Advocates are key to a campaign’s success, and training is key to maximizing Advocate impact. We recommend creating an Advocate communication strategy and timeline, sharing webinars, written instructions, GIFs, videos, and even hosting in-person or phone sessions to coach Advocates on leveraging the advocacy tools to their fullest. But how do you train the trainer? Get ready to train and manage your team with this administrator-exclusive backstage pass to the steps to becoming an Advocate.

Step 1:  Create a GiveCampus user account

The first step to becoming an Advocate is to create and/or log into a GiveCampus user account. The Advocate tools are built to put your Advocates’ names in lights, and being celebrated for getting involved with your campaign on a deeper level can be a huge motivator for becoming an Advocate. But a user must be logged into a GiveCampus account while using the Advocate tools for their impact to be fully tracked and their name to be featured on the Advocates tab on the campaign page.

• FAQ: Our campaign is not live yet. Is there somewhere else I can go to create an account?
  • Yes! Head to the schools GiveCampus homepage . . . .
• FAQ: I signed up for a GiveCampus user account. Am I an Advocate yet?
  • Nope! Simply signing up for a user account does not an Advocate make. Anyone can create a GiveCampus user account, but becoming an Advocate means taking active steps to promote the campaign to others. In order to become an Advocate, you must first create and/or log in to your GiveCampus user account, and then use one-- or better yet, all!-- of the Advocate tools.
• FAQ: I already created a GiveCampus user account for last year’s giving day, or for a campaign at my other affiliated institution. Do I need to create a new account for this campaign?
  • Nope! GiveCampus user accounts are universal to the entire GiveCampus community-- you don’t need one user account per campaign or one user account per Partner institution. Keep logging into the same user account for campaign after campaign and watch your user profile light up with your continued Advocacy!
• FAQ: My school uses the Volunteer Management System by GiveCampus and I’m an official volunteer. Can I use that account to become an Advocate?
  • Yep! GiveCampus user accounts are universal to the entire GiveCampus community and to all GiveCampus products. Your login for the VMS will also allow you access to become an Advocate for a Social Fundraising Platform campaign.

*Pro Tip: Ask your Advocates to create their user accounts during your conversations and trainings.

*Pro Tip: Begin every call-to-action you send with a reminder to log in to their GiveCampus user accounts before using the Advocate tools. It’s just that important!

Step 2:  Consider your own gift

Don’t forget to ask your Advocates to extend their generosity with a gift to the campaign. Leading other donors by example is an important first step towards a successful campaign. Advocates can make an outright gift via the “Give Now” button or they can inspire others to make gifts by offering Matches and Challenges-- these are some of the most powerful tools for motivating other donors to give to a campaign, so be sure to brush up on Matches and Challenges as your prepare to train your campaign Advocates!

• FAQ: I made an outright gift via the ‘Give Now!’ button on the campaign page. Am I an Advocate?
  • Nope! But thank you for your generosity! Outright gifts via the ‘Give Now!’ button make you a donor, but not an Advocate. A person only becomes an Advocate when they take an action using the Advocate tools to inspire others to get involved with a campaign. If you’d like to make a gift that can inspire others to get involved with a campaign-- and therefore recognize you as an Advocate right away -- consider offering a Match or Challenge.
• FAQ: When should I give?
  • As soon as possible! We encourage Advocates to go ahead and make a gift or offer their Matches and Challenges as soon as possible -- and before the public campaign launch, too. This is a great way to boost the #PhilanthropyFOMO factor: when the first wave of donors visit the campaign page after the official public launch, they’ll be more inspired to give if they can see that their gifts will go further because their peers have offered Matches and Challenges. When other donors see that Advocates are offering Matches and Challenges and making gifts early in the life of the campaign, they’ll be more likely to give or consider a Match or Challenge of their own!

*Pro Tip: Do you have an Advocate who is extra-eager to have their name added to the Advocates tab ASAP? Encourage them to offer a Match or Challenge-- if they’re logged into their GiveCampus user account when they do so, their name will instantly be added to the Advocates tab.

*Pro Tip: Restricted matches can add tons of excitement and urgency to a campaign, and your Advocates are the donors most likely to leverage a tool like this early. Encourage Advocates to consider offering a matching gift that is restricted to an affiliation group, a class year, a designation, or a list of specific donors by email address.

Step 3: Create and upload a Personal Video

Personal Videos give Advocates the chance to add their own story to the campaign page. A Personal Video is a short video in which an Advocate explains why they’re excited about getting involved with the campaign and why others should support it, too.

