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Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: A Complete Guide for Australian Charities (2026)
July 30, 2026
⚡TL;DR — The Short Answer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising turns your supporters into fundraisers. One charity becomes dozens or hundreds of personal campaign pages, each reaching a network you would never have reached directly.
Recruit fundraisers who already know your cause: board members, regular givers, past event attendees, P&C or club committee members. Give them templates, photos and a clear ask.
Check in mid-campaign so momentum does not stall. Personal nudges outperform any leaderboard feature.
Platforms that layer platform fees (Raisely 4%, GoFundraise up to 6% + GST) on top of Stripe AU processing (1.7% + A$0.30) eat into hundreds of small gifts fast.
Giving Tuesday drives US campaigns; in Australia the peak is EOFY on 30 June, when donors maximise tax-deductible gifts to DGR-endorsed charities before the financial year closes.
Peer-to-peer fundraising (also called P2P or community fundraising) is when individuals raise money on behalf of a not-for-profit. Instead of your organisation soliciting donations directly, your supporters become fundraisers. They create personal campaign pages, set their own goals, and ask their friends, family and colleagues to give.
The mechanic is simple, and the simplicity is the point: one not-for-profit turns into dozens or hundreds of fundraisers. Each fundraiser reaches a network you would not have reached on your own. The flow looks like this:
1. Your charity or not-for-profit creates a main campaign with a goal, story and timeline.
2. Supporters sign up as individual or team fundraisers and create personal pages.
3. Those supporters share their pages with their own networks.
4. Donations flow back to your organisation, attributed to the fundraiser who brought them in.
How does peer-to-peer fundraising work?
Peer-to-peer fundraising works by letting supporters raise money on behalf of your organisation through their own personal campaign pages, then sharing those pages with their networks. Every donation flows to the not-for-profit, and the supporter gets credit for bringing it in. The platform handles page hosting, payment processing, receipting and reporting so your team can focus on coaching fundraisers, not chasing logistics.
Underneath that, there are two perspectives worth understanding, because the mechanics on each side determine whether a campaign actually works.
What the organisation does
Sets up the main campaign: goal, story, timeline, branded look. This is the umbrella every fundraiser page lives under.
Recruits fundraisers: usually starting with board members, regular givers, past event participants and volunteers who already believe in the cause.
Provides materials: social graphics, sample email and text language, talking points, photos, FAQs. The lower the lift for the fundraiser, the higher the activation rate.
Tracks progress: who has signed up, who has activated their page, who has raised what, and who needs a nudge.
Coaches and thanks: mid-campaign check-ins, milestone celebrations and post-campaign thank-yous keep fundraisers engaged and willing to come back next year.
What individual fundraisers do
Create a personal page: add a photo or video, write a short personal story about why this cause matters to them, set a goal.
Share with their network: social posts, group texts, email to family and colleagues, in-person asks at work or events.
Donate to themselves first: a self-donation signals commitment and gives later donors a baseline to beat.
Thank donors as gifts come in: a quick reply, a shout-out, a handwritten note. Thanking donors is how you turn a one-time gift into next year's regular giver.
A typical fundraiser outreach message reads something like: "Hey, you know I have been a volunteer at [Organisation] for three years. They are running a campaign this month to fund [specific program], and I am trying to raise $500. Anything you can give helps. Here is my page: [link]." Short, personal, specific. That is the format that converts.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Some platforms support both formats, and some not-for-profits run a crowdfunding campaign for a capital project while running P2P for their annual walk. Pick the model that matches the job: P2P for community and recurring engagement, crowdfunding for a defined one-time goal.
Dimension
Peer-to-peer fundraising
Crowdfunding
Who raises the money
Supporters raise on behalf of a nonprofit through personal pages
One campaign owner raises directly for a project or cause
Page structure
One main campaign with many individual or team sub-pages
One-time project funding, emergency appeals, specific goals
Donor relationship
Fundraiser-to-donor (personal network) then nonprofit-to-donor
Campaign-to-donor (often a single relationship)
Typical duration
4 to 8 weeks, often annual or recurring
30 to 60 days, often one-off
Use case fit
Building a fundraising community over time
Funding a defined project with a hard deadline
6 benefits of peer-to-peer fundraising
Expanded reach: Every fundraiser brings a network you do not already have. Ten fundraisers with 200 contacts each is a 2,000-person audience your not-for-profit could not have reached directly.
