Inside a Campaign: The Practitioner's Playbook
Running a campaign portfolio, staffing volunteer solicitors, campaign stewardship, and the reporting rhythm between phases. For the fundraiser who carries part of the gift table and all of the follow-through.
Through the Higher Ed lens
The portfolio usually sits inside a much larger campaign machine, with the practitioner carrying a defined slice of the gift table, a school's major-gifts tier, say, and staffing volunteer alumni solicitors drawn from reunion committees. Keeping the annual fund whole for campaign-assigned alumni is the module's sharpest point here, since a large comprehensive campaign is exactly where an annual gift quietly gets folded in and never resumes unless someone tracks the resume date.
Continuing education
1.00 points
Securing the Gift · Volunteer Involvement
Learning objectives
- Manage a campaign portfolio of major-gift households through the phases, with invitations sequenced by readiness rather than the campaign calendar.
- Staff volunteer solicitors as a campaign partner: preparation, pairing, report-back, and the follow-through that stays with staff.
- Run campaign stewardship so that every commitment is thanked, reported on, and kept, and every campaign donor remains an annual donor.
- Keep a reporting rhythm between phases that tells the campaign leadership the truth about pace, pipeline, and the annual fund.
Designed for CFRE continuing education. Not yet accepted; no CFRE points can be claimed.
Lessons
- 20 min
Video lesson
Running a campaign portfolio
III Discern · Securing the Gift
- 18 min
Field guide· PDF
Staffing volunteer solicitors and campaign stewardship
IV Invite · Volunteer Involvement
- 20 min
Template· DOCX
Campaign portfolio plan and the phase reporting rhythm
VI Accompany · Securing the Gift
- 16 min
Case study· PDF
Case study: the practitioner who kept the annual fund whole
VI Accompany · Securing the Gift
This is members-only material.
Members get every lesson, template, and worksheet in all eight tracks, plus the support to put them to work in your shop.
More in this stage
Major & Principal Gifts
Building a Major Gifts Portfolio
Move from reactive asks to a managed portfolio: qualification, moves management, and a caseload you can defend.
Donor Communications & Stewardship
The Case for Support That Writes Itself
One master case document that powers every appeal, proposal, and conversation, built from your mission's real evidence.
Annual Giving & Direct Response
Annual Giving Systems: Calendar & Segmentation
Graduate from one-off appeals to a segmented, scheduled program with lapsed-donor recovery built in.