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Client Major Fundraising Campaigns

Accordus

What:

A campaign is an “event” that typically runs over the course of 3 months to meet a fiscal goal for a non-profit organization.

 

When:

They can happen during any time of year but the majority of non-profits will run a year-end fundraising campaign to end the year by meeting some big financial goals.

 

Why:

Campaigns don’t always have to be about raising money, they could also be for raising awareness around a subject (i.e. Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September) or could be asking for prayer around a big project coming up.

 

When a client wants to run a campaign, there are initial questions we should ask or initial suggestions we offer as we are the ones providing the materials to ensure they can run all the elements of the campaign how they want. 

Start Here:

*The comms plan in this video is outdated, please use the new calendar view version.

  1. The number one thing to understand about running campaigns is that everything we create or push out around a specific campaign needs to be branded before anything else can happen.
  2. The number two thing to understand is you should really be leaning on your STL, Amber, and/or Becklin as you are working through campaigns. We do our best to train beforehand but the best campaign training happens when you are actually running it for a client.
  3. The number three thing to understand is that there are four major areas to focus on:
      1. Website Landing Pages
      2. Social Media
      3. Emails
      4. Print Projects

Where do I find what I need?

Our central location for a client’s campaigns should be TeamWork. Their comms plan, campaign checklist, and any other resources from the client regarding a fundraising campaign should live in TW.

 

How do I get started?

Conversations around major fundraising campaigns, depending on your client, typically begin around August for year-end campaigns. (see below for other times of year)

 

The Senior Team Lead should be the one to begin the conversation but you should also have a basic idea of what it is we need from a client to get the ball rolling. Please let your STL know when it is on the agenda and that you’d like to get the conversation started on a campaign. Again, the TL is the one owning EVERYTHING when it comes to campaigns. So be thorough, over-communicate with your STL, and try to always stay ahead of the game as you go through each month. 

 

For non-year-end campaigns, begin planning 2-3 months in advance. For example, if your client has a spring event OR a spring fundraising campaign in April/May, planning should begin at the first touch base call in January after the holidays.

Roles during Campaigns

This is not an exhaustive list so be sure to make your own notes if you are someone who likes to have that on hand for yourself. This is meant to be a starting point as you begin to understand more about each of our roles and how we all work together to get the client a well-thought-out, well-executed fundraising campaign. 

Senior Team Lead: 

  • starts initial conversation – share vision and options
  • Is a resource for TL figuring out strategy or details
  • Handles conflict resolution
  • Advises on communication plan dates

Team Lead:

  • Leads all campaign conversations after the STL leads the initial conversation
  • Determines and assigns deliverables
  • Sets timeline
  • Outlines content
  • Collects all necessary assets
  • Runs social media
  • Manages all elements of the fundraising campaign

As you review the roles of the other people on the team, it is important to note that they only know as much as you share with them. It is a good rule of thumb to always over-communicate, share recorded pieces of client calls, direct quotes from clients, and link to all resources in the task to save time on the team having to hunt them down. 

 

Communications Coordinators

  • Prepares and schedules emails
  • Provides feedback on content and timeline
  • Requests assets as needed
  • Coordinates the building of emails from assigning copy and graphics to editing all emails

Database Admins

  • Segments donors
  • Mailing list
  • Adding/setting up new campaigns in the client’s database such as FundraiseUp

Designers/Website

  • Supports email, social media, print, and website for graphics needs
  • Creates branding for campaigns, alongside Adrienne (must have Adrienne looped in on branding)
  • Collect all necessary assets for landing page – graphics 
  • Prepare landing pages in advance of launch (website designers only)

Writers

  • Supports email, social media, print, and website for copy needs

Print

  • Provides feedback on content and timeline
  • Request assets needed
  • Manages timelines and expectations

Checklists

  • Checklist for Major Campaigns: This is a guide specific to year-end campaigns but can be manipulated to fit campaigns for any time of year (spring or fall). This checklist is for Team Leads only. For 2024, communications coordinator may or may not create emails in one “batch” but rather will create them with our normal cadence of turnaround times for emails. This is up to the TL and Comms Coordinator to decide!
  • Fundraising Campaign Template
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