Higher donor acquisition: A friend asking is more persuasive than an organisation asking. P2P is one of the most reliable ways to bring in first-time donors who become regular givers later.
Lower acquisition cost: Your supporters do the outreach. You provide tools and coaching. The cost per dollar raised is structurally lower than direct mail or paid acquisition.
Deeper engagement: A donor who fundraises for you is more committed than a donor who only gives. P2P converts passive supporters into active ambassadors.
Storytelling at scale: Hundreds of personal stories about why your cause matters land harder than one organisation-voice appeal. Each fundraiser page is a piece of authentic, handwritten marketing.
Sustainability: Recurring annual P2P campaigns (walk, EOFY appeal, birthday program) build a fundraising rhythm. Year two is easier than year one because you already have alumni fundraisers to re-recruit.
7 peer-to-peer fundraising ideas that work
P2P is not one format. Here are seven ideas that work for small-to-mid Australian not-for-profits, with a note on why each works and one practical tip.
1. Disaster relief and emergency funds
What it is: A rapid-response P2P campaign launched in the days after a humanitarian crisis or natural disaster. Supporters create pages to raise emergency funds for affected communities.
Why it works: Urgency drives generosity. People want to help and want to feel useful. A fundraiser page gives them a way to channel that.
Tip: Have a campaign template ready before you need it. When a crisis hits, you have hours, not weeks, to launch. Australian Red Cross is one of the strongest AU examples of emergency P2P done at scale, activating supporter fundraising pages within hours of major bushfires and floods.
2. Birthday fundraisers
What it is: Supporters ask their network for donations to your not-for-profit in lieu of birthday gifts.
Why it works: Birthdays come with a built-in audience (everyone who would send birthday wishes) and a built-in occasion to ask. It is also one of the easiest entry points for a first-time fundraiser.
Tip: Make signing up a 60-second task. The longer the setup, the more drop-off. Cancer Council Australia and Beyond Blue both run strong community fundraising programs with personalised birthday-fundraiser pages as a core format.
3. Charity walk, run or ride
What it is: Participants register for an event (often a 5K, fun run or charity ride), create a fundraising page, and raise money in the lead-up.
Why it works: The event itself is the deadline that creates fundraising urgency. The shared experience builds community among fundraisers, which makes them more likely to come back next year.
Tip: Open team registration alongside individual. Teams raise meaningfully more than individuals because peer pressure inside the team drives performance. Grassrootz is the AU platform behind many of Australia's most iconic community events, including City2Surf, the Nike Melbourne Marathon and the Rottnest Channel Swim. The Vinnies CEO Sleepout, run on Funraisin, is a strong model for sleepout-style P2P at scale.
4. Social media challenges
What it is: A branded hashtag challenge tied to a fundraising page (for example, a tagged activity, a personal commitment, or a video chain).
Why it works: Challenges are designed to be shared. Each post recruits the next fundraiser, which compounds reach without your team doing the outreach.
Tip: Build the challenge around something easy to film in 30 seconds. The lower the production lift, the more participants you get.
5. EOFY appeals and giving days
What it is: A short, intense P2P campaign timed to the End of Financial Year (EOFY) on 30 June, with fundraisers activated in the weeks leading up to it.
Why it works: EOFY (30 June) is the dominant giving peak in Australia because donors maximise tax-deductible gifts to DGR-endorsed charities before the financial year closes. The Australian Tax Office confirms that donations of $2 or more to a DGR-endorsed charity are tax-deductible, and this deadline creates genuine urgency. A P2P campaign timed to EOFY recruits fundraisers 4 to 6 weeks out (mid-May) with a coordinated final-week push into 30 June.
Tip: Recruit fundraisers four to six weeks before EOFY. Activate them with a coordinated launch in the week of 15 June. Same-day signups rarely raise meaningful money.
6. Cause-specific or program-specific initiatives
What it is: A P2P campaign tied to a specific program goal: funding a research project, a building, or a program expansion.
Why it works: A concrete goal gives fundraisers a specific story to tell. "Help us fund research into X" converts better than "support our work."
Tip: When the ask is tied to a tangible outcome, every fundraiser page becomes a clear, compelling pitch. Platforms like Zeffy let you set a visible campaign thermometer so donors and fundraisers can watch the goal approach in real time. No platform fees means every dollar a fundraiser raises lands in the program budget.
