Planning a campaign using the Coach
The Fundraising Coach helps you plan effective campaigns from start to finish, with clear steps, proven templates, and recommendations based on your nonprofit’s fundraising history. Whether you are launching a Giving Tuesday appeal or trying to boost donor retention, the Coach acts as your on-demand strategist.
Guide to Getting Started
Step 1: Open the Coach in your Dashboard
Click the floating chat icon from any Network for Good screen (DMS or Fundraising Pages).
Step 2: Start with a prompt
Try:
“Help me plan a Giving Tuesday campaign.”
“What should I do for end-of-year fundraising?”
“How can I reactivate lapsed donors?”
Step 3: Review your personalized recommendations
The Coach will automatically:
analyze your organization’s past campaign performance
benchmark your fundraising data against similar nonprofits
recommend a campaign type, timeline, and segmentation strategy
Step 4: Use the provided template or playbook
You will receive a step-by-step guide tailored to your campaign type, with suggestions for:
goal setting
audience segmentation
messaging content
recommended timelines
Step 5: Iterate and refine
Ask follow-up questions such as:
“How many donors gave during this campaign last year?”
“Should I send emails, letters, or both?”
“What kind of subject lines perform best?”
Example Campaign Types
Campaign Type | What Coach Can Help With |
Giving Tuesday | Timeline, email schedule, donation appeal strategy, urgency tactics |
Lapsed Donor Appeal | Donor list segmentation, reactivation messages, timing advice |
Recurring Giving | Stewardship strategy, monthly appeal messaging |
First-Time Donor Welcome | Email sequence, impact language, onboarding content |
Year-End Appeal | Calendar, multi-channel strategy, retention tips |
Pro Tips
Use your performance history: The more you have used your Donor Management system and Fundraising Pages, the more relevant and accurate the Coach’s recommendations will be.
Ask for benchmarks: Try asking questions like “How do my results compare to similar nonprofits?” to add context to your goal setting.
Do not wait for campaign season: You can plan year-round - the Coach includes guidance for seasonal campaigns, anniversaries, and mission milestones.
Getting Donor Strategy advice from the Coach
The Fundraising Coach is not just for campaign planning — it is a powerful tool for making smarter donor engagement decisions. Whether you are trying to boost retention, segment your audience, or target major givers, the Coach gives you real-time, data-driven advice built for small teams.
Use open-ended questions to get expert recommendations:
“What’s my donor retention rate over the last 12 months?”
“Which donors are most likely to upgrade their gift?”
“Who should I target for a monthly giving ask?”
“How can I improve engagement among first-time donors?”
“Which segments should I focus on next quarter?”
What the Coach Considers
Your data is completely secure and not used to train AI models. It will only be used to provide analysis in your coaching session.
The Fundraising Coach analyzes multiple dimensions of your donor data:
Gift frequency – Identifies consistent givers vs. one-time donors
Donor tenure – Highlights long-term supporters and loyal funders
Recency – Flags newly lapsed donors for re-engagement
Average gift size – Helps segment by giving capacity
Donor lifecycle stage – Suggests messaging by donor type (new, recurring, lapsed)
What You Can Expect
When you ask donor strategy questions, the Coach might:
Recommend custom segments (e.g., “donors who gave twice in the last 6 months, but not in the last 90 days”)
Suggest engagement tactics (e.g., “send a gratitude email plus an impact update”)
Provide retention benchmarks and action steps
Highlight opportunities for upgrade or recurring conversion
Offer ready-to-use templates for outreach
Why This Matters
Smaller nonprofits often struggle with donor strategy for several reasons:
There is limited time for deep segmentation.
Staff may not have access to a data analyst or fundraiser.
Tools are disconnected from their strategy.
The Fundraising Coach remedies this by embedding donor intelligence right where you work, transforming your donor history into a simple, easy-to-follow plan of action!
Need help getting started?
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