Campaigns vs. Posts: when to use which

The difference

Post: small, fast, one outcome. "Stock the pantry for next Sunday — $80 goal — closes in 5 days."

Campaign: larger, structured, often multi-phase or matched. "Build the new church kitchen — $25,000 goal — closes when funded."

Schema-wise, campaigns are tracked in the campaigns table with a richer data model: goal_amount + goal_amount_cents (both required), a fund_release_trigger (immediate / campaign_close / post_goal_met), and optional linkage to a church fund.

When to use a campaign

• Genuinely large goals ($5,000+). Smaller goals belong in posts.
• Phased outcomes. When the Giving funds a sequence — site prep, then construction, then equipment.
• Matched giving windows. When a major Giver has agreed to match contributions during a defined window.
• Multi-month timeline. Asks that need 60-120 days to fund.

When NOT to use a campaign

• Regular weekly asks. Use posts. Campaigns are not the default.
• Vague long-term support. "Support our annual budget" is not a campaign; it''s a fundraising pitch. The platform is not designed for it.
• Anything you could split into 10 small posts. Default to splitting.

Fund release triggers

When you create a campaign, you choose how Gifts move:

• immediate — Gifts settle and become available to the Organization on the normal hold schedule, exactly as with posts.
• campaign_close — Gifts are held until the campaign closes (goal hit or end date reached), then released as a batch.
• post_goal_met — Gifts are held until the goal is met specifically (end-date close releases them too, but only after the goal threshold is reached).

The schema enforces this via the campaigns.fund_release_trigger CHECK.

Common mistakes

• Using a campaign for everything. Campaigns are heavy; posts are light. Default to light.
• Setting the campaign goal too high. A campaign that drags for 6 months wears out followers. Better to ladder: do a $5K campaign now, a $5K campaign in three months.
• Forgetting the fund link. If the campaign is benefiting a specific church fund, set campaigns.fund_id so the linkage is preserved. See features/funds-church.