What happens before a campaign starts

Between signing with an outreach partner and the first conversation on the street, there is a stack of work that nobody sees.

SMEs exchanging ideas in peer learning network in Basel Area

The agreement

The contract sets the campaign's purpose, its dates, what your organization approves, and what gets reported. States that regulate professional fundraisers require those contracts to be filed, and commonly require specific terms in them, according to Perlman & Perlman.

Registration

A professional fundraiser generally has to register in each state where it directly solicits, before any fundraising starts, and registration usually comes with a surety bond. This is the step that quietly decides where a campaign can run and when it can begin.

The brief

Your programs, your numbers, your boundaries, and the answers to the questions supporters actually ask. Representatives are briefed on the cause before they speak for it.

Training and rehearsal

Conversation skills, compliance, and the parts of the brief that are easy to get wrong. Representatives practise the opening and the difficult questions before anyone hears them for real.

Where and when

Neighborhoods, events and community spaces are chosen with you, not just wherever is busiest. Permissions and site rules get sorted before a team arrives.

The first report

We agree up front what you will see and when: acquisition, retention and cost per donor, reported plainly. Nearly all states that regulate professional fundraisers also require a campaign financial report covering the total raised, the fee paid and certain expenses.

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