Ep. 159: The #1 Mistake Fundraisers Make With Modern Campaigns
EPISODE 159
The #1 Mistake Fundraisers Make With Modern Campaigns
About the Episode:
This episode is for the nonprofit leader doing “all the right things” (you’ve got peer fundraisers, events, email blasts, major donor asks) but you're still not hitting your campaign goals. Sound familiar? It’s not your fault. It’s your foundation.
I recorded this episode fresh off the launch of The Purpose and Profit Club®, and after talking to so many of you, I noticed the same trap over and over: layering modern tactics on top of weak campaigns. If your messaging isn’t emotionally resonant, your campaign lacks urgency, or your structure is shaky, no amount of frosting will save it. In this episode, I break down why your campaign might feel like a “collapsed cake,” what a high-converting campaign looks like, and how my SPRINT Method™ helps you build a strategy that actually works (without the burnout or overwhelm). If you're tired of working harder for diminishing returns, this is the clarity you need.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Why visibility alone doesn’t drive conversion
What weak campaigns actually look and feel like
The “collapsed cake” metaphor and what it means for fundraisers
The difference between emotion vs. passivity in donor messaging
Why urgency and relevance matter more than volume
Tactics that don’t work without a strong foundation
Why layering on social media, peer fundraising, or ads won’t fix poor structure
The SPRINT Method™: what it is and who it’s for
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“You cannot layer a modern tactic on top of a weak campaign.”
“More conversion, more donations, more event ticket sales, more whatever action you want people to take doesn't come from just visibility alone, right? It has to have a high converting campaign that is clear, that is urgent, that has that emotional relevance.”
“The idea of activity-based indicators, not strategy-based indicators, signals to me effort, but not structure.”
“A weak campaign has no clear goal. It might have a huge, ominous one, like your annual goal, but one that feels very far away and impossible to donors.”
“Modern donor behavior is very similar to modern consumer behavior: fast, emotional, distracted, so people don't respond to passive messaging.”
“70% to 90% of decisions, depending on what stat you look at, are emotional.”
“When you position your emails as fundraising emails, they are very different and they create different returns.”
“The real reason campaigns don't convert (they don't hit your goal) is you're not running a The SPRINT Method™.”
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
Easy Emails For Impact™ - Turn Your Inbox into an Income Stream
The SPRINT Method™ - Fundraise Like a Pro, 5 Figures At a Time
Connect with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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Christina Edwards 0:19Today's episode is for the person who is like Christina. I am throwing out the old school practices. I am trying to embrace modern strategies. I am trying to work with influencers or peer fundraisers or do high converting campaigns engage my board, and yet it's not working. I'm still missing my fundraising goal. I'm still experiencing that revenue plateau. I'm still working harder than ever for diminishing returns. This episode is for you.
Christina Edwards 0:57
So at the time I'm recording this, I've just wrapped up the launch for the purpose and profit club, my coaching program for nonprofit fundraisers, marketers and executive directors. It's a more advanced program, and whenever I launch that program, I feel like I get the opportunity to speak to so many of you, and there ends up being some themes. So I have a lot of calls one on one, with many organizations who are experiencing literally, a variety. I've had calls with organizations who are very, very new and just getting started. I've had calls with organizations that are 40 plus years old, organizations who say to me, we have five recurring givers, organizations who say to me, we have 900 but that's not enough. So really, across the gamut, and there tends to be these, these themes. And one of the themes I realized was this sort of like light bulb moment was, oh, I don't think I've said it this way before. You cannot layer a modern tactic on top of a weak campaign. Stay with me. So conversion, more donations, more event ticket sales, more whatever action you want people to take doesn't come from just visibility alone, right? It has to have a high converting campaign that is clear, that is urgent, that has that emotional relevance, right? So it's not just this more for more sake, you actually need a campaign that people will rally behind. Said in layman's terms, you can't slap a social street team on top of a crappy campaign. It will not fix it. So we're going to talk about the foundational campaign essentials that many organizations are missing. And here's the thing, y'all, I'm seeing this with emerging organizations who are under 300k I'm seeing this with established organizations who are finding it harder and harder to raise more. And this is why it's a scalability problem. It is a growth problem. Now this isn't about shame or blame. I never want you to feel like what I'm telling you is making you feel worse, and you go through like a shame spiral of like crap. I can't believe I did it that way, right? So this is not shame and blame. This is a this is about creating awareness first and pressing pause before you just start fundraising again, right? So you have the structure to scale, because many of you are not actually failing because you're bad at it. You're failing because you're skipping these steps when you have your foundation in order everything starts to work. And that's why, when you layer on peer fundraising, when you layer on community fundraising, when you layer on a social street team, on a solid foundation, it is like whoosh, double your next campaign. We've had clients who have 3x 5x their campaigns using the strategies we teach, but you have to have that foundation first.
