The Future of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising—Insights from Marcie Maxwell

I recently sat down with Marcie Maxwell, CEO of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, for our Connect for Success webinar series. With 15+ years of frontline fundraising experience at organizations like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Make-A-Wish America, Marcie brought sharp, actionable insights on what’s working in peer-to-peer—and what needs to change.

Here are her top recommendations:

Stability Is Strategy

Findings from the 2025 Peer-to-Peer Benchmarking Study were clear: organizations that experienced major layoffs or structural disruption saw declines in participation and fundraising. Those that grew kept leadership invested, staffing intact, and peer-to-peer as an intentional focus.

Marcie’s advice: You can’t always control disruption, but you can invest in onboarding, training, and management development so institutional knowledge survives transitions. Growth correlates with continuity and commitment—avoid chasing change for the sake of change.

Go Deeper with the Right People

One of Marcie’s most powerful concepts: “share of community.” Instead of marketing broadly to the general public, focus on the communities most directly impacted by your mission.

She shared examples from AIDS Foundation Chicago and the American Diabetes Association—both prioritizing inroads with their core communities rather than casting a wide net. Programs that go deeper with the right people and steward those participants to fundraise are seeing stronger results. It’s quality over quantity.

Break Down the Silos Between Peer-to-Peer and Major Gifts

Marcie challenged the myth that “event donors don’t convert,” calling it a self-fulfilling prophecy. She recommends thinking of peer-to-peer fundraisers as “major gatherers”—people who bring extraordinary value through their networks, year after year.

Her advice: Treat participants as new prospects with intentional follow-up. Always honor how they came to you. Build a donor lifecycle strategy for peer-to-peer—track fundraisers over time, conduct wealth screening, and link long-term value to major gifts. And remember, collaboration goes both ways: major donors may want to attend events, bring their families, or be recognized publicly. Peer-to-peer offers storytelling and community that benefits the entire development operation.

I once heard someone describe your peer-to-peer fundraisers not as major donors, but as major gatherers—and how we need to think of the value that they bring to the organization, the value they bring over and over and over again. It might not be from their own wallet, but it is from their contact list.

Marcie Maxwell
CEO, Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum

Use AI to Empower Staff — Not Replace Human Connection

Marcie’s stance on AI is clear: prioritize how it supports your staff, not how it replaces human connection.

The ideal use case? AI that synthesizes participant data and tells a fundraiser, “Here are the 10 calls to make today and three conversation starters for each.” That’s not robotic—it’s making your team look like the most personally connected staff members your supporters have ever met.

Her advice: Use AI to eliminate the busywork—the manual research, the complicated spreadsheets—so staff can focus on what only humans can do: build authentic relationships. The result is more confident staff, less burnout, and donors who feel truly seen.

It’s not going to turn them into robots. It’s just going look like they are the most savvy, personally connected staff member that you’ve ever met, and the attendee is going to feel more excited, more motivated because it’s not just going to feel personal—it’s going to be personal.

Marcie Maxwell
CEO, Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum

Don’t Fear the Ask

Marcie pushed back hard on the fear of “over-asking.” The bigger risk? Not asking at all.

When you present a new opportunity, donors will tell you what fits. Best case: “Yes, and…” Even a “No, I’m happy where I am” is valuable confirmation. Smart programs understand the natural donor lifecycle—a family may be deeply engaged for five to seven years before moving on—and balance loyal supporter engagement with a steady pipeline of new participants.

Get Granular with Metrics—Then Act

Total revenue is the outcome, but it’s driven by smaller levers: fundraiser activation rates, average gift size, team engagement. Marcie urged leaders to set strategies for each metric, not just the top line.

One often-overlooked stat: staff portfolio size. If a peer-to-peer staff member manages 500–1,000 relationships while also executing an event, that’s a workload that would never be acceptable in major gifts. Better staffing models drive better outcomes.

Think Multi-Year

Marcie’s most important recommendation: stop resetting strategy every January. The programs that thrive build relationships far beyond event day—tracking what donors are doing three, five, and ten years later. Peer-to-peer sits at the center of a Venn diagram that includes individual giving, marketing, sponsorship, volunteerism, and community building. No other channel checks all those boxes. Tell that story internally and tell it often.

As Marcie put it, peer-to-peer fundraisers are the original influencers. Our job is to invest in them, track their impact, and advocate for the long-term value they bring.

Thank you, Marcie! Be sure to check out her P2P Soapbox Podcast for more insights.