Campaigns are a fantastic way to fundraise for a specific appeal or project. mycause campaigns also have the added benefit of 0% platform fee and free DIY setup. To start creating your campaign, first log in to your Partner Dashboard and navigate to 'Campaigns & Appeals' in the left hand menu.
There, click the 'Create a campaign' button on the right.
This will open the campaign creator, which consists of three pages; Details, Page Design, and Settings. In each page, there are a few sections to fill in.
1. Details
In the Details page, you will set up the basic information associated with the campaign.
Campaign title
In the first of the three text fields, write the internal name for your campaign, which will only display in your Partner Dashboard and reporting.
In the second text field, write the name for the campaign that you wish the public to see. This may include the name of a project. You can also choose to hide the campaign title completely by clicking the green toggle next to it so it turns grey.
The third text field is optional, and allows you to create a shortlink for the campaign. By entering a single word associated with the campaign, a special link will be generated (see below the text field). Clicking the 'shortlink' circle next to the field changes the structure of the generated link to put your word at the end instead of the beginning.
Type
This refers to whether your campaign is pledge based, or taking donations immediately. Pledge based campaigns require the target to be met before any donor credit cards are charged.
In most cases, pledge based campaigns are no longer recommended, and the circle next to 'Donate' should be left clicked.
Beneficiary logo
This section determines whether the charity's logo will appear on the campaign page or not. To show the logo on the page, click the grey toggle to turn it green.
Beneficiary
This section will already be pre filled with your organisation, but if you wish to support a different charity, you can click on the search field and type in the name of the charity until it appears in the dropdown, where you can select it.
Date start/end
This section allows you to set the dates for which the campaign will be open (able to accept donations). The automatic dates are starting on the day you are creating the campaign, and ending a month later. By clicking on the dates, you open the calendar date picker where you can choose new dates.
Please note that mycause sends funds from each month at the beginning of the following month, so it is best to close your campaign on the last day of a month to maximise donations.
Website and social links
In this section, you can add your website link and social media profiles so that they appear as icons on the campaign page.
Campaign contacts
This section displays a list of users associated with your Partner Dashboard. Here you can choose the main contact for this campaign. The main contact is the one who will receive any communications regarding the campaign, but all users associated with the Partner Dashboard will still be able to manage the campaign.
After selecting the main campaign contact, click the 'Save & Next' button to continue.
2. Page Design
In the Page Design page you will set up how the campaign will look.
Banners
Banners appear at the top of your campaign page and need to be in specific sizes for both desktop and mobile views. The sizes for the banner graphics are listed to the right of the uploader field.
To upload the banner graphics, click on the arrow cloud to open your computer files, and select an image. Once the image appears in the rectangle, make sure to click the 'Crop and save image' button.
If you wish to link the banner back to your website, you can paste the link in the text field above the desktop banner uploader.
Create your colour palette
In this section you will set the colour scheme for your campaign page.
The top line of colour squares are generated from your organisation's logo, but you can change them by clicking on a square, and pasting a HEX colour code.
To set the colours for your campaign, click on the colour squares next to 'Buttons & Bars', and the two 'Background' types. When you click on these squares, the top line of colours is the same as the squares above, and allows you to choose one of those colours, one of the normal colour palette colours, or paste a HEX colour code.
The 'Buttons & Bars' colour will appear as a band behind your campaign name, and as the donate button on the page. The 'Background (Main)' colour will appear as a backdrop for the page, and the 'Background (Donate)' colour will appear on the donation widget at the top of the page.
Background image
In this section you can add an image for the backdrop of the campaign page.
The size for the background image graphic is listed to the right of the image uploader. To upload the image, click the arrow cloud to open your computer files and select an image. Once the image appears in the rectangle, make sure to click the 'Crop and save image' button.
Please note that if you add a background image it will appear instead of the 'Background (Main)' colour on desktop, but will not appear on mobile view.
