Marcie Maxwell:
Hello, hello. Welcome back to season seven of the P2P Soapbox. It is so great to be back. I’m your host and P2P BFF, Marcie Maxwell. For many of us in peer-to-peer fundraising, it can be hard to look much further than the next event on the calendar. There’s always a campaign to launch, a team to rally, or a goal we’re working hard to hit. It seems like it is always the busy season. But what if we took a beat and gave ourselves permission to look a little bit further ahead? Not just to next year, but three, four, or even five years down the road. Today I’m joined by Laura Goodwin, Vice President of Campaigns for March of Dimes.

March of Dimes is leading the fight for the health of all moms and babies, with the goals to end preventable maternal health risks and deaths, end preventable preterm birth and infant death, and close the health equity gap. And its signature P2P program, March for Babies, has long been a mainstay of our U.S. Peer-to-Peer Top 30, coming in at number 18 in 2025. Laura and her team aren’t just planning for the 2027 March for Babies season. They’re already looking ahead to where they want the program to be in 2030. And just as importantly, bringing teams from across the organization into that vision. In our conversation today, Laura shares what it takes to plan beyond a single season, get internal teams working toward a shared strategy, and keep everyone focused on the bigger picture, even when the numbers don’t move in a straight line.

We also dig into where P2P fits within the broader donor journey and why we both push back on the idea that peer-to-peer fundraising is somehow more transactional than other forms of fundraising. So let’s jump right into my conversation with March of Dimes’ Laura Goodwin.

Laura, welcome to the P2P Soapbox.

Laura Goodwin:
Thank you, Marcie. I’m so happy to be here.

Marcie Maxwell:
So I always like to start with hearing people’s stories. Can you tell us a little bit about your personal journey, your professional journey that led you to your role at March of Dimes?

Laura Goodwin:
Absolutely. I come from a sales and very brief recruiting background and was really just seeking an opportunity to do more with the skills I felt were my strongest: communications, relationship building, and not being afraid to close a deal. And so, moving out of that space and seeking more purpose, I was referred to March of Dimes, actually, by a family member who’s no longer with the organization. But now I’m still focused on the bottom line, but it’s babies’ business and the bottom line. So it’s a nice fit.

Marcie Maxwell:
I love that. I love that. And your current role as the VP of community events, is that right? The campaigns.

Laura Goodwin:
Vice President of Campaign Events for our organization nationally.

Marcie Maxwell:
So what does that look like at March of Dimes?

Laura Goodwin:
So I oversee the campaign strategy, resource development, aligning metrics, and staff coaching for both our peer-to-peer portfolio, which is currently made up of March for Babies, but expanding soon, so more to come on that at a later date, and also what we term special events. I know a lot of organizations call all of their events special events, but we reserve that nomenclature for the galas, testimonials, and other, which includes golf and all the things.

Marcie Maxwell:
All the things, exactly. Other duties as assigned. So we are recording this in September, and a lot of peer-to-peer teams right now are kind of deep in the fall event season. They are right in the middle. They might even be listening on their way to an event. But you are already looking ahead to next year and even beyond. So how far out are you planning for March for Babies specifically? And what does that process look like for you?

Laura Goodwin:
So we begin what I like to call data camp in the late May, early June time frame. The bulk of our March for Babies events take place in late April and early May. There are some outliers, of course, but by the end of May, early June, we have a fairly good picture of where the campaign will land and how we’re tracking to more late campaign metrics. And so we do a deep dive on our current year campaign data to understand where we overperformed and where we underperformed. Would love to be perfect across the board all the time, but I don’t think that’s a reality many of us live in.

Marcie Maxwell:
Wouldn’t we all.

Laura Goodwin:
And so, taking that insight, we moved forward and this year in July hosted our first ever, to my knowledge, fully integrated planning meeting with our business partners across the organization.

We’ve always sought input from those business partners, but typically it was kind of after the fact that we landed on where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. And I just felt like that wasn’t serving us or them very well in terms of maximizing alignment and productivity. And so from there, we cooked that larger integrated planning meeting down into more tactical meetings in August to talk through, really, okay, what would it take to implement these strategies? And then beyond that, just this month we hosted our 2027 March for Babies internal campaign launch.

Marcie Maxwell:
I love hearing all this. And I want to unpack the piece about the integrated meeting a little bit more, because I love that you’re not doing the planning in a vacuum. So when you talk about integration, who exactly are you bringing to the table from across the organization, and what did that look like to build the plan together?

Laura Goodwin:
It was a robust group. We started with the partners that we rely on most frequently. So that would be representation from our market impact teams, which actually execute the events. They do the fundraising for the events, so they’re stakeholder number one. And then our marketing and communications team. We work heavily in partnership with that team. And then in addition to that, we pulled in our corporate engagement leadership and team, our individual and major giving leadership, and also our mission team, to really ensure that we were delivering a plan that is full circle and mindful of our shared goals as an organization.

