Expanding Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Portfolio with City of Hope’s Robyn Mendez

Expanding your peer-to-peer (P2P) portfolio is vital for long-term growth and sustainability. By diversifying P2P revenue streams, you can not only raise more funds but also attract new supporters, foster a more inclusive community, and reduce financial risk.

The challenge often lies in determining the right timing and approach for expansion. Is your organization seeking to engage a specific audience? Are you planning to scale an existing program into new communities or introduce an entirely new initiative? Ultimately, successful expansion hinges on prioritizing the next right activity that aligns with your organization’s mission and goals.

In this episode, P2PPF’s Marcie Maxwell sits down with Robyn Mendez, industry veteran and City of Hope’s Associate Vice President of Legacy and National Events. Robyn will share her team’s decision-making framework for expanding their signature Walk for Hope from a single-market event to a national footprint. We’ll dig into the importance of setting clear expectations, plus the budget and staffing implications of such a significant change.

Additionally, this episode covers:

• The role of staff and volunteers when entering a new market
• Lessons learned from Year 1 of a strategic program expansion
• Alternate considerations for P2P portfolio growth

Mentioned Links

City of Hope

Walk for Hope

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• (00:00) - Welcome to The P2P Soap Box
• (01:45) - Introducing Robyn Mendez
• (05:32) - City of Hope Walk for Hope
• (13:34) - Expanding to New Markets
• (28:13) - How do you know when it's time to expand?

What is The P2P Soapbox?

As peer-to-peer fundraising professionals, we are inherently passionate people. Passionate about our missions, our fundraisers, our events, and our campaigns. We barely shy away from sharing our opinions. Whether it's the debate between back-to-basics, or searching for the next big idea, the battle of retention versus recruitment, or even our very strong feelings about T-shirts and registration fees.

Welcome to The P2P box, a brand new podcast that amplifies the voices of our peer-to-peer fundraising community and gives us a platform — a box, if you will — to discuss the hot topics facing our industry.

Join your host and P2P BFF, Marcie Maxwell, the Managing Director of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, as she sits down with industry peers and leaders, delving deep into their box issues, sharing best practices, and celebrating success stories.