Campaign Design and Execution

Campaigns That Actually Raise Money

🔄 Quick Recall: In the previous lesson, you built donor stewardship systems — thank-you sequences, personalized communication tracks, and re-engagement workflows. Stewardship keeps donors. Now you’ll learn to build the campaigns that bring in new revenue — peer-to-peer, recurring giving, matching gifts, and year-end appeals.

The difference between a campaign that raises $5,000 and one that raises $50,000 usually isn’t the cause or the donors — it’s the strategy, timing, and execution. AI gives you the analytical power and content generation capacity to run campaigns like an organization with a 10-person development team, even if you’re a team of one.

Peer-to-Peer Campaigns

Peer-to-peer fundraising leverages a powerful stat: 40% of Americans give because a friend or family member asked. Your supporters become your fundraisers.

Help me design a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.

Campaign details:
- Organization: [name and mission]
- Campaign goal: $[X]
- Target number of fundraisers: [X]
- Campaign duration: [X weeks]
- Is there a matching gift available? [yes/no, details]

Design the full campaign:

PHASE 1 — RECRUIT FUNDRAISERS (2 weeks before launch):
- Who are our best potential fundraisers? (board members,
  volunteers, past participants, super-supporters)
- Recruitment message that makes them WANT to fundraise
- What's the personal fundraising goal per person?

PHASE 2 — ACTIVATE (launch week):
- Fundraiser toolkit: pre-written social posts, email
  templates, text message scripts
- Personal page setup guide
- Launch event or kickoff moment

PHASE 3 — COACH (during campaign):
- Day 3 check-in: "Have you sent your first 10 messages?"
- Day 7 milestone: celebrate early wins, encourage laggards
- Day 14 push: urgency messaging for final stretch
- Leaderboard updates and recognition

PHASE 4 — CLOSE (final 48 hours):
- Urgency messaging for fundraisers to share
- Match deadline if applicable
- Thank-you and celebration plan

For each phase, draft the actual messages I can send.

Fundraiser Success Kit

The biggest predictor of P2P success is whether fundraisers have ready-made content to share. Generate this with AI:

Content Piece	Purpose	When to Share
Personal story template	“Why I’m fundraising for…”	Day 1
Social media posts (5)	Ready to copy-paste with hashtags	Days 1, 3, 7, 10, 14
Email to friends	Personal ask with link	Day 1-2
Text message script	Quick ask for close contacts	Day 3-5
Progress update	“We’re X% to our goal!”	Mid-campaign
Final push message	Urgency + impact	Last 48 hours

✅ Quick Check: Why do peer-to-peer campaigns fail when fundraisers are left to write their own messages? Because most people are uncomfortable asking for money and will procrastinate or avoid it entirely. Ready-made content removes the friction — instead of facing a blank message, fundraisers copy-paste a compelling template, personalize 1-2 sentences, and hit send. AI can generate dozens of variations so messages don’t look identical.

Recurring Giving Programs

Monthly giving produces the most predictable revenue and the most loyal donors.

The numbers: Monthly donors retain at 78%, give an average of $950/year, and stay for an average of 8 years. Monthly giving now represents 31% of all online fundraising revenue.

Help me design a recurring giving conversion campaign.

Current state:
- One-time donors: [X] in our database
- Current monthly donors: [X]
- Average one-time gift: $[X]
- Average monthly gift: $[X]

Design a recurring giving campaign:

1. IDENTIFY CONVERSION CANDIDATES:
   Who in our one-time donor base is most likely to convert?
   (Indicators: gave 2+ times, responded to email, attended
   event, gave to specific program)

2. FRAME THE ASK:
   Convert the one-time amount to a monthly equivalent
   that feels accessible. Example: "$25/month is less than
   a coffee a week, but it provides [specific impact] all year"

3. SHOW ANNUALIZED IMPACT:
   $15/month = $180/year = [outcome]
   $25/month = $300/year = [outcome]
   $50/month = $600/year = [outcome]

4. CREATE URGENCY:
   "Join by [date] and a generous donor will match your
   first month" or "First 50 new monthly donors receive..."

5. MAKE IT EASY:
   One-click enrollment, automated payments, easy to adjust

Matching Gift Campaigns

Matching gifts are a fundraising multiplier: 84% of donors say they’re more likely to give when there’s a match.

Help me design a matching gift campaign.

Match details:
- A donor has offered to match gifts up to $[X]
- Match ratio: [1:1 / 2:1 / etc.]
- Match period: [dates]
- Any restrictions: [new donors only? recurring? etc.]

Design the campaign:

MESSAGING STRATEGY:
1. Announcement: "Every dollar you give will be doubled"
2. Progress updates: thermometer-style tracking
3. Urgency: "Only $[X] of match funding remaining"
4. Final push: "24 hours left to double your impact"

For each message, draft:
- Email subject line (3 options, A/B testable)
- Email body (under 200 words, mobile-friendly)
- Social media post
- Suggested ask amounts with matched impact:
  "Give $50 → becomes $100 → funds [outcome]"

Year-End Campaign Playbook

Year-end giving (November-December) represents approximately 30% of annual online revenue, with the final three days of December often surpassing the entire preceding month.

Help me plan my year-end fundraising campaign.

Last year's results:
- Year-end revenue: $[X]
- Number of year-end donors: [X]
- Top-performing message/channel: [what you know]
- This year's goal: $[X]

Design a 6-week campaign (Nov 15 - Dec 31):

WEEK 1 (Nov 15-21): WARM-UP
- Gratitude message (no ask) — "Look what you made possible"
- Segment preparation: who gets what message

WEEK 2 (Nov 22-28): GIVING TUESDAY
- Giving Tuesday campaign with specific goal
- Matching gift if available
- Social media blitz

WEEKS 3-4 (Dec 1-14): MAIN CAMPAIGN
- Story-driven appeal with segmented ask amounts
- Email sequence: story → impact → ask → reminder
- Mail piece for older/higher-value donor segments

WEEK 5 (Dec 15-28): URGENCY PHASE
- "Year-end deadline" messaging
- Tax benefit reminder
- Lapsed donor special appeal

WEEK 6 (Dec 29-31): FINAL PUSH
- Dec 29: "3 days left"
- Dec 30: "Tomorrow is your last chance"
- Dec 31: Morning + evening sends
- Midnight deadline messaging

For each week, draft subject lines and key message themes.

✅ Quick Check: Why do the final 3 days of December often generate more than the entire preceding month? Because of the tax deadline. Donors who’ve been planning a year-end gift procrastinate until the deadline creates urgency. Combined with the emotional weight of the season and the cumulative effect of weeks of messaging, December 29-31 creates a perfect storm of motivation. Your December 31 email is often your single highest-revenue send of the year.

Key Takeaways

Peer-to-peer campaigns succeed or fail based on fundraiser activation — give them ready-made content kits and active coaching throughout the campaign
Monthly giving is the highest-value channel: 78% retention, $950/year average, 8-year tenure — grow it through conversion, retention, and upgrade strategies simultaneously
Matching gifts are a force multiplier: 84% of donors are more likely to give when a match is available — frame every matched dollar as doubled impact
Year-end campaigns need a 6-week arc: gratitude, Giving Tuesday, main story, urgency, and a final push — with the December 31 evening send often being the highest-revenue email of the year
AI enables campaign iteration: analyze last year’s data before planning this year’s campaign to build on what worked

Up Next: You’ll learn to measure everything — building analytics dashboards that track donor retention, campaign ROI, lifetime value, and use predictive models to optimize your entire fundraising operation.