Peer-to-Peer Fund-Raising Tactic: Reach Out to Celebrities

Cancer for College, a Vista, Calif., nonprofit that gives university scholarships to cancer survivors, took advantage of its ties to comedian Will Ferrell in a 30-day online peer-to-peer campaign held over the holidays last year. Mr. Ferrell, who has been involved with the charity since it was created in 1993, is a fraternity brother of its founder, Craig Pollard, who has survived two bouts of the disease.

The charity decided to use Crowdrise, a social fund-raising Web site co-founded by the actor Edward Norton, where it posted information about a drawing. Anyone who gave $27 through the site was eligible to win a cowbell autographed by Mr. Ferrell. The charity chose that number because Crowdrise said unusual donation amounts do better than pitches for round dollar sums.

The monthlong campaign raised $23,000, with most donors getting their information from Mr. Ferrell’s Facebook page or a banner ad on a video posted on the Web site Funny or Die, featuring Mr. Ferrell and the actor John C. Reilly impersonating the entertainers David Bowie and Bing Crosby. The video was viewed by more than 1.6 million people.