7. Recurring annual events
What it is: Any P2P campaign you run year after year (gala P2P, annual walk, anniversary campaign, EOFY appeal) where alumni fundraisers re-enroll annually.
Why it works: Year-two performance dwarfs year-one because you start with a base of trained, engaged fundraisers. The compounding effect is real.
Tip: The week the campaign ends, invite the top performers back for next year. Strike while the win is fresh.
How to launch a peer-to-peer campaign in 7 steps
This is the operating playbook for your first or second P2P campaign. Each step has a checklist, a timing recommendation and a common pitfall to dodge.
Step 1: Set the campaign goal and structure
Timing: 8 to 10 weeks before launch.
Decide on your dollar goal, tied to a specific program or outcome your supporters can picture. Choose a campaign length (4 to 8 weeks is the sweet spot; shorter campaigns underperform, longer ones lose momentum). Decide whether you will allow team fundraising alongside individuals, and set key milestones (kickoff, mid-campaign push, final week).
Pitfall: Setting a round-number goal with no maths behind it. Goal = (target fundraisers) x (average raised per fundraiser). If you cannot back into that maths, your goal is a wish, not a plan. Use a fundraising calendar template to plot milestones backwards from launch day.
Step 2: Choose a peer-to-peer fundraising platform
Timing: 6 to 8 weeks before launch.
This is the single most consequential decision in the whole campaign. The fee structure compounds across every gift, the page UX determines fundraiser activation, and the reporting determines whether you can coach mid-campaign. We break down the selection criteria in detail in the how to choose a P2P platform section below.
Pitfall: Picking on feature lists alone and ignoring the effective fee load on a $25 gift. Read the fee section before you commit.
Step 3: Recruit your fundraisers
Timing: 4 to 6 weeks before launch (recruiting takes longer than you think).
Start with the people most likely to say yes:
Board members (lead by example: them first, in writing).
Regular givers (they have already proven they will give; fundraising is a small next step).
Past event participants and volunteers.
Past P2P alumni from any prior campaign.
Major donors who might host a team.
P&C or P&F committee members (NSW/QLD schools use P&C; VIC/SA Catholic schools use P&F).
Sports club and community-group committee members.
Pitfall: Posting "anyone can sign up!" on social media and waiting. Personal asks convert. A direct email or phone call to a known supporter recruits a real fundraiser; a social post recruits almost no one.
Step 4: Create participant campaign pages and set goals
Timing: 2 to 4 weeks before launch.
Each personal fundraiser page should include:
A photo or short video of the fundraiser, ideally connected to the cause.
A personal story in their own voice about why this cause matters to them. Pre-written templates are fine as a starting point, but the page that converts is the one that sounds like the fundraiser.
An attainable goal: aspirational but not so high it discourages. A first-time fundraiser averaging $300 to $500 is a reasonable expectation in most P2P campaigns.
Multiple payment options: credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BPAY, PayTo or direct debit. Friction kills small gifts.
Pitfall: Skipping the page-build coaching call. A 30-minute group office hours session lifts activation rates more than any other single intervention.
Step 5: Fundraisers share their campaigns
Timing: Launch day through week 2.
Give fundraisers everything they need to share without writing it from scratch:
Sample social posts (long and short).
Sample email and text templates.
Branded graphics sized for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
A short "why this matters" video they can repost.
Pitfall: Posting once and going quiet. The fundraisers who succeed are the ones who post three to five times across the campaign, not the ones who post once on launch day.
Step 6: Engage and motivate fundraisers
Timing: Throughout the campaign, with a major mid-campaign push.
The mid-campaign drop-off is the biggest risk in any P2P campaign. Counter it with:
Leaderboards: Friendly competition keeps top fundraisers pushing and gives lagging fundraisers a target.
Donor-board messages: Let donors leave a public message on the fundraiser's page. The page becomes a wall of encouragement, not a static form.
Milestone celebrations: Email or text whenever a fundraiser hits 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of goal. Public shout-outs on your social channels go further than internal pats on the back.
Weekly check-ins: A short note ("here is what is working this week") keeps the campaign top of mind.
Pitfall: Treating engagement as a launch-day activity. The fundraisers who need motivation most are the ones at week three with $80 raised and no idea how to push past their first ring of friends. Reach them.
