How To: Create a Campaign

Campaigns are a great way to inspire employee participation around a specific cause, fundraising effort, volunteer initiative, or company event. Campaigns allow you to highlight one or more nonprofits, track participation, set fundraising goals, and even create campaign-specific matching rules for a limited time.  

Before You Begin

Groundswell supports two types of campaigns:

• Donation Campaigns – Encourage employees to make financial contributions to one or more nonprofits.
• Volunteer Campaigns – Encourage employees to volunteer their time for causes that matter.  

Step 1: Create Your Campaign

1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Campaigns from the left-hand navigation.
2. Click Create Campaign.
3. Choose whether you’d like to create a:
   • Donation Campaign
   • Volunteer Campaign  

Step 2: Add Campaign Details

Complete the basic information for your campaign.

Campaign Title

Choose a clear, descriptive name that employees will easily recognize.

Description

Explain:

• What the campaign supports
• Why it matters
• How employees can participate

Need help getting started? Select Use AI to generate a draft description that you can edit and customize.  

Cover Image

Upload an image or choose one from the Groundswell image gallery.

Additional Media (Optional)

You can also add:

• Up to five additional images
• Videos
• Campaign updates and additional content

These can help keep employees engaged throughout your campaign.  

Step 3: Choose Your Audience

Next, decide who should be able to view and participate in your campaign.

You can choose from:

• All employees – Everyone in your organization.
• Selected individual employees – Manually choose participants.
• Selected employee segments – Target employees based on criteria such as department, office location, or tenure.  

Note: If you’d like to use employee segments, they must already exist in your account. If they haven’t been created yet, you can create them from the Segment Builder before publishing your campaign.

Step 4: Select Your Charity and Goal

Choose whether your campaign should:

• Support one or more specific nonprofits
• Be available for donations to any eligible charity

If you’re highlighting specific organizations, click + Add Charity to associate them with your campaign.  

Set a Goal (Optional)

You can also create a fundraising goal to help employees track progress throughout the campaign.

Campaign totals include:

• Employee donations
• Company matching contributions (if enabled)

Note: Recurring donations do not count toward campaign goals.

Step 5: Configure Company Matching

Choose how matching should work for this campaign.

Use Existing Match Rules

Apply your company’s current matching program to campaign donations.

Create a Campaign Match

Create a separate, campaign-specific matching program with its own:

• Match ratio
• Match limits
• Funding account

This is a great option for Giving Season, disaster relief efforts, or other limited-time initiatives.  

Step 6: Schedule Your Campaign

Choose when your campaign should begin and end.

You can:

• Set a start date
• Set an end date
• Include specific start and end times
• Select the appropriate time zone for your organization  

Step 7: Launch Your Campaign

Before publishing, review all of your campaign settings.

When you’re ready, click Create Campaign.

Your campaign will automatically become available based on the start date you’ve selected.  

Tips for a Successful Campaign

To maximize employee engagement:

• Choose a compelling title and cover image.
• Write a clear description that explains why the campaign matters.
• Set a realistic fundraising goal.
• Share your campaign regularly through company communications and internal channels to keep participation high.