This guide walks you through the manager’s side of cadences: building a cadence template once in your school settings, spinning it up as a shared cadence your team works from, and customizing it for each segment so every group of constituents gets the right touch at the right time. 

For those using GC GO for Students, all work assigned to students is done so via Shared Cadences. 

What templates and shared cadences do for you

A cadence is a series of templated steps — an intro, a follow-up, a meeting ask, a stewardship update — that move a constituent toward an outcome. A cadence template is the reusable blueprint those cadences start from. And a shared cadence is one your team runs together, so everyone’s working from the same plan.

Put together, that means:

• Build it once, reuse it everywhere. Define your steps and timing in a template, then launch a new cadence from it in seconds instead of rebuilding from scratch.
• One playbook, consistent quality. Every user works from the same steps and the same approved messaging, so the outreach sounds like your program — not fifteen different people.
• Customize per segment without starting over. Take the same template and tune the steps, timing, and templates for young alumni, current parents, lapsed donors, or any group you’re working.
• Steps that come with their own messages. Each step links to a message template, so when a user opens the task, the right copy is already populated.

Before you start: the prerequisite

Cadence templates are set up at the school level, so a couple of things need to be in place first. If you don’t see what this guide describes, check these with your GiveCampus admin:

1. You have admin-level access. Creating templates and shared cadences for your team is a permission granted at the school level. Your users need access to run cadences and complete steps, but building the template is a manager job.

Part 1: Build a cadence template in your school settings

Start with the blueprint. A template defines the shape of your outreach — the steps, their order, their timing, and the message each one carries — so every cadence you launch later inherits that structure.

1. Go to School Settings and open the Cadences (template) section.
2. Click New Template and give it a clear, descriptive name — something your team will recognize at a glance, like “5-Step Qualification” or “Fall Stewardship Series.”
3. Add your steps. For each step, click Add Step and fill in:
   • Step Title — what the user is doing (e.g., “Intro email,” “First call,” “Meeting ask”).
   • Step Number — the order this step falls in the sequence.
   • Due Date / timing — when this step comes due relative to the start of the cadence (e.g., Day 1, Day 3, Day 7).
   • Linked message template — the email, text, or call script the step should populate. If you don’t have one ready, choose Create New Template from the dropdown and you’ll be taken to build it, then dropped right back here.
4. Use the pencil icon next to any step to edit it, and reorder or add steps until the sequence reads the way you’d coach it.
5. Save the template.

💡 Tip: Build your message templates before — or while — you build the cadence. A step is only as good as the script it hands your student, and a well-written, on-brand template is what keeps fifteen callers sounding like one program.

Your template is now a reusable starting point. You can launch as many cadences from it as you like — and that’s where segments come in.

Part 2: Launch a shared cadence from your template

Now turn the blueprint into something live your team can work.

1. Click Cadences in the left-hand menu to open the cadence management page.
2. Click New Cadence.
3. Select your template as the starting point. The cadence loads with all your steps, timing, and linked message templates already in place.
4. Give the cadence a name that signals who it’s for — because you’ll likely run several from the same template, one per segment. “5-Step Qualification — Young Alumni” beats “Qualification 1.”
5. Make this a shared cadence so you can assign it to specific teams.

You’ve now got a working cadence that started life as your template. Repeat this step once per segment, and you’ve got a coordinated program.

Part 3: Customize the cadence for each segment

This is the payoff. The same template can power very different outreach depending on who’s on the other end — and you tune each cadence without ever touching the original blueprint.

For each segment you’re working, launch a cadence from the template (Part 2) and then adjust:

• Swap the messaging. Point a step at a different message template so young alumni get a casual, texting-first tone while parents get a warmer, more formal email. The structure stays; the voice changes.
• Adjust the timing. A hot lapsed-donor push might run its steps every other day; a slow stewardship series might space them over weeks. Edit a step’s due date to match the segment’s urgency.
• Add or remove steps. Add a phone step for a high-touch segment, or trim a step for a group that just needs a light reminder. Use Add Step or the pencil icon to edit, and the trash icon to remove.
• Rename for clarity. Keep each cadence’s name tied to its segment so your users always know which playbook they’re in.

Because each cadence is its own copy, changes you make here never alter the master template — and never affect the other segments running off it.

A quick example

Say you build one “4-Step Donor Qualification” template. From it you launch:

• Young Alumni (LYBUNT) — text-first steps, tight 2-day spacing, casual scripts.
• Current Parents — email-first steps, 4-day spacing, warmer tone.
• Athletics Donors — adds a fifth step referencing the team, spaced over two weeks.

One blueprint, three tailored programs, zero rebuilding.

Share it with your team

A shared cadence is what lets your students actually run the playbook you built.

• Set the cadence to shared in its setup so it’s available to the appropriate team(s).
• Users run the steps; you own the structure. They complete tasks as constituents move through the cadence, while the template and timing stay under your control.
• Everyone sees the same thing. Because the steps carry their linked message templates, every user opens a task with the right, approved copy already populated.

Add constituents — by segment

With your cadences customized, load each one with the right people.

You’ll work with two tabs in the cadence management view:

• Upcoming — a holding pool. Add constituents here when you want them in the cadence but aren’t ready to start the timer.
• Active — constituents are moving through the steps; due dates are live and the clock is running.

To add a few at a time: On either tab, click Assign Constituents and pick them by name.

To add a segment in bulk from GC GO: Go to your Prospects or Constituents tab, filter or select the group you want (your segment), then click Add Selected to Cadence. Choose the cadence for that segment and send them to Upcoming or straight to Active.

To add a segment in bulk from a list: Navigate to Saved Lists and upload your list as a CSV. Once uploaded, click the three dots to the right and click Add to Cadence. Choose the cadence for that list.

On the Active tab you’ll see each constituent’s status at a glance: when their cadence started, which step they’re on, and whether any steps are past due — so you can spot a stalled segment early.

How your users complete the steps

Once a cadence is active, the work shows up where your users already live: the Tasks page.

1. A due cadence step appears on the user’s Tasks page.
2. They click the cadence title to open the step.
3. The task opens with the step’s linked message template already populated.
4. They make any final tweaks, send or log the outreach, and complete the step.

When they finish a step, the next one comes due on the schedule you built into the cadence. 

A few tips to manage cadences like a pro

• Templatize the message, not just the step. A step with no script is a missed coaching opportunity. Link every step to a strong, on-brand message template.
• Name everything for your future self. Six segments deep, “Qualification — Parents (Spring)” will save you every time over “Cadence 4.”
• Tune timing to the relationship, not the calendar. Hot leads want a fast cadence; stewardship can breathe. Match the pace to the segment.
• Watch the Active tab for past-due steps. A cluster of overdue steps usually means a segment needs re-pacing — or a student needs a hand.
• Refine the template over time. When a sequence is clearly working, fold what you learned back into the master template so your next cadence starts even stronger.