowdfunding campaigns are built around community engagement and momentum. When donors see their gifts being matched, they’re more likely to give and give more. Matching gifts…
This synergy makes matching gifts a natural complement to crowdfunding efforts. Combining these two strategies is a simple but effective way for universities to raise more money, deepen donor relationships, and make every gift go further.
Successfully integrating crowdfunding and matching gifts into your university’s fundraising requires thoughtful planning, the right tools, and clear communication. Here are some best practices to ensure both elements work seamlessly together and drive maximum results.
One of the biggest obstacles to maximizing matching gifts is simply a lack of awareness—both among donors and university staff. Many alumni, parents, and even employees don’t realize that their employers offer gift-matching programs—or those who do are unsure how to take advantage of them.
For this reason, we recommend:
By educating donors early and often, you’ll not only increase participation but also foster deeper donor engagement. It’s a win-win!
When your crowdfunding platform and matching gift tools work together, the donor experience improves dramatically. For this reason, we recommend selecting a crowdfunding platform that supports seamless matching gift integration. Look for compatibility with tools like Double the Donation and Almabase!
From there, you should be able to embed an employer lookup tool directly into your online crowdfunding forms so donors can easily determine their eligibility as they give. Not to mention, the system should automate post-donation follow-ups with personalized instructions and next steps for the individual’s employer.
The bottom line is this: When your tools communicate effectively, you reduce manual work, increase efficiency, and provide a better donor journey overall.
To build momentum and improve future campaigns,it’s essential to monitor your results and share wins not only in terms of crowdfunding but also matching gift success. Tracking not only helps you evaluate performance but also provides compelling proof points that encourage future participation from donors and corporate partners alike.
Recognition and transparency go a long way in building community, trust, gratitude, and ongoing support. Plus, showcasing results helps reinforce the value of matching gifts for donors.
When implemented strategically, crowdfunding and matching gifts can significantly expand a university’s fundraising potential. Crowdfunding opens doors to broader audiences and grassroots participation while matching gifts offer a unique opportunity to amplify impact at no extra cost to the donor.
By integrating these approaches, educating donors, and leveraging the right technology, universities can unlock new streams of support and make every dollar go further. Now is the time to evaluate your current fundraising strategy and consider how these two powerful tools can work in tandem to elevate your efforts. Good luck!
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Matching gift challenges have always been a great way to motivate donors and boost participation—but keeping up with them? That’s another story. Manually tracking donations, updating totals, and making sure your campaign stays engaging can take up valuable time that could be spent building relationships with donors.
That’s why we built Almabase’s new Matching Gifts and Challenges—so you can run dynamic, high-impact fundraising challenges without the operational headaches. Here’s what makes it a game-changer:
What motivates your donors the most? Is it the thrill of a dollar-for-dollar match or a nostalgic nod to a class year? Or is it perhaps a time-sensitive goal that builds urgency?
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With the new matching gifts challenges, the admin can design and set custom participation, tiered donation, and time unlocks additional funds when a specific donor count is reached. This flexibility will allow you to create challenges unique to your mission and resonate with your donors.
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No more scrambling to update donors or manually tracking challenge progress. Every gift is instantly recorded, and challenges auto-update, giving your team a clear picture of campaign performance by automatically updating the matching gift thermometer. With less time spent on admin work, you can focus on what truly matters—building relationships, crafting compelling donor messaging, and driving long-term fundraising success.
Your giving page isn’t just a place to donate—it’s a dynamic hub for your fundraising priorities. With customizable layouts, you can categorize and highlight your most important campaigns, ensuring donors see what matters most. Whether it's donor participation challenges or time-sensitive giving day matchups, multiple campaign hubs help you tell a clearer story and drive more impact—while a frictionless donation process ensures more completed gifts and fewer drop-offs.
Gamifying your campaigns does more than raise funds—it builds community. Challenges like matching gifts or participation goals create shared milestones, helping donors feel part of something bigger. With Almabase's matching gifts challenges, you're not just creating campaigns—you're creating moments that bring your community together, inspire generosity, and leave a lasting impact.
