USCAN: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising With Impact

The US Climate Action Network (USCAN) is the largest network of organizations focused on climate change in the country. With the devastation of climate change on the rise, USCAN’s priority was to create a successful and sustainable approach to effectively combine action and revenue generation in a peer-to-peer fundraising model. 

To create this model, they embedded peer-to-peer fundraising in their Arm-in-Arm program, a community hub system centered around racial and social justice to end the climate crisis.

“First, we wanted people to be able to fundraise directly for their local hub,” said Jamiere Folmar, Network Systems Director for USCAN. “Second, we wanted them to be able to fundraise for a larger event so that they could see how their contribution helped shift the climate change narrative.” 

These efforts were tested by integrating peer-to-peer fundraising into local, regional, and national events and general training. The results were impressive: Not only did USCAN increase the quantity and amount of contributions per event, they could also add nearly 600 unique donors, more than double the amount of any other year in their 28-year history. 

USCAN’s mission is to build trust and alignment among members to fight climate change in a just and equitable way. USCAN’S vision is a powerful, inclusive, and trusting network of US organizations who worked together to meet the global goals in the Paris Climate Agreement and exceed the US targets outlined in that agreement.