Step 7: Follow up and thank everyone
Timing: Within 48 hours of campaign close.
Every fundraiser gets thanked. Every donor gets thanked. The top performers get a personal call or handwritten note. Public recognition on your channels matters, but private gratitude is what builds the alumni base for next year. Plan the thank-you sequence before launch so it actually goes out on time.
AU note on DGR receipting: If your charity is DGR-endorsed, every donation of $2 or more should be receipted with your charity name, ABN and a DGR statement so donors can claim the deduction on their annual return (per the ACNC DGR fact sheet). Most P2P platforms handle receipting automatically; confirm before launch. Donors can also verify your DGR status directly on ABN Lookup.
Pitfall: Going dark after the campaign ends. The week after close is when you set up the relationship for the next twelve months. Skip it and you start year two from zero.
5 common peer-to-peer fundraising mistakes (and how to avoid them)
1. Not providing enough support materials
Why it happens: Not-for-profits assume fundraisers will figure out what to post. Most will not. They want to help, but they do not know what to say.
The fix: Build a fundraiser toolkit before launch. Sample emails, sample texts, three or four social posts, branded graphics, a one-page FAQ, a 30-second video. Make the lift to fundraise close to zero.
2. Setting unrealistic goals
Why it happens: A round-number goal feels aspirational. But when individual fundraisers see a $100,000 goal next to their $300 contribution, they feel pointless, not inspired.
The fix: Set the campaign goal as a function of (target number of fundraisers) x (realistic average per fundraiser). Set individual goals at a level a first-time fundraiser can actually hit. You can always raise the goal mid-campaign; you cannot un-set a deflating one.
3. Launching without a recruitment plan
Why it happens: Teams build a great campaign page, hit publish and assume fundraisers will appear.
The fix: Recruit one-to-one before launch. Make a list of 30 to 50 likely fundraisers (board, regular givers, past participants). Email or call each personally. Aim for 60% to 70% of your target fundraiser count signed up before launch day.
4. Forgetting to follow up with fundraisers mid-campaign
Why it happens: Not-for-profit teams get busy. The launch is the visible moment, and the middle of the campaign feels quiet.
The fix: Schedule mid-campaign check-ins as calendar holds before launch. A short weekly update ("here are this week's top three pages, here is what is working") keeps fundraisers engaged. Personal nudges to fundraisers who have not posted recently lift activation more than any leaderboard.
5. Choosing a platform with high fees that eat into donations
Why it happens: Platform fees look small in isolation. A 5% fee on a $25 gift is $1.25. But P2P is built on hundreds of small gifts, so the fee drag compounds.
The fix: Calculate the effective fee load on a $25 gift before you sign up. In Australia, processing runs on Stripe AU rates (1.7% + A$0.30 per domestic transaction). Platform fees on top of that vary: Raisely charges 4% flat; GoFundraise charges 0% to 6% + GST; Humanitix charges 2.5% + $0.50 per ticket at the NFP rate; Eventbrite charges approximately 5.35% + A$1.19 + GST. On a $25 gift, the combined fee at a 4% platform rate plus 1.7% + A$0.30 processing works out to roughly $1.73, or nearly 7%. Across 500 small gifts, that is almost $870 your supporters intended for the cause that never gets there. See the platform selection section for the full AU comparison.
How to recruit and coach your peer-to-peer fundraisers
The platform you pick determines the upper limit on what is possible. The way you recruit and coach fundraisers determines whether you get anywhere near that limit. P2P is a people program, not a software program.
Who to recruit first
Recruit in concentric circles, starting with the people most likely to say yes:
1.Board members: They lead by example, and recruiting them first sets the tone. Make it expected, not optional.
2.Regular givers: They have already cleared the giving hurdle. Fundraising is a small next step.
3.Past event participants: Anyone who showed up for a walk, gala or volunteer day has demonstrated commitment.
4.Prior P2P alumni: If you ran a campaign before, your highest-performing fundraisers from that campaign are your highest-probability sign-ups for this one.
5.P&C or P&F committee members and sports club committees: AU parent groups (P&C in NSW/QLD; P&F in VIC/SA Catholic schools) and volunteer committees are a distinctively AU recruitment pool with built-in community networks.
6.Volunteers and major donors: Volunteers are already invested. Major donors can sometimes be talked into hosting teams, which unlocks their network.