Christina Edwards 4:10
So here's what it might look like. You might be saying, Christina, our campaign didn't convert. We added peer fundraisers. We asked our board to post it, and they did. They some shared it on Instagram, and all of it, all this action we took, still didn't really move the needle, right? It was still just really hard. And the reason is, is because you're trying to ice a collapsed cake. Okay, think about this. I'm not a baker, so this is a perfect example, if I go to bake a cake right now, there is a high likelihood that thing is going to have those collapsed middles. And you know, when you flip it over and you put it on a plate to ice, and you flip it too soon, and half of the damn cake is in the bottom of the pan. You with me? This is me. This is exactly what I do because I'm too impatient to wait for that thing to cool off, and I'm just want to I. Ice it, and then you start icing it. That's what y'all are doing. The middles caved in. Maybe it doesn't, didn't rise all the way. But instead of reworking the recipe waiting, instead you are trying to cover it with frosting and hope no one will notice, and hope it's presentable. And you're like shaking sprinkles on top, and we're adding different things. And the only thing that's happening is, if you've ever tried to ice a cake and the crumbs start actually mixing into the icing, it's just getting worse. So then you add the sprinkles, or you add the chocolate chips or the toppings, and you're like, Christina, we added the toppings, we added all the good stuff, and where was everybody? And that is the problem.
Christina Edwards 5:48
Your foundational campaign wasn't set up for success. So no matter how much whipped cream and cherries you put on top, we have a problem, and you might see some donations come in from those toppings, but you're not nearly going to hit your goal. And you're not nearly going to hit your goal as quickly as you could is if you've had that foundation in place. Okay, so I'm not saying this to make you feel bad. I'm saying this because this is fixable. But it's not fixable by adding toppings mid campaign and then telling me these tactics don't work for us. We've already tried them, because then I look at your campaign and I'm like, Oh, this is riddled with a very fixable problems. It's very clear to me why it didn't convert at a high level.
So let's look at what you think a campaign is and what it actually isn't. So this is another thing. So in many of these calls, many of the Q and A calls I had, many of the decision calls that I had, I asked a lot of, like, I like to think of it as, like, your vitals, right? If you go into your doctor for a checkup and they're doing sort of like, like, a 360 degree vital check, right? That's what I'm doing. And one of the questions I asked was around your fundraising campaigns, and I would hear, yeah, we're doing it. And, you know, we've we've emailed three times, we've shared it on Facebook. Everyone who give, or everyone who could give already gave all of these things, right? We're always fundraising. Um, we're fundraising. I would hear sometimes we're fundraising, just it. I'm not sure what our goal is. We're just fundraising all the time. What it is, is this, this idea of activity based indicators, not strategy based indicators, so it signals to me effort, but not structure. So most organizations think they ran a campaign, but instead, what you did is inform people and hope for the best. That is not a fundraising campaign, and it certainly is not a high converting one. So let's talk about what a weak campaign actually looks like. A weak campaign has no clear goal. It might have a huge ominous one, maybe like your annual goal or a six month goal, or something like that, but one that feels very far away and impossible to donors. The messaging feels emotionally flat. That is a huge one. The messaging is very almost grit style, messaging, right, very formal, very flat.
