For fundraising-focused nonprofits, the challenge of tracking campaigns, engaging donors, and optimizing strategy can be overwhelming. Many nonprofits don’t realize that Salesforce Campaigns—often associated with marketing — are also one of the most powerful tools for fundraising.
In this post, we’ll explore how leveraging Salesforce Campaigns and a strategic Campaign Hierarchy can streamline your fundraising, improve constituent engagement, and enable data-driven decisions to maximize impact.
What are Salesforce campaigns, and why are they valuable for nonprofits?
Salesforce Campaigns are a versatile feature within the Salesforce Data Model, allowing organizations to track fundraising initiatives with the same level of detail that many associate with marketing. Campaigns are particularly useful for nonprofits because they allow organizations to organize, monitor, and analyze fundraising efforts.
Using Account Engagement? Read about the advantages of using Salesforce and Pardot connected campaigns in this blog post from Nick Loeser.
Benefits of Using Salesforce Campaigns for Fundraising
Here’s how Salesforce campaigns can help with fundraising efforts for nonprofits.
Track Funds Raised Across Campaigns
By using Salesforce Campaigns, nonprofits can directly associate dollars raised with specific appeals, campaigns, or events.
Gain Insights into Donor Engagement
Salesforce Campaigns enable organizations to see which constituents engage with various fundraising efforts.
Make Data-Driven Decisions
With clear data on the effectiveness of each campaign, nonprofits can focus on the strategies that drive the best results.
Building a Campaign Hierarchy for Fundraising Success
A Campaign Hierarchy is like an organizational chart for your fundraising efforts. Each level represents different campaigns or appeals, structured in a way that allows you to aggregate or drill down into specific data based on need. This structure provides a “big picture” view and the flexibility to analyze campaign performance at granular levels.
Key Steps to Design Your Campaign Hierarchy
To create a Campaign Hierarchy that aligns with your fundraising goals, start by asking yourself these critical questions:
- What Are Your Organization’s Recurring Fundraising Efforts? Identify consistent, repeating campaigns, like quarterly appeals or specific annual events. These will form the foundational tiers in your hierarchy.
- What Is the Timing and Frequency of Each Effort? Consider how often each campaign or appeal occurs. For example, an annual fund may include multiple campaigns, such as end-of-year and quarterly appeals.
- Do Certain Periods Include Multiple Campaigns? Some fundraising periods may include various appeals, each targeting different audiences or using different methods (e.g., direct mail, online ads). Structuring these as child campaigns under a “parent” campaign (like “Year-End Giving”) allows you to track each specific effort while also reviewing total results.
- Who Are the Campaigns Targeting? Determine whether campaigns are reaching general audiences or specific segments, such as major donors. For general campaigns, you may skip campaign members, but for targeted campaigns, tracking engagement with specific constituent segments can provide valuable data on who responds to what.
Tips for Designing Your Campaign Hierarchy
- Visualize your structure. Use tools like Lucidchart, a whiteboard, or even pen and paper to sketch your hierarchy before building it in Salesforce. Read Jenna Molby’s blog post on organizing Salesforce campaigns here.
- Cross-check with stakeholders. Ensure your Campaign Hierarchy aligns with other departments’ needs for data reporting and access.
Steps to Set Up Your Campaign Hierarchy in Salesforce
Once you’ve mapped out a Campaign Hierarchy, it’s time to implement it in Salesforce. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Start with the top-level campaign. Begin with a broad, overarching campaign, such as a year-based or major donor-focused campaign, and then add more specific levels.
- Add sub-campaigns for specific appeals. For instance, if you’re A/B testing different mailers, create individual campaigns for each version. Include Campaign Members to track the results for each segment.
- Review and reassess annually. Your initial hierarchy may need adjustments as campaigns evolve. Plan to review your structure annually to ensure it still aligns with your fundraising goals and strategies.
Maintain and Optimize Your Campaign Hierarchy
To get the most out of your Campaign Hierarchy, schedule regular maintenance. After a year of active campaigns, sit down with your stakeholders to evaluate the performance and structure.
Are there campaigns to add or remove? Have certain appeals gained traction while others have not?
Use this time to update your hierarchy so it stays relevant and effective.
TIP: Check out this Salesforce Campaign Hierarchy Report blog post from Theron Troxel on how to create a Salesforce report to show the impact of related campaigns within a campaign hierarchy.
Get strategic with your fundraising campaigns
Salesforce Campaigns offer nonprofits an organized, data-driven way to approach fundraising. With a well-thought-out Campaign Hierarchy, your organization can see which campaigns resonate with donors, track funds raised, and make decisions based on real-time data.
Ready to create a streamlined, impactful fundraising strategy? Reach out to us at Sercante to discuss how we can help you set up or optimize your Salesforce Campaign Hierarchy!