How to make the ask
The ask is one-to-one and specific. A template:
Hi [Name], we are running our annual [campaign] in [month]. Last year [X] supporters raised [$Y]. I would love for you to be one of them this year. It takes about 15 minutes to set up your page, and we will give you everything you need to share it. Can I count on you?
Personal. Specific. A clear ask with a small lift. Group emails to 200 supporters generate almost no fundraisers; 30 individual notes generate 15.
What training and materials to provide
A 30-minute kickoff session: live (Zoom is fine), walk through page setup, share the messaging templates, answer questions.
A fundraiser toolkit: sample emails, social posts, graphics, FAQ, a one-page "how to share" guide.
An always-open channel: a dedicated email address, Slack channel or text thread where fundraisers can ask questions.
Mid-campaign tactical guidance: "Here is what is working this week" updates with concrete examples from top fundraisers.
How to keep fundraisers motivated mid-campaign
Public shout-outs on your social channels for milestone hits.
Personal text messages from staff or board to fundraisers who have stalled.
Weekly leaderboard updates with names, not just numbers.
Small recognition: a thank-you video from a program beneficiary, a behind-the-scenes update on what the funds are doing in real time.
A halfway-point team call or rally to reset energy.
Total raised is the number everyone watches, but it is the worst single metric for measuring whether your P2P program is healthy. Track these five, and you will know whether to do it again next year.
Metric
What it tells you
What good looks like
Total raised
Top-line outcome
Above last year, ideally above goal
Number of active fundraisers
Recruitment + activation performance
Hit your recruitment target and 70%+ of those fundraisers raised at least one gift
Average raised per fundraiser
Coaching effectiveness
Trending up year over year; first-year campaigns often land $200-$500
New donor acquisition rate
Strategic value of P2P (this is the real prize)
50%+ of donors are new to your organization
Fundraiser retention rate
Program sustainability
30%+ of fundraisers return next year; top performers should be 60%+
Social reach and shares
Top-of-funnel awareness
Trending up; correlates with new donor acquisition
New donor acquisition is the metric most not-for-profits underweight. The dollars from a P2P campaign matter, but the strategic value is the donors you would not have reached otherwise. Those donors only become regular givers if you have donor management built into the campaign so they land in your CRM, get receipted and enter your cultivation flow automatically.
Best practices for peer-to-peer fundraising
Before launch
Segment your contacts. Recruitment outreach should be tailored: board members get a different note than regular givers who get a different note than past event participants.
Build the toolkit before you need it. Sample emails, social posts, graphics, FAQ. Have it ready on launch day, not three weeks in.
Host a kickoff training. Live, short, recorded. The fundraisers who attend the kickoff outperform the ones who do not, every time.
Encourage fundraisers to self-donate first. A self-donation signals commitment and gives the next donor a baseline to match or beat.
During the campaign
Make giving frictionless. Pick a platform that accepts credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BPAY and direct debit. Every removed click recovers small gifts.
Lead with storytelling. The fundraisers who hit their goal are the ones who shared a personal "here is why" story, not the ones who posted "donate here."
Use leaderboards and milestones. Public recognition is a free motivation lever.
Promote matched giving. Many fundraisers and donors work at organisations with matched giving or workplace giving programs and never check. A simple reminder to ask their HR can double individual gifts.
Check in mid-campaign. Weekly fundraiser updates and personal nudges to stalled fundraisers move the numbers more than any feature.
After the campaign
Thank everyone. Personalised emails to all donors and fundraisers, handwritten notes to top performers.
Report back on impact. "Here is what your $X raised did" closes the loop and seeds next year's campaign.
Re-recruit top fundraisers immediately. The week the campaign closes, invite top performers back for next year while the win is fresh.
Debrief honestly. What worked, what did not, what would you change. Write it down. Year two starts the week year one ends.
How to choose a peer-to-peer fundraising platform
Most "best platform" guides drown you in feature checklists. Useful but not decisive. The real question is which platform makes your specific campaign maths work. Five criteria, in priority order:
1. Effective fee load on a $25 gift
This is the most underweighted criterion and the most important one. P2P is built on lots of small gifts. A 3% to 8% platform fee plus Stripe AU processing (1.7% + A$0.30) compounds across hundreds of transactions. On a $25 gift, a 4% platform fee plus 1.7% + A$0.30 AU processing equals roughly $1.73 lost, or nearly 7%. Across 500 small gifts, that is over $860 your supporters intended for the cause that never gets there.