• FAQ: I don’t have a video camera, and I don’t know how to edit film. Can I still make a Personal Video?
  • Yep! The vast majority of Personal Videos are simple selfie videos made on smartphones. There’s no need to use sophisticated equipment, write a script, or edit your video. Personal Videos don’t need to be fancy to be effective, but don’t be afraid to get creative by bringing in kids, pets, or donning school pride gear. Just be yourself, be authentic, and tell a compelling story!
• FAQ: I uploaded my Personal Video and went back to the campaign page, but I don’t see my video yet. Why?
  • You’ll see it soon! Each and every Personal Video is reviewed by a member of the GiveCampus team to ensure that it’s up to school standards before it is approved and posted to the campaign page.
• FAQ: When should I post my Personal Video?
  • As soon as possible! Uploading your Personal Video as soon as possible-- and preferably before the public launch of the campaign-- is a great idea. When the first wave of donors visit the campaign page, they’ll be all the more inspired to give if they can see the faces and stories of their peers on the campaign page.

*Pro Tip: No one likes to be the first to do something-- especially when it involves being on camera! Inspire your Advocates by taking the plunge and being the first to upload a Personal Video.

Step 4: Share the campaign link using the built-in sharing buttons

Spreading the word about a campaign is one of an Advocate’s top responsibilities. When an Advocate shares the campaign link while logged into their GiveCampus account via the built-in sharing buttons (the ones that are located under the campaign video and on the Advocates tab), we track the number of donors, dollars, and link clicks they inspired and celebrate their impact on the Advocates tab.

• FAQ: When should I share the campaign link?
  • Short answer: as early and as often as possible! Long answer: it depends on the type of campaign. For time-based campaigns like giving days or week-long challenges, Advocates may be asked to refrain from sharing the campaign link until the official public launch of the campaign-- even though Advocates may have been given early access to the campaign page to stake Matches and Challenges and upload Personal Videos. But after the public launch of the campaign, let the sharing blitz begin! Share the campaign link with updates about campaign milestones, screenshots of Leaderboards to rally your class year or designation, and to spread the word about exciting Matching or Challenge gift opportunities.
• FAQ: I shared the campaign link, but my name isn’t showing up on the Advocates tab. Why?
  • This can be due to any of the following reasons:
    • You weren’t logged into a GiveCampus user account when you shared the campaign link. The link that is generated via the sharing buttons will only track impact to a specific Advocate if that Advocate was logged into their GiveCampus user account when they used the sharing button.
    • You shared a campaign link other than the link that is generated via the built-in sharing buttons. Only the link that is generated via the sharing buttons is unique to a specific Advocate, and can therefore be used to track a specific Advocate’s impact. Copying the campaign URL from a browser won’t track to a specific Advocate.
    • No one has clicked on the link yet. An Advocate’s name won’t appear on the Advocates tab-- and their sharing impact won’t be tracked-- until at least three other people in separate browser sessions click on the Advocate’s link and visit the campaign page. This is both to celebrate Advocacy that inspires others to get involved with the campaign as much as possible, and to prevent any (well-intentioned, of course 😉) misuse of the tool such as sharing an Advocate link to a private feed or gaming the impact tracker by an Advocate repeatedly clicking on their own link.

*Pro tip: When asking your Advocates to share the campaign link, emphasize the importance of writing their own call-to-action messages with the link. The language should convey why the Advocate is getting involved with the campaign and why others should get involved, too. The more personalized and authentic the case for giving, the more effective the Advocacy.

*Pro tip: Encourage your Advocates to share the campaign link both on social media and over text and email. Sharing over social media is a great way to make sure that Advocates’ friends’ feeds are ‘flooded’ with posts about the campaign, and so that folks can see that the campaign is publicly tied to their peers’ names and faces. Direct peer-to-peer sharing over email, text message, and direct message within Facebook or Instagram often generates the most gifts to a campaign-- it’s much harder for a would-be donor to ignore a direct ask from a peer.

*Pro tip: Intentionally save this step for last when instructing your Advocates on their volunteering activities. Sharing the campaign link via the sharing buttons can have a huge impact on a campaign, and we’ve found that the sharing buttons are often the most-used Advocate feature. However, you should do your part to avoid the sharing buttons becoming the only tool your Advocate’s use. Rev up the excitement about Matches, Challenges, and Personal Videos by sharing these tools first and showing great examples of their use before diving into the sharing buttons.

Additional FAQs

Q: Can advocates be credited for offline gifts?

A: No advocates can only be linked to gifts generated online.