2X fundraising impact with auto-updating matching challenges
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2024 was an interesting year for fundraising professionals. Persistent and emerging challenges in the nonprofit landscape coincided with some. While some issues carried over from previous years, new dynamics reshaped the way organizations navigated their work.
Last year was a year of highs and lows for fundraising and advancement professionals. From staffing struggles to shifts in donor behaviors, the year brought challenges that tested the resilience of nonprofits across sectors. However, these hurdles also paved the way for innovation, collaboration, and strategic rethinking, setting the stage for what 2025 might bring.
The donor landscape in 2024 presented an interesting problem. While overall donations increased, the donor pool continued to shrink. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), there was a 2% increase in total donations but a 4.5% decline in the number of individual donors. This trend posed a significant challenge for nonprofits reliant on a broad donor base for smaller, recurring contributions.
Staffing shortages and high turnover rates continued to be among the most pressing concerns for nonprofits in 2024. According to a study by NonProfit PRO, nearly 70% of nonprofits reported struggling with staffing challenges, citing underfunding and burnout as primary drivers.
This crisis was compounded by the competitive job market, which made it difficult for nonprofits to attract and retain talent. High turnover negatively impacted team morale and operational efficiency, forcing many organizations to stretch already limited resources to achieve their goals.
The rise of AI and other tech tools has been both a blessing and a challenge for nonprofits. While AI offers powerful capabilities—from predicting donor behavior to automating administrative tasks—it also requires significant investment in training and implementation. Many teams struggled to fully integrate these tools due to lacking technical expertise or financial resources.
The use of AI also brings forward some ethical concerns that increasingly became relevant throughout the year. There exists the risk of over-automating donor communication, which could lead to a loss of the personal touch that is central to alumni engagement. For smaller organizations, the hype around AI could also lead to investments in tools that did not align with their needs, diverting funds from more pressing priorities.
Despite the challenges, nonprofits showcased remarkable resilience. Many embraced hybrid fundraising models, combining virtual and in-person events to engage a broader audience. Charity Digital reported that organizations leveraging digital tools for storytelling and donor engagement saw significant returns on investment.
Additionally, DonorBox emphasized how nonprofits that invested in robust donor communication tools experienced improved retention rates, especially during year-end campaigns.
As we move into 2025, nonprofits more than ever need to build on the lessons of 2024 by focusing on sustainable growth and strategic innovation.
Resilience emerged as a defining characteristic in 2024, and nonprofits should ideally look to build upon it by adopting sustainable strategies and scalable practices, to better navigate uncertainty and a world that’s throwing a lot of innovations at us without leaving us much time or resources to consider our approach to each of them. With all that being said, we’d like to explore some broad focus areas that teams and institutions alike should watch out for in 2025:
The excitement surrounding AI and other technologies in 2024 often led to unrealistic expectations for nonprofits. A research paper published by Lauri Goldkind, Joy Ming, and Alex Fink critically assessed AI’s role in human services, questioning whether it offered genuine value or was simply a trend driven by hype. The study concluded that while AI holds transformative potential, it requires proper alignment with an organization's size, mission, and resource constraints to be effective.
Throughout 2025, Nonprofits should be shifting focus toward scalable and budget-conscious technology solutions. For example, a hypothetical smaller team that only needs a CRM and basic analytics could leverage low-cost digital tools and achieve better outcomes if these tools are customized to their specific workflows and objectives, as opposed to trying to cover all their bases and wasting both resources and time spent on upskilling.
The staffing crisis doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon with 68% of organizations reporting difficulties with recruitment and retention in 2024. Common challenges include toxic work cultures, burnout, uncompetitive salaries, and insufficient training opportunities. Increased investment in professional development, equitable pay structures, and supportive workplace cultures have been big talking points for a while but now they need to become key priorities. Policies aimed at reducing burnout, such as flexible work schedules and mental health support should be a good starting point.
