2: Prep

TWO GOALS: Financial & Non-financial

When it comes to goal setting, we ask that you consider two types (financial and otherwise) and let them guide your work. The more specific your goal is, the better. 

Create a practical and pragmatic campaign plan. Be reasonable and think about future-you... is this something you'll be able to execute? Or are you setting yourself / your team up for failure?  Do yourself a favor and lean into CauseMic's hub for tools, tips, and help. 

• Prepare. The more you do in advance, the stronger your outcome will be. 

• Set Goals. This might be easier for returning nonprofits because they have historical data to build on. But new nonprofits can use our data as a starting point. Be realistic and practical—but throw in a bit of ambition. 

• Share Knowledge. This is a collaborative environment and we operate with a sense of abundance. If you have tips worth sharing, opportunities for teaming up, or ways to improve, then speak up. Don't hoard your knowledge, share it!

GET STARTED

When it comes to Give!Guide, poor planning and procrastination is a recipe for disaster. Take advantage of the prep period by developing a solid campaign plan. This will:

1. Set direction and priorities.

2. Get people and scattered ideas on the same page, literally.

3. Simplify decision making.

4. Focus your efforts on areas that will impact your success.

5. Communicate your messages and priorities.

Take an afternoon or two to hammer through ideas and layout the bones of your campaign. Then flesh it out with more detail. Keep going until your plan is complete and ready-to-go. Be sure to:

• Identify who's working on what and when it's due. 

• Strategize how different departments or helpers are going to work together in advance. 

• Add links to related documents or websites.

• Highlight areas of heavy/light activity - this will make it easy when considering new initiatives. 

• Share the plan with your team and update them on progress or changes.

Ordering and using G!G promo items is 100% optional, completely free, and to your benefit. The more promotion of G!G, then the more traffic on the website and that's a good thing! It means more donors discovering your organization and others, too.

♻️ Zero Waste & Recycling: G!G tries to be as zero waste as possible and hope that you are, too. Please be thoughtful about your order and select reasonable quantities. Extras can always be returned to G!G HQ for redistributing. Even better — items are designed to be evergreen (can be reused any year), free-to-you, and easily recyclable. 

⭐️ Designs will be shared on the Wiki in September. It's okay to order blindly if you don't want to wait.

⚠️ Promo Items are different from our marketing materials. If you want to DIY designs and items specifically for your org, then you'll want to visit that page to get going.

There's just one required training for all of Give!Guide: Orientation. The rest? Completely optional — and available on demand!

We've curated a collection of webinars and conversations designed to enhance your G!G experience. These include our new Real Talk series (coming soon — unfiltered conversations with your cohort peers), Orientation, Charitable Gaming review with the Dept. of Justice, and the Lunch & Learn archive. 

We also have exclusive access to a dedicated training and resources hub from CauseMic, our fantastic official training partners. Their insights are backed by two years of data collected directly from Give!Guide’s nonprofit cohorts, ensuring their tips are highly relevant to your campaign plans. 

Every participating nonprofit gets a profile on giveguide.org. Take a look at last year's orgs for great examples of how the profile can be used. 

• • Profiles are active on the site until late summer when we do the annual changeover. 

  • During the off season, your donate button will redirect people to your giving portal — we don't want you to miss any potential donations! 

  • Every nonprofit's profile page has a unique link. Send people to your page with it! Find your unique G!G Profile Page's link.

  • Some of you have very long names or prefer to use an acronym. Email us to change it. [Example:  https://giveguide.org/nonprofits/friends-of-willamette-week to https://giveguide.org/nonprofits/foww]

The profiles are the #1 way for G!G donors to learn who you are, what you do, and why it matters. Our web analytics show that visitors move quickly. Make sure your profile is to the point, accurate, and plain spoken. We want donors to understand and support your work! 

• Use this worksheet to prepare your giveguide.org content. It has all of the specs, prompts, and explanations. Do the worksheet first and then transfer the content to your G!G profile page.

• Uploading images: If you get an error trying to upload your main image, it's probably because the image is too big. Make sure your image dimensions are max 72 dpi, 1000x500 pixels and 2MB or under.

👋 You must be a "page owner" to access your nonprofit's admin page. This is where profiles are managed. It's also where you can run donation reports on demand, add events to the public G!G events calendar, and report direct-to-nonprofit donations.

• Orgs have have several page owners! 

• Create a personal account on giveguide.org and then request page ownership by emailing us

• Learn more about using giveguide.org here. 

Review your fundraising plan's activities against your calendar and prepared materials. Take advantage of this time to problem solve and fine-tune for capacity and opportunities. 

• If you're working with a team, bring them into the review process. 

• If you're a team of one, consider a peer review of your plan with another participating nonprofit. This is a great partnership that'll bring fresh eyes to your plan and possibly give you a few ideas, too!