Christina Edwards 8:21
The campaign is fundraising for what you need, but it might sound like we just need more staff, right? Instead of why it matters. You're not landing the plane for your donors and your prospects. You're promoting the program, but not inviting people actually into the moment or movement. You're using passive voice, vague calls to action. It's very sterile. It's very flat. It's very support now, it's almost apologetic. Sometimes it's like, give if you can, we know times are tough, right? It has that energy around it, or it can sound at the other end very frantic and emergent. When it's not, it's very hair on fire all the time. Don't do either. Don't do either of the spectrum. Okay, donors don't actually realize a campaign is happening 90% of the time, and that is wild, and that's something you might have to sit with. It is true. There are so many nonprofits that email me that are like we're fundraising. They think they're in a state of a fundraising campaign, but to me as the recipient. I just think it's a Tuesday. It doesn't sound any different your campaigns. I should know. I should know. And here's, here's an example of what it should feel like. You know when you go to the movies and you have watched all the commercials, and then there is a transition moment, and then the actual thing that you are here to see the real movie starts. The lights dim. There's no question, right? The sort of the opening credits happening, the hook of the opening scene, your campaign should feel like that. At no point does anyone in the movie theater go, you know, 10 minutes into the actual movie you came there to see. Did they say? Did the movie start? Yet, like every. Everyone is very locked in and clear. That's what your subscribers, your donors, your audience, should feel. They should know I'm in a fundraising campaign right now. I'm receiving fundraising campaign content, or I'm not. I'm in a different period. They should know when the real movie starts.
Christina Edwards 10:24
Modern donor behavior is very similar to modern consumer behavior, fast, emotional, distracted so people don't respond to passive messaging. 70 to 90% of decisions, depending on what stat you look at, are emotional, but your campaign is missing that emotion, right? And not stressful, stressful, but emotional. So the brain scans all the time for relevance and urgency, and that those two boxes are so most commonly left unchecked in your campaign. So again, we could slap a rock and roll peer fundraising crew on top of that, or amazing social street team on top of that, and it won't matter. It will not matter they cannot fix a broken foundation. So when your campaign doesn't lead with that emotion, that clarity, that movement, you do lose the moment. And the other thing I'll find is that people who said they would help these maybe even your board members, your volunteers, just the people who are like, yeah, yeah, they don't. They're not excited to share it there. It's an afterthought, right? Because they can't even get on board because they're not currently clear or excited about it. So let's look at why nonprofits are layering these tactics on top. I call it a reactive strategy, because you're trying to fix that frosting, you're trying to hide the sunken cake, instead of checking the recipe, instead of realizing your baking powder expired. Or maybe you're like me, and you're kind of a quick, messy Baker, and you need to stop and measure, and you need to take your time. You need to not be so impulsive, right? So let's look at some of the strategies that you might be doing that I want you to pause on. So you may be layering on a week campaign. You may be layering on peer to peer. Fundraising, asking board members, recruiting digital ambassadors, running a birthday fundraiser, micro campaigns, engaging influencers or local personalities, trying to ask celebrities to share it, doing paid content like Facebook ads or paid promo posts, sending out more emails without message clarity, sending out more emails just simply volume is not a campaign. Saying Christina, we took our clip from, you know, sending once a month to now, we sent four times that month. Ergo, that was a campaign, no, and I just had somebody tell me they took my easy emails course, which is my email fundraising course. And they said to me, before taking your course, we would raise about we raised $1,800 in a campaign. After your course, we raised $9,000 and it was such. I was like, I'm so excited to hear that, not only for them, but just to hear like, when you position your emails as fundraising emails, they are very different and they create different returns, right? So it's not just more emails for email sake that's not a campaign
Christina Edwards 13:38
switching donation platforms mid campaign using old school donation platforms, not realizing that your tech tool is a big part of the problem. Using QR codes or text to give just to try something new, layering on those things to a crappy campaign is not going to fix your campaign. You may scoop up a few, but you will not scoop up nearly the amount of revenue you could get if you had this foundation in order. So I love all the tactics, by the way. I just mentioned, huge fan of them, but you have to have the foundation in order. I'm thinking of another analogy, and this may drive it home for my non bakers, which is, if you think about a house that doesn't have a solid foundation. If you've seen those houses, they literally need to be, like, jacked up, and the foundation needs to be reinforced. And instead, somebody said, I'm going to spend $10,000 to paint the house a pretty green, you're like, but the house is falling right. The floors are sloped. The wall is is creaking, right? Don't paint the house yet, right? Same concept here. So none of these tactics are bad. They're just not powerful until you have a campaign that already works.