Marcie Maxwell:
How do you set that tone for the conversation so it’s not “they’re just here to listen”? Because I think that is so great, and something I often would encourage people to talk about and think about. Again, using major gifts, for example, where does that connect between major gifts and walk? How do you get those people in the room and get them really thinking about what walk can do for them, what they can do for walk, and not just listening like, “Well, this only impacts me so much”? How do you set that tone?

Laura Goodwin:
It started with a very detailed agenda about what we wanted to accomplish with each section of the meeting and who the stakeholders were that we were asking to provide input during that section. So it was very clear. It was open conversation. We did set a conversational tone for the meeting. We did an initial briefing on performance and metrics and things like that, but then tried to make that as compact as possible so that we could really utilize the time that we had together to talk about and develop those ideas and strategies for how we could improve. And so I did pose questions to those specific business partners.

You mentioned major and individual giving. We had them lean in on participant journey, and then also a great conversation around the donor journey. So moving beyond that participant that we communicate with very regularly to those donors that are giving because their friend or family member or colleague has asked them to do so. So I think just framing the conversation in a way where you are connecting the dots on why this subject matter has a two-way influence, not only on the campaign but also on that business line’s work.

Marcie Maxwell:
Yeah.

Laura Goodwin:
I think that helps to really establish that we’re in this together. And then it’s also having questions for them about their goals and what they are trying to achieve, and how this campaign can help to support that mission.

I’ll use as an example the advocacy arm of our mission. They’re trying to drive more grassroots advocates. So what can we do throughout the campaign, and then on site during the event experience, to help improve that capture of information and get people to sign up and get more engaged?

Marcie Maxwell:
Absolutely. I mean, we know our events, at the end of the day, we want them to raise money, but they can be a tool to help us accomplish so many other things as an organization. And I think so often it can feel like people going to another department with a handout of “how can you help us,” and not “yes, how can you help us, but also how can we help you?” And so I think that’s a really important conversation and tone to set, to make people more open to wanting to participate and then commit limited time and energy, valuable time and energy, to something that, if it doesn’t drive their bottom line, their babies and bottom lines, what does it actually do?

So you talked about your internal launch. I love that you’ve got the plan in place. You’ve figured out how you want to evolve. How are you taking that to the field, to, you said, the market impact team? What does that look like? And then how do you make sure people are actually ready to put that plan into action?

Laura Goodwin:
We open the launch very intentionally with celebrations of events or markets that exceeded goal, and also where we overachieved against our KPIs. And with that, it opens up an opportunity to have real discussion about where we missed the mark on specific metrics or benchmarks. And that dovetails into how and why we arrived at the guiding principles or standards of excellence that we are presenting for the subsequent campaign year. It’s that we know we want to do this, we maybe want to do more of this, and we know we want to stop doing that, or maybe do that a different way. And the work that we’re doing leading up to the launch is what produces that content, what new resources are available. That’s typically where we go next, in terms of: here’s what we’re bringing to you to help achieve this. And then it’s all the new and fun things, if it’s app updates or new loyalty and recognition or incentive items, the stuff that gets people excited.

We try to close with that because that’s typically just a fun, kind of celebrate-and-delight moment. And then beyond that, as a part of that launch, we walk through our new campaign timeline, which has very clear, sort of, “this is what you should be focused on internally, externally, and then here’s what we’re doing from a national perspective to support.” I think that helps break it down in a manageable way because, like many organizations, we are very in the thick of our fall events right now, and that’s a robust campaign. So I think ensuring that we’re realistic with expectations, but also just stressing the point that if you prioritize these A, B, and C items, you will set yourself up for success. And one thing I always like to say is you’re always gonna feel better once you’ve done it. We’re not asking you to spend or focus all day, even one day a week, on the spring campaigns. However, if you do just a little bit and make just a little progress on them, it’s such a stress reliever, that you can feel like you’re not falling behind in that area while you’re trying to drive what’s right in front of you.

Marcie Maxwell:
Yeah. Well, I love what you mentioned. One thing that stuck out to me was, obviously, the resources, but also just, frankly, having an internal and an external strategy. That is something I always grew up doing: here’s what’s outward facing to participants and donors, but here is our timeline for training, rollout of resources, support to the actual staff. And I think that often gets overlooked, where we are selfless in a bad way sometimes, where we just focus all our energy on what the participants need and not enough energy on what we as the staff need to make this more successful. Is it a new way to organize? Is it a new dashboard? Is it new training? What is it? And I just love that you call that out, because I think that’s a really important piece that every strategic plan should have: okay, yes, what’s outward facing, but what are the internal steps that have to take place in order to make that more successful? So kudos to you that that is on your list, because I think that’s unfortunately overlooked a lot.