Hero images
You can add images that will display on your page. Having images on your campaign can help to convey your message and add visual appeal.
Hero images are in the same size ratio as the background image. To upload an image, click the arrow cloud to open your computer files and select an image. Once the image appears in the rectangle, make sure to click the 'Crop and save image' button.
You can add more images by clicking the rectangle with the plus icon, and clicking on an image that has been uploaded will add a red line to the bottom of it, signifying it will appear at the bottom of your campaign page, rather than the top.
Facebook share image
This image will appear when someone posts the campaign link on social media.
The size for the Facebook share image graphic is listed to the right of the image uploader. To upload the image, click the arrow cloud to open your computer files and select an image. Once the image appears in the rectangle, make sure to click the 'Crop and save image' button.
Video
If you have a campaign video you can upload it to Youtube or Vimeo and paste the link here so it displays on the campaign page. You can also decide whether the video will display at the top or bottom of the page.
Text
Here you can write some text explaining the campaign and the reason you are fundraising.
You have the options to edit the text size, colour, highlight colour, font, and alignment like you would be able to change it in a Word document, using the icons above the text box.
Upload PDF
If you have a PDF document that you would like donors to download, you can upload it here and it will appear as a hyperlink to download at the bottom of your campaign page, directly after the text.
After this, click the 'Save & Next' button to continue.
3. Settings
In the Settings page you will decide on back end campaign settings, some of which display on the campaign page.
Donation. comments and messages
In this section you will see a variety of toggle. A green toggle means that the setting is ON and that item will display on the page. A grey toggle means that the setting is OFF and the item is not displayed. Clicking on the toggle will change it.
Extra customised fields (which are created in your Partner Dashboard) can be added to the campaign donation form so you can capture that information from donors.
For the donation button text, you can decide whether 'Donate' or 'Pay' is displayed when supporters comes to the page.
Goal
Here you will add the monetary target for the campaign, how much money do you want/need to raise?
This does not have to be displayed on the page (see the settings above) but is required to create the campaign.
Here you can also set a multiplier for donations if you have major contributors on board who have agreed to match your community donations dollar for dollar. To add a multiplier, click on the number to the left of your target and choose a multiplier level from the dropdown.
Donation Amounts
In this section you can add up to six dollar amounts for donors to choose from when they donate. For each amount, you can also add an icon and a label. This can be useful if you are raising funds for specific items (e.g a dollar handle of $25 with an icon of a bag, and a label saying 'buys a backpack'). To upload icons, click on the arrow cloud (as seen in the blue square) to open your computer files and select an image. Once the image appears in the rectangle, make sure to click the 'Crop and save image' button. Icons should be 300 x 300 px in size.
You are also able to choose a default dollar handle. This amount will be preselected on your page as a suggestion to donors. To select a default amount, click 'Set Default' next to the amount you want preselected (as seen in the blue oval). Please note that only one amount can be set as the default.
Count up/down
Here you can add a clock to your campaign to increase urgency with your donors. The clock consists of two dates and times. The clock will countdown to each of those dates and display the text to the left of the date. The clock is very useful in situations where a campaign page opens prior to an event or special day, so the first date/time would be the beginning of the event or day, and the second date/time would be the end of the event or day.
If you wish to utilise the clock, make sure to click the grey toggle to turn it green and display the clock.
Receipt Text
mycause receipts your donors automatically on your behalf with an email and PDF attachment. Here you can write text that will be sent in the email that donors receive.
If you wish to update the text that appears on the PDF attachment (which automatically contains key information such as tax status and ABN) you can do so in your Partner Dashboard.
After entering receipt text, click the 'Save & Next' button to be taken to your completed campaign page.
Once you have finished choosing your settings your Fundraising Campaign will be generated for you and is automatically live. Learn how to manage your campaign here.
If you want to link it to an event, click here to find out how.
If you need any assistance please contact our help team here.