Across the AU platforms most small-to-mid not-for-profits consider, platform fees range from 0% to about 6% + GST, on top of standard payment processing. The one outlier is Zeffy, which is the only completely free fundraising platform for not-for-profits in Australia. No platform fees. No transaction fees. Every dollar a fundraiser raises lands with the not-for-profit.
2. Fundraiser-side page UX
If your supporters cannot create and customise a page in under 10 minutes without calling support, your activation rate collapses. Test the page-builder yourself before committing. Look for: photo/video upload, story editor, goal setting, social share buttons, mobile-responsive design and team page hierarchy if you want teams.
3. Engagement and gamification surface
Leaderboards, donor-board messages, milestone notifications and progress thermometers are not nice-to-haves. They are how you counter mid-campaign drop-off. Verify these are included in the tier you are picking, not gated behind an upgrade.
4. P2P-native vs. repurposed
Some platforms ship with team structures, fundraiser dashboards and coaching workflows out of the box. Others are crowdfunding or ticketing tools repurposed for P2P. Repurposed platforms leave you stitching together features that do not quite fit. P2P-native is meaningfully better if your campaign relies on team competition or recurring fundraiser cohorts.
5. Reporting and donor capture
The strategic value of P2P is new-donor acquisition. If donor records do not unify with your other channels (direct gifts, event tickets, regular giving), those new donors evaporate after the campaign closes. Look for built-in donor management or a clean integration with the CRM you already use.
The only zero-fee P2P platform in Australia. Every dollar a fundraiser raises from their network reaches the not-for-profit, which is the only way P2P's small-gift multiplication maths actually works.
Effective fee on a $25 gift: $0. Zeffy covers platform and processing; the entire $25 lands with the not-for-profit.
How it works: Donors are given the option (never obliged) to add an optional contribution to Zeffy at checkout. Enough donors do that not-for-profits never pay anything.
P2P features included: Customisable individual and team pages, team and individual leaderboards, donor-board messages, embeddable fundraising thermometer, donor management, automated tax-deductible receipts, all standard payment methods (credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BPAY, direct debit), unlimited support.
2. Funraisin
Sydney-headquartered enterprise P2P specialist. Runs the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and reports supporting 28 of the top 30 ANZ P2P events. Pricing is contract-quoted and onboarding takes time. The right choice for a large established charity running a flagship annual event at scale; overkill for a first or second campaign.
Pricing: Not publicly disclosed; contact Funraisin directly.
Strengths: Top-tier customisation, deep event-management workflows, AU-based team with strong sector relationships.
Considerations: Enterprise pricing and complexity suit larger organisations with dedicated digital staff.
3. Grassrootz
Free for charity members on core P2P features. The AU-native platform behind City2Surf, Nike Melbourne Marathon, Rottnest Channel Swim and many other community mass-participation events. Optional donor tips fund the platform.
Pricing: Core fundraising features free; fees apply on ticket and merchandise sales. Donors can optionally tip to support the platform. See Grassrootz for current pricing.
Strengths: Owns the community mass-participation event surface; purpose-built "Charity Place" management for events with multiple charities.
Considerations: Best fit for charities participating in existing major AU community events, less suited to standalone campaigns outside those ecosystems.
4. Raisely
Melbourne-born fundraising platform (Keela-owned since 2023). Free tier with an optional donor tip, or flat 4% transaction fee. AU-based support team. Strong design language and drag-and-drop builder.
Pricing: Free tier (donor tip optional) or 4% flat transaction fee. Plus Stripe AU processing (1.7% + A$0.30). See Raisely pricing.
Strengths: Modern branded campaigns, good P2P module for small-to-mid charities, AU-based support.
Considerations: Since the 2023 Keela acquisition, some AU users note the product roadmap has slowed and certain features are being pushed behind paid tiers.
5. Race Roster
International event-registration platform with AU support. Strong integration between run/walk event registration and bolt-on P2P fundraising. Used for HBF Run for a Reason and other AU events.
Pricing: Standard registration platform fees plus Stripe AU processing integration. See Race Roster for AU-specific pricing.
Strengths: Best-in-class for run/walk/ride event registration with fundraising bolted on; AU support team.
Considerations: Built around running events; less suitable for non-sporting P2P campaigns.
