Early gifts to selected designations before public launch

This article covers GiveCampus campaign administration. Available controls can vary between the classic and redesigned campaign interfaces.

The pre-launch page’s Make Your Gift Early button requires the underlying campaign to be online and Allow early giving enabled. The normal URL can still display the active pre-launch page until it expires; launching the underlying campaign and showing its full page are separate. Configure the intended designation choices on the donation form used by that button and review them again before the main launch. The pre-launch button does not itself define an independent designation subset. A launched/directly accessible campaign or early-giving link is shareable; hiding discovery or retaining the pre-launch page is not a private-access restriction.

Can I launch for early giving and then return the campaign to Draft?

Yes. You can return a launched campaign to Draft, including one launched to enable early giving on its Pre-Launch Page. While the campaign is in Draft, donors cannot access the campaign or make new gifts to it. You must relaunch it before it can accept new donations again.

Early giving requires both a launched campaign and the early-giving option on the Pre-Launch Page. Leaving that option selected does not allow giving while the campaign is in Draft. Launching the underlying campaign and choosing to display its Pre-Launch Page are separate settings.

1. Open Online Giving → Campaigns and select the campaign.
2. Open its settings. One place to find the campaign action buttons is Giving Experience → Form Settings & Display → Form Settings.
3. Click Back to Draft in the action area at the top right.
4. Confirm the prompt to take the campaign offline. It warns that the campaign will not be visible to donors and will not accept new donations until relaunched.
5. Check for the confirmation that the campaign has been sent back to Draft. Check donor access in a signed-out/private browser window; your administrator preview is not the donor experience.

Superadmin, Fundraising Superadmin, Advanced Campaign Admin, and Crowdfunding Admin include launching campaigns and sending them back to Draft, within their assigned campaign access. Basic Campaign Admin does not include those actions. Ask an administrator with one of the listed roles to make the change; partners assign roles rather than toggling a separate permission within a role.

If Back to Draft is disabled because the campaign is the school's Make a Gift redirect target or Campaign Backup Form, that assignment must be changed first. Review the displayed warning and have an authorized administrator or Support help with the assignment. Do not use a different URL to bypass the restriction.

To accept new gifts again, review the campaign dates and settings, use Launch Campaign, and confirm. Review the Pre-Launch Page early-giving option before sharing it. Returning to Draft does not refund gifts or retract messages already sent.