Additionally, peer mentoring and community-building efforts are gaining traction. Nonprofits can leverage mentorship programs and peer support networks to foster a sense of community within their teams, leading to improved job satisfaction and retention.
At the heart of every nonprofit is its people—the staff, donors, and volunteers whose collective efforts drive change. By fostering positive internal cultures and focusing on impactful strategies, nonprofits can inspire trust and loyalty, ensuring their mission thrives in the years to come.
Nonprofits have responded to the recent donor market shifts by focusing on deepening relationships with existing donors. Strategies such as targeted communication and personalized outreach have since become standard practice. 2025 should be a good year for teams to consolidate knowledge of their tools and long-term goals so that they continue fostering donor loyalty seamlessly. A key area of focus will be on small and medium-sized donors and how teams can turn them into loyal donors moving forward.
With federal budget cuts for nonprofits and institutions seeming likely on the horizon, advancement and nonprofit teams especially in the US will need to explore sustainable alternatives to reach their goals.
That’ll just about do it for now but with 2025 seeming a difficult year to predict, there should certainly be a lot more to talk about in the coming months.
Key focus areas for fundraising in 2025
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The best peer-to-peer fundraising platforms help educational institutions and nonprofits boost donor engagement through personalized giving pages, social fundraising, and CRM integration. These tools streamline campaigns with built-in analytics, gamification, and mobile optimization. While some options are completely free, others cater to large-scale fundraisers that require advanced data synchronization and scalability.
The right tools can make all the difference in modern fundraising. In this blog, we’ll highlight some of the best options on the market and explore what you can expect out of them.
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Peer-to-peer fundraising, or P2P fundraising, is a type of crowdfunding in which your organization encourages its supporters to fundraise for your cause. Typically, these supporters will create an individual fundraising page and share it with their friends, family members, and social media followers to raise money.
A peer-to-peer fundraising site is the software that allows your supporters to create a donation page, share it with their personal network, and collect donations to support your mission.
Typically, most fundraising tools today include features such as:
When shopping for a peer-to-peer fundraising tool, you’ll need to weigh the cost of the tool against the value it provides. However, it can be difficult to know the true cost of using the platform, depending on the software’s pricing structure. Get familiar with these common structures:
To compare tools with different pricing structures, calculate what each platform will cost you, on average, for a certain period of time.
Whether you’re a K-12 school ,higher ed institution, or a nonprofit, in no particular order, here are some peer-to-peer fundraising platforms that you should consider:
(Prices are based on publicly available data at the time of writing and are subject to change over time)
Almabase runs on a philosophy of integrating into your CRM and existing workflows, which remains true for their peer-to-peer fundraising features. Almabase boasts native sync with most higher-ed CRMs due to their TrueSync integration, combined with superior customer support and a willingness to integrate your ideas into their long-term vision. Almabase offers customizable pages and leaderboards powered with inbuilt text and email communication features built to drive donor engagement through organic and personalized communication.
Almabase’s pricing depends entirely on your needs. Learn how Almabase empowers your p2p strategy, Schedule a personalized demo and get a quote.
GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) is a peer-to-peer fundraising platform optimized for maximum nonprofit impact. It provides ready-to-use templates for scalable, high-impact campaigns and equips supporters with intuitive tools to advocate for the cause.
GoFundMe Pro offers features like campaign templating, embedded videos and livestreams, progress thermometers, team structures, and mobile-optimized pages. The platform also supports recurring gift options and flexible payment processing, and has a mobile- and user-friendly interface.
GoFundMe Pro offers a standard “Essentials” plan and a “Partner” custom plan.
Bloomerang Fundraising (formerly Qgiv) is a fundraising platform offering tools for donation management, event planning, and donor engagement. It provides features like customizable donation forms, peer-to-peer fundraising, and text-to-give options
Bloomerang Fundraising starts at $40 per month if purchased as part of a bundle with Bloomerang CRM.