6. GoFundMe AU
Personal-cause dominant; a charity product exists but AU charities generally prefer AU-native platforms. Strong consumer recognition.
Pricing: 0% to 4.9% platform fee depending on the pricing model selected, plus 2.0% + $0.30 processing. Optional donor tip on top.
Considerations: No real team/individual P2P hierarchy, no fundraiser dashboards, donor records do not unify with other channels. Not designed around ACNC-registered charity workflows. Steer charity readers to AU-native platforms that handle DGR receipting properly.
7. MyCause
100% Australian-owned crowdfunding and online fundraising platform. Caters to both registered charities and individuals. Zero platform fee.
Pricing: 0% platform fee. Credit-card transaction fees apply (approximately 2.5% + GST). See MyCause for current rates.
Strengths: AU-owned, recognised local brand, no platform fee, suits schools, clubs, charities and personal causes.
Considerations: Dual personal-cause and charity model means less depth on advanced P2P features (leaderboards, fundraiser dashboards) than purpose-built P2P tools.
8. Chuffed
Sydney-based social-justice crowdfunding platform. Zero platform fee; eligibility restricted to social, environmental, community and First Nations causes.
Pricing: 0% platform fees. Donors are prompted to optionally support Chuffed. See Chuffed for current terms.
Strengths: Genuine community of social-justice donors; strong brand in climate, activism and First Nations cause fundraising; no platform fee.
Considerations: Eligibility is restricted; not suitable for health, religious, sporting or general-service charities outside the defined social-benefit scope.
Peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P) is when individuals raise money on behalf of a not-for-profit by creating personal fundraising pages and asking their own networks to donate. Instead of the charity soliciting donations directly, supporters become fundraisers. Each fundraiser reaches people the organisation would not have reached on its own, and all donations flow back to the charity.
Crowdfunding is typically a single campaign page run by the not-for-profit itself, asking the public to contribute to a defined goal. Peer-to-peer fundraising distributes that effort across many individual fundraiser pages, each connected to the same parent campaign. P2P multiplies your reach by turning supporters into fundraisers; crowdfunding pools contributions to a single organisational ask. Some platforms support both formats, and many charities run crowdfunding for a capital project while running P2P for their annual walk or EOFY appeal.
Four to eight weeks is the sweet spot for most AU charities. Shorter campaigns underperform because fundraisers do not have enough time to build momentum and make multiple outreach attempts. Longer campaigns (beyond eight weeks) lose momentum and fundraiser attention mid-campaign. If you are timing to EOFY (30 June), recruit fundraisers in mid-May for a late-May launch with a hard close at 30 June, giving donors a clear tax-year deadline to act.
Yes. Zeffy charges no platform fee and no transaction fee for Australian not-for-profits. Every dollar a fundraiser raises lands with the organisation. Donors are given the option to add an optional contribution to Zeffy at checkout, but this is never required, and the organisation always receives 100% of what is raised. Zeffy's P2P features include individual and team pages, leaderboards, donor-board messages and automated tax-deductible receipts.
Start with the people who already know and trust your cause: board members, regular givers, past event participants, volunteers, P&C or P&F committee members, and sports club committee members. Recruit one-to-one with a personal ask (email or phone call), not a broadcast social post. A direct personal ask from a staff member or board member converts at three to five times the rate of a group email. Aim to have 60% to 70% of your target fundraiser count signed up before launch day.
Work backwards from (target number of fundraisers) x (realistic average raised per fundraiser). For a first campaign with no alumni base, a first-time AU fundraiser typically raises $200 to $500. If you recruit 20 fundraisers, a goal of $4,000 to $10,000 is grounded. You can always raise the goal mid-campaign if you exceed it; setting an unreachable goal discourages both fundraisers and donors.
If your organisation is DGR-endorsed, donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible and must be receipted with your charity name, ABN and a DGR statement (per ACNC guidance). Most P2P platforms issue receipts automatically; confirm this before launch. Donors can verify your DGR status on ABN Lookup. If your organisation is not DGR-endorsed, donations are not tax-deductible and receipts should not include a deductibility statement.
At minimum: Visa and Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and direct debit. BPAY and PayTo are increasingly expected by AU donors for higher-value gifts. Reducing payment friction is critical for P2P campaigns built on many small gifts; every extra click or unsupported payment method loses a donation.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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