Campaigns and priorities

Campaign or a single gift pyramid?

A gift pyramid answers one question: how many gifts of each size it takes to reach one goal, and whether you have the prospects to ask. A campaign is for when one goal is made of several parts, such as a new building, an endowment and a program, and you want each part planned on its own and seen together.

Choose a single gift pyramid for a campaign with one purpose, or to test a goal quickly. Choose a campaign when your case has distinct priorities with their own donors, or when leadership asks “how is each part of the campaign doing?”. Not sure which pyramid you need at all? See Which pyramid answers which question.

Note: Priorities are created inside a campaign. A gift pyramid you've already built can't be moved into a campaign, and a priority can't be taken out of one.

Creating a campaign

Choose New campaign on your Pyramids dashboard, next to New pyramid. If your dashboard is still empty, choose Start a campaign in the line under the three pyramid cards. Anyone on your team can create a campaign.

The Start a campaign page asks for three things:

Campaign name

Required, up to 200 characters, for example “Growing Together Campaign”. You can rename it later with Rename beside the name on the campaign page.

Campaign goal

Required. The overall goal in dollars, more than $0. Dollar signs and commas are fine, and it's rounded to whole dollars. It's set on its own: the priorities' goals don't have to add up to it, and the difference shows as unallocated.

Giving history

The gift file every priority will count prospects from: one of your imported gift files (newest first, with the date it was imported), or None for now. Your newest file is chosen to start with. Asks files and files that haven't finished importing aren't listed. If you have no files yet, the hint links to Upload transactions. See The campaign's file.

Choose Create the campaign. The campaign page opens with Add a priority ready for your first priority. (Cancel goes back to your dashboard.) If something's missing you'll see “Give the campaign a name.”, “Enter the campaign goal.” or “Enter the goal as a dollar amount, like 5,000,000.”

The campaign's file

All of a campaign's priorities count prospects from one gift file. That's what makes it possible to compare a donor across priorities and count each donor only once. The card under the campaign's numbers shows which file it is, for example “Prospects from gifts-2026.csv. Every priority counts prospects from this file, through Sep 30, 2026. Each donor counts in one priority only.” The date is the latest gift in the file.

Choosing or changing the file

1. On the campaign page, pick a file in the list on that card, or None for now.
2. Choose Use this file (or Use it, when the campaign has no file yet).

Every priority moves to that file and the whole campaign is counted again. With None for now, every priority's counts are cleared. To use a file you haven't uploaded yet, choose Upload a new file, upload it as usual (see the columns a gift file needs), then come back and choose it here once it's imported. On a priority's own page, Choose the campaign's file and Use a different file bring you to this card, because a priority's file is always the campaign's.

Tip: To seed priorities from funds, the file needs a fund column. See Where funds come from.

A campaign without a file still works: add priorities, set their goals and type your own counts into each priority's Prospects identified column (see Prospects identified). Linking funds, overlaps and data coverage need a file.

Priorities

A priority is one part of the campaign, like “New building”, “Endowment” or “Program expansion”. Each priority is an ordinary gift pyramid: it has its own goal, levels, prospects per gift, prospect rule, scenarios, exports and prospect plan. Two things are different: its prospects are seeded from the funds you link to it, and it shares donors with the other priorities without counting anyone twice.

Adding a priority

1. Choose Add priority at the top right of the campaign page. (The Add a priority card is already open while the campaign has none.)
2. Priority name: required, up to 200 characters.
3. Goal: the priority's goal in dollars. The box suggests whatever of the campaign goal is still unallocated, and the hint says how much that is, for example “$1,000,000 of the campaign goal is unallocated.”
4. Seed from these funds: tick one or more funds from the campaign's file. Each shows how many donors gave to it. Leave them all unticked to draw on the whole file. See Funds.
5. Choose Add priority.

The new priority starts like any new gift pyramid, from Settings › Pyramid defaults: the standard capital campaign chart for its goal (or your default prospects per gift at every level) and your default concentration target, in a scenario called “Current”. If the campaign has a file, the whole campaign is then counted again. Errors read “Give the priority a name.” or “Enter the priority's goal as a dollar amount, like 2,500,000.”

While your organization has no gift pyramid yet, the card also offers Set up this priority with the guide, which walks you through a first gift pyramid step by step and makes it this campaign's priority, with a Seed from these funds step of its own. (In the guide, the Part of a campaign? choice does the same.)

Opening and working on a priority

Choose the priority's name or Open in the Priorities table, or its small pyramid under Compare priorities. A priority's page says Campaign priority above its name and its breadcrumb leads back to the campaign. Once the campaign has a file, a panel on the priority's page shows what it's Seeded from and its Data coverage, with Change funds and See the campaign links; until then, Choose the campaign's file takes you to the campaign's file card.

Everything else works as on any gift pyramid: levels, scenarios, the prospect rule, exports and the Prospect plan. Changing a priority's goal, template, levels or prospect rule counts the whole campaign again, because it can change who fits which priority.

A priority's goal

A priority's goal is the goal of its current scenario, and you change it on the priority's own page. The roll-up always uses each priority's current scenario, so selecting another scenario tab on a priority (one with a different goal, say) changes the campaign's numbers too.

The order of priorities

Priorities are listed in the order you added them. The order matters in one place: when a donor gave the same amount to two priorities' funds, the priority listed first counts them. There's no way to reorder priorities.

Renaming

To rename the campaign, choose Rename beside its name, type the new name and choose Rename. A priority keeps the name you gave it when you added it; there's no way to rename one. You can rename the scenarios inside a priority as on any gift pyramid.

Removing a priority

A priority is removed by deleting its gift pyramid:

1. Go to Settings › Data.
2. Under Pyramids, find the priority's name (it's listed as a Gift pyramid) and choose Delete.
3. Choose Delete pyramid to confirm.

The owner can delete any priority; a member can delete a priority they added. It leaves the campaign along with its linked funds, scenarios, any donor moves into it, and its prospect plan.

Careful: Deleting a priority can't be undone. Its prospect plan, gift officers and stages go with it.

The other priorities keep their counts until the campaign is next counted again. Donors the deleted priority had counted are then counted in another priority they fit. To recount straight away, open any priority's Change funds and choose Save funds.

Funds: seeding each priority

The donors most likely to support a new building are the ones who already give to your building fund. Linking funds to a priority tells TruePyramids where that priority's prospects come from.

Where funds come from

Funds come from your gift file's fund column: a column kept as a detail column whose header includes the word “fund”, such as Fund, Fund name or Fund (GL code). If a file has several, the first is used. When you pull gifts from a CRM, include its Fund field in the fields you pull (