Zeffy is a 100% free fundraising platform for nonprofits, offering peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, donation pages, and recurring giving options. This tool generates revenue through optional tips that donors can provide in addition to their donation. It allows fundraisers to join as individuals or teams and create their own fundraising pages. The platform is also known for being simple, intuitive, and customizable
Zeffy has no fees and instead runs on optional tips from donors.
Donorbox is a fundraising platform that allows nonprofits to launch peer-to-peer fundraisers in a few steps. It provides customizable donation forms and supports recurring donations via various payment methods.
Donorbox also offers features for managing donors, sending personalized emails, and recording donor communications. The platform provides resources like onboarding emails, courses, and templates to support nonprofits in their fundraising efforts.
For peer-to-peer fundraisers, Donorbox charges a flat 1.75% platform fee for a main campaign and 2.95% for a supporter’s campaign.
Bonfire specializes in fundraising through custom merchandise sales. Nonprofits, schools, and even individuals can design their own custom merch and sell it via Bonfire’s free online stores.
Bonfire supports peer-to-peer campaigns (which it refers to as “giving campaigns”) by allowing your supporters to create and share t-shirt fundraisers on behalf of your organization—then, all of the money they raise is sent directly to your nonprofit.
Bonfire is completely free to use, and your nonprofit keeps 100% of the profits. There’s an 8% processing fee on additional donations, but if you verify your nonprofit status with Bonfire, that fee is reduced to 3.5%
Givebutter provides tools to launch peer-to-peer campaigns, complete with donation forms, fundraising pages, event management, a built-in CRM, and marketing tools to analyze your progress and streamline workflows. Their fundraiser teams offer a great choice for organizations looking to gamify their peer-to-peer fundraisers as well.
Givebutter offers a popular “free forever” plan, as well as a paid option starting at $29/month. If your organization opts out of having donors cover fees, Givebutter charges 1% for donation forms, 3% for pages, and 5% for events and auctions, as well as a payment processing charge of 2.9% + ¢0.30 per transaction.
GiveCampus is a fundraising platform for educational institutions, providing solutions for online giving, giving days, crowdfunding, P2P fundraising, and more. It blends peer-to-peer outreach, social media, and gamification to engage more donors and increase fundraising. The platform allows schools to execute giving days, year-end appeals, and crowdfunding campaigns.
GiveCampus also offers features like matches and challenges to inspire donors and make them feel like their contributions are making a difference
GiveCampus has three platform plans: Essentials, Professional, and Enterprise. Additionally, pricing will vary depending on the modules you require.
As a Blackbaud product, JustGiving is a great choice if you are used to the Blackbaud CRM environment. Compared to other platforms on this list, JustGiving is relatively simple both in its presentation and its scope. This makes it an easy choice for teams just starting out or looking for something simple for a one-off event. However, there may be better choices for teams that want a more comprehensive solution that spans multiple fundraisers and year-long campaigns.
JustGiving charges platform fees and a standard payment processing fee based on your geographical location and payment platform. Crowdfunding pages are free to set up. While UK charities do not need to pay a platform fee, they do have a subscription model.
Gravyty leverages predictive AI technology to provide frontline fundraisers with personalized insights into donor behavior. This innovative approach helps organizations enhance their outreach efforts by automating email drafts tailored to individual donors while integrating seamlessly with existing CRM systems. Gravyty's focus on personalization empowers fundraisers to build stronger relationships with donors.
While some information is available online, interested organizations will need to contact Gravyty for a custom quote.
Bonterra’s peer-to-peer fundraising product (formerly DonorDrive) offers smart and customizable P2P fundraising solutions that empower supporters to create personalized experiences at scale. Its features include an intuitive event builder, personalized coaching for fundraisers, gamification elements like leaderboards, social media integrations, and seamless CRM integration, which enhances supporter engagement significantly
Bonterra offers three tiers—Essentials, Pro, and Enterprise—with pricing based on customer needs.