So the real reason campaigns don't convert, meaning they don't hit your goal, they don't exceed your goal, is you're not running a sprint campaign. This is a newer method that I've created, I have a program that teaches you how to do this, where you're actually running fundraising sprints versus ongoing marathons. So ongoing marathons are these scattered asks, there's no dirt donor journey or campaign arc like the movie theater, right? Like sitting in the movies, where there's clearly an arc to that movie. You're missing those emotional stakes, those clear roles that get people from viewer into donor to action taker, right? You have no momentum engine, no urgency engine, so it's not about you needing to do more either way. You're just baking a cake. It's doing it in the right order. You're doing it in the right order, and you're doing you're doing it in a way that makes sense for your campaign. Because what happens when you skip this is you don't hit your goal, or it just feels hard. Some people keep extending the campaign. One Campaign bleeds into another. That's a big one. I see so many of you said to me, Well, we're running this campaign for this thing, and we've got this campaign for this thing, and they weren't segmented. So everything feels not only cluttered for your audience, it feels cluttered for you. Then you get into a burnout cycle, because you do feel like you're in a constant state of reactive fundraising. You try five things at once. You're like, we're trying to sell this event, we would need more recurring givers. We've got a Giving Day coming up. We also have this program we need to fundraise for, and none of them actually convert. Well, then we start to see that internal burnout from you and your team, and external burnout from your audience and your donors, right? You start to then blame the tactic, which is none of this stuff works for us instead of the system right, instead of what you're doing. So here's what I want to talk to you about today. The process of fixing this is actually pretty simple, and one of the biggest symptoms I realized in this past launch was many people have just been DIY ing this because many people were plunked into their role as fundraiser or wearer of multiple hats without any formal training, right? And so it makes sense, you're not a marketer, you're not a fundraiser. Usually, you're amazing in programs. You're amazing at leading, right? But you're not in you haven't been formally trained and how to do this, especially how to do this online, especially how to do this at scale digitally, right? we had many organizations join the sprint method because they first need to learn the skill of community fundraising, to learn the skill of lead gen and outreach, to learn the skill of running high converting sprint campaigns, key points throughout the year for key purposes and two key segments. So I built this program for emerging nonprofits, for nonprofit leaders, for solo led nonprofits. That's who this program is for. So if this hits home and you're like, oh my gosh, I need this, I want you to seriously consider joining this program. It is very budget, friendly, and it was structured so you stop icing over things and you stop DIYing things.
Christina Edwards 18:56
so you can go to splendid courses.com, forward slash sprint class for details on our upcoming webinar and details about the program. Because inside the sprint method, we teach the entire campaign structure what to say, when to say it, how to activate the right people at the right moment, so you actually get that traction instead of crickets, because once the campaign works, then then you can layer on some of those strategies, and then they work, then we see that ripple effect a lot faster.
Christina Edwards 19:55
I hope this was helpful. And if you found this episode helpful to you, please leave. Me a five star review on Apple podcast, I would be so appreciative, and I'll see you next time you.