PEER REVIEW BLOG
What the Best
(and Worst) Events Can Teach Us
- Marcie Maxwell
What’s the best event you’ve ever attended and why?
Maybe it was your best friend’s wedding, The Eras Tour, or your first marathon. Chances are, you don’t just remember what happened. You remember how it felt.
When you work in peer-to-peer fundraising, every event you attend becomes a learning opportunity.
The best events leave people feeling welcomed, inspired, connected, or energized. They create emotional experiences that make people want to come back and bring others with them.
Now think about the worst event you’ve attended. (No need to name names.)
Maybe the communication was confusing. Maybe the lines were too long. Maybe the energy felt flat or leadership seemed disconnected. Those moments stand out too because they reveal friction points that can damage trust and engagement.
The truth is, some of the most valuable lessons in event fundraising don’t come from playbooks or conference sessions. They come from paying attention to what worked, what didn’t, and how those experiences made people feel.
The Best Events Make People Feel Something
When people talk about unforgettable events, they rarely start with logistics.
They remember:
- Feeling welcomed the moment they arrived
- Meeting people who understood their “why”
- Feeling emotionally connected to the mission
- Being energized instead of overwhelmed
- Leaving inspired and wanting to return
That emotional connection matters because peer-to-peer fundraising is fundamentally about people and community. Participants are not just showing up to complete a transaction. They’re showing up to belong to something bigger than themselves.
The strongest fundraising events create moments where participants feel seen, connected, celebrated, empowered, and part of a community. And those feelings drive retention far more than any giveaway or swag item ever will.
The Worst Events Teach Us, Too
On the flip side, bad events tend to fail in surprisingly predictable ways.
Maybe the schedule ran behind all day.
Maybe no one knew where to go.
Maybe the event felt transactional instead of mission driven.
Maybe volunteers were confused.
Maybe participants spent more time waiting in lines than engaging with the experience.
Or maybe the event simply forgot about the attendee journey altogether.
People notice when:
- Communication is unclear
- Energy falls flat
- Volunteers are unprepared
- Leadership feels disconnected
- Accessibility isn’t considered
- The mission gets overshadowed by logistics
In P2P fundraising, those issues matter deeply because supporters are emotionally invested. When someone spends weeks fundraising on your behalf, they arrive already extending trust to your organization.
The event experience either strengthens that trust or weakens it.
Become Students of Experience
One of the most valuable habits event leaders can develop is becoming students of experience.
When you work in peer-to-peer fundraising, every conference, gala, walk, ride, festival, or community gathering you attend offers lessons you can bring back to your own events. The best event ideas often come from simply paying closer attention to how experiences make people feel.
The small details often shape the biggest impressions.
A friendly volunteer at registration can completely shift someone’s mood. A confusing parking situation can create frustration before the event even begins. A powerful mission moment can reignite fundraising motivation instantly.
As event leaders, we should constantly pay attention to:
- What made check-in feel smooth
- Which speakers held the audience's attention
- How volunteers were deployed
- What created emotional momentum
- What encouraged people to engage with one another
- What felt inclusive and accessible
- What made people leave early
Experience design matters because fundraising outcomes are deeply tied to participant emotion.
Turn This Into a Team Exercise
This can also be a powerful exercise to do with your team.
Ask everyone to share the best and worst events they’ve attended and what made those experiences memorable. You’ll often uncover valuable insights about hospitality, communication, engagement, and community building that can directly shape your own events.
As you reflect together, ask questions like:
- What made people feel welcomed?
- What created emotional connection?
- Where did energy or engagement drop?
- What made attendees feel valued?
- What moments created a sense of community?
- What frustrations stood out immediately?
The “worst event” lessons are often just as valuable as the best ones because they help you identify friction before your participants experience it themselves.
Sometimes the greatest gift is recognizing what not to do.
Your Participants Are Comparing Experiences
Today’s supporters experience hundreds of events, brands and communities every year. Consciously or unconsciously, they compare those experiences to yours.
That doesn’t mean nonprofit events need massive budgets or celebrity-level production. But people increasingly expect clarity, hospitality, authenticity, accessibility, emotional connection, and purposeful experiences.
Some of the smartest event innovations also come from outside the nonprofit sector entirely. A music festival may teach you about crowd flow. A fitness event may inspire better participant engagement. A retail experience may spark ideas around personalization and hospitality.
The goal isn’t to copy someone else’s event. It’s to ask:
- Why did this work?
- What problem did this solve?
- How did this make people feel?
- How could we adapt this for our community?
The organizations that thrive are the ones willing to listen, adapt and continuously improve.
People Return for the Experience
At the end of the day, people may come for the cause but they return for the experience.
When supporters feel connected and cared for, they become stronger advocates, fundraisers and long-term community members.
The next time you attend an incredible event, take notes.
And the next time you attend a terrible one, take even more notes.
Both are teaching you how to build better peer-to-peer fundraising experiences.