With so many unique platforms out there, choosing the right one can be a little overwhelming. However, there are several key factors to consider when selecting the right peer-to-peer fundraising software for your team:
Each platform will offer peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities, but you should dig a little deeper to find the right fit for your needs. For example, if you are a small team looking to organize a quick fundraiser, you may end up paying for features you don’t need. On the other hand, if you are looking for a long-term solution, a platform without built-in analytics would be a dealbreaker. Look for features that boost, rather than hamper, your fundraising efforts, and aim for a high return on investment.
Many teams want a tool that scales up alongside them as they engage more donors and alumni, but there is often a point where their needs outgrow the platform. To avoid this, consider both your short-term and long-term goals to determine if the platform’s upgraded pricing tiers will meet your team’s requirements later on. This way, you can simply upgrade to a plan with more advanced features or storage rather than migrating to a completely new platform.
Your staff, fundraisers, and donors should all have positive, smooth experiences when engaging with your fundraising pages. For example, if you want to sell custom merch, both the designing process and purchasing process should be easy and intuitive for supporters. From payment processing to reporting workflows to page load times, there are many aspects you should ask about or test out during a free trial or demo to see if a platform is the right one for you.
Some solutions come with a relatively low learning curve but offer limited functionality. Some, on the other hand, can be the driving force behind all your fundraising strategies but may require in-depth technical and/or coding experience. Try to find a balance between the training time required and potential functionality to ensure high adoption.
Pricing is a key consideration for any tool, but it’s also important to consider the nuances that may arise down the line. Always consider the rates associated with upfront costs, renewals, transaction fees, upgraded plans, and other relevant expenses. Additionally, switching to a new platform inevitably leads to more expenses through database transfers and staff upskilling. Consult with your database managers and other staff members before making a decision.
In the event that something goes wrong, you need to be able to reach the platform provider to resolve the issue. Keep factors like response times on live chat or email support channels in mind. For the long term, you also want to support platforms that onboard customer feedback and have detailed roadmaps for upcoming features.
Both your staff and donors need to be assured that sensitive data like payment information will be kept safe and secure. Always look out for a platform’s data encryption measures, as well as its compliance and authentication processes, to see if it inspires confidence from your donors.
Third-party review sites like G2 and Capterra offer insight into what customers think about specific tools. Keep in mind that these reviews are subjective, but they can be a great indication of how a platform is perceived overall, highlighting positive and negative software trends.
There is no single “best” fundraising website, but you can find the one that is best for your organization. Choose a platform that aligns with your goals, budget, audience, and campaign type.
Yes, a reputable fundraising platform should be able to integrate with your CRM to ensure donor data flows automatically into your central database. This eliminates data silos and the need for manual data transfers.
GoFundMe is a popular tool for personal crowdfunding, but it may lack the tools you need to run a full-fledged campaign. The platforms referenced in this guide offer the specialized tools mission-driven organizations need for branding, tracking donor data, and communications.
Crowdfunding is a centralized process led by your organization using a single donation page. On the other hand, peer-to-peer campaigns decentralize fundraising, empowering many supporters to help you raise money. Peer-to-peer campaigns empower supporters to help you raise money, meaning there are many people fundraising for your cause. Make sure your platform has the tools to support a peer-to-peer campaign.
Look for platforms that include gamification features, such as fundraising thermometers, badges, and leaderboards. These tools spark friendly competition among fundraisers and help them visualize their progress to maintain momentum and engagement.
We hope we’ve given you the tools you need to choose or at least consider some of the best peer-to-peer fundraising solutions out there, as well as the questions you need to ask yourself before adopting one. Whether you’re a higher ed institution optimizing your peer-to-peer fundraisers or a K-12 school just looking to get started, we hope you pick out the right solution and can make a great positive change.
If you’ve had successful peer-to-peer fundraisers before, learn how you can build a peer-to-peer fundraising community to help you keep providing meaningful experiences
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11 great peer-to-peer fundraising platforms for Institutions and Nonprofits 2026
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