Laura Goodwin:
Well, thank you. I do think it helps the staff sort of segment in terms of their mental capacity, like, “Okay, here’s how I can actually achieve this,” versus just what to do.

Marcie Maxwell:
Yeah. Exactly. Agreed. So you talked about how this is a launch for 2027, but you also shared with me that you were thinking far beyond that, and even starting to think about March for Babies in 2030, which kind of blows my mind to think we’re thinking that way. But it is right around the corner. So how are you thinking about that longer runway to a larger goal by that milestone year?

Laura Goodwin:
I think the best way to look at it is as our North Star, what we’re driving toward. One thing we’re all very aware of as development staff is that change is a constant. There will be changing internal factors, changing external factors, no matter what organization you’re a part of. That’s just the reality of it. And so by being able to look beyond the current or the upcoming campaign year, it gives you that North Star that enables you to make decisions more easily on what you’re doing in real time and what you’re doing in the near term. I think it also gives you an opportunity to reevaluate each year against a constant, versus what may look like incrementally changing goals or a different footprint or what have you.

Marcie Maxwell:
Yeah.

Laura Goodwin:
I mean, there are all those factors that are going to shift each year. So how do you give yourself something that you can at least do a litmus test against and say, are we still aligned? Is doing this still aligned with this broader goal that we have? And if so, yes. If not, then we probably need to look at it again.

Marcie Maxwell:
Yeah. Well, and I think that used to be more common, honestly, pre-COVID. I think COVID squashed that for a lot of people, because the numbers were so inconsistent and felt so inconsistent and out of our control. Some years we’re up this much, or you’re up 15%, so you expect to do that again, and then suddenly you’re up, but you’re only up two percent, and that feels like a letdown. And so I think getting back to a discipline of longer-term goals, because let’s say you’re trying to grow your program to 50 million dollars by 2030. Well, then you give yourself a little more grace if you fall a little short this year, but then next year you go above. You don’t have to follow a perfect line, but you’ve still got your eyes set on that goal. So especially with 2030 coming around the corner, I think it gives a lot of us that opportunity to resettle in and be like, okay, where are we gonna be in 2030 when it comes? What’s the March for Babies 2030 kickoff gonna look like?

So we say, even with a great plan, the numbers don’t always move in a straight line, as I was just saying. And that’s something you and I have talked about, looking backward at March of Dimes’ numbers. There have been amazing years; there have been years where you’ve struggled. So it’s hard sometimes when you hit those headwinds, into kind of what’s next. So how are you keeping your team and the overall organization focused on that longer-term vision, even when you do maybe have some ups and downs?

Laura Goodwin:
I think it’s really about understanding what role your campaign plays in the overall organizational strategy. I think when we reduce ourselves to a singular goal or an annual goal, then it really undermines the overall value of what we’re bringing to the table. And so that could look like acquisition efforts, which are a huge focus for all of our organizations. We all want to bring more donors into the funnel. So how effective is the campaign at doing that? Is it still, in relation to the rest of the organization, an effective channel in which we’re achieving that? From a revenue perspective, are we growing in revenue overall? Are we growing in net revenue? Are we growing? And our per-event fundraising average is another way to look at it, because, like many organizations, the geographies that we’re serving with on-site events change and shift. And so that can be another great indicator to see, are we making progress?

I think it’s about identifying the progress, and just a real commitment and shared commitment that you are communicating, that the goal is constant improvement. The goal should never be perfection, because it’s unattainable, and it can really be deflating if everything’s not perfect and that’s your only target. But I think if the goal is constant improvement, that’s a feeling and a thought process that people can get behind: okay, we can do better.

We know we’re doing these things well. We can likely even improve them more because we have momentum. And then here are the areas that we need to work on. So how do we move the needle, and how do we lean in there? Or how do we just say that’s not a part of our priorities anymore and we need to stop that, because it might be taking away from these areas that have momentum?

Marcie Maxwell:
Now, how are you seeing people move from events into other parts of March of Dimes? What have you learned about how people engage?

Laura Goodwin:
Well, I do recommend to everyone out there listening that you take a minute with your data, because as we continue to focus on individual and major giving, I think it’s important to look at how many of those individuals came in through your peer-to-peer events or campaigns. I think it’s also important to look at your overall donor count with the organization and what percentage of them are coming in through your peer-to-peer campaigns, and really being able to translate that overarching value of the portfolio to the broader organization’s goals.

Marcie Maxwell:
Absolutely. And I know we talk a lot about peer-to-peer being transactional, which I think you and I are both in agreement that it’s not more transactional than other kinds of fundraising. So what do you think people out there get wrong about peer-to-peer when they think of it that way?

Laura Goodwin:
Well, I don’t know if it’s specifically because of the event component, and because that is a moment in time that we’re driving towards during the campaign. I think that causes sort of a misunderstanding in that space. But I look at it like this. A lot of organizations refer to their peer-to-peer campaigns as the front door or the front porch to their organization. And really, at that point, you’re the one answering the door, and you just need to decide what kind of host you’re gonna be. Are you gonna stand out there and just talk to them on the front porch and then wave goodbye? Or are you going to invite them in and engage with them more fully to help develop a relationship where you can improve their lifetime value? You can grow their participation across broader campaigns, or just within the organization in general. I think there’s so much opportunity. It’s just how we leverage it that determines whether it’s transactional or not.

Marcie Maxwell:
Well, you’re giving me the best visual, when we talk about this being the front porch to the organization, of how often people are getting left on the front porch.

Laura Goodwin:
Yeah.

Marcie Maxwell:
Where you’re like, “Hey, thanks for coming, check out the porch swing,” and not welcoming them into—

Laura Goodwin:
Yeah.

Marcie Maxwell:
—the greater good, the greater home of your organization. So you’re giving me a really great visual, unfortunately, of what happens when we are maybe a little bit overly short-sighted.

Laura Goodwin:
Yeah. I mean, think of all the salespeople that come and knock on your door. Those are kind of like the people that friends and family members have brought with them to the event. You don’t even know their name. You didn’t know they were necessarily coming. You might not even get to speak to them. So if we don’t create an event experience on site that is engaging and connects people fully with our mission, one, we’ve dropped the ball there, because why would they want to know more if they walk away still not understanding what we do? And two, beyond that, we have the chance to really deepen our relationship with individuals if we follow up after the event, if we engage, if we ask our participants, “Share who attended with you. Can you pass this information along to them?” There are a number of ways to achieve that, but it’s really our responsibility to put a plan in place that allows us to do so.

Marcie Maxwell:
Absolutely. So I imagine there may be some people listening who are thinking, “I love this, but I’m really struggling to get this kind of alignment with my leadership team, or with my marketing team, or the development team.” What advice would you give them? Where should they start in terms of bringing other people into this strategy and understanding of peer-to-peer?

Laura Goodwin:
I think it goes back to really the fundamentals of what we do as development professionals, which is, when you’re talking to a donor or a potential sponsor, you’re starting with what matters to them. And I think that’s the easiest way to get buy-in, because if you start the conversation with only what you want or what you need to achieve your goals specific to your campaign, then it’s always gonna fall on deaf ears. But if you open the conversation with questions around, “Is there a way that I can help you achieve your goals? Tell me more about that,” let’s make sure we have a shared understanding, and that enables us to leverage the campaign in a way that, yes, meets campaign-specific goals, but also meets other departments’ goals and broader organizational goals. I really think that’s the key to getting shared buy-in: you have to be working off of shared targets.

Otherwise, it just becomes a to-do list item for your business partners. And we all know how that feels, because we all have to-do lists that just continue to grow every day.

Marcie Maxwell:
Exactly.

Laura Goodwin:
So…

Marcie Maxwell:
Exactly. No, I think it seems like a scarier conversation than it actually is. And I think what you said is, it’s how we talk to our donors and our participants. How do we use those exact same skills to turn it around and talk to our partners? Just like you would say to a team captain, “I know you want to raise $10,000. How can I help you get there?” That’s an easy conversation that we should be having, and hopefully you’re having all the time. But being able to turn that exact same skill around and have that conversation with the corporate partnerships team, or the mission team, or the major gifts team, and say, “I know you’re trying to grow this area. Is there a way that walk could help with that? Is there a way that our event could help with that?” I always say, once you get that first conversation out of the way, it’s so much easier to then pick up on all those other conversations and talk to people and bring them into the fold.

Laura, if there are people that are listening and thinking, “I want to get more involved with March of Dimes or with March for Babies,” how can people get involved? Where can we send them?

Laura Goodwin:
marchofdimes.org is certainly the most robust place to go for information on the organization, and marchforbabies.org for more information specific to our peer-to-peer efforts. We’re also on Instagram, Facebook, and X. And we even, since this is a podcast, have our own MODCAST, and that’s available wherever you get your podcasts.

Marcie Maxwell:
I love it. That’s great. Well, Laura, thank you so much for kicking us off on the right foot for this season, and I’ll be excited to see where March of Dimes is in 2030.

Laura Goodwin:
Yes, me too. I’ll see you in Chicago.

Marcie Maxwell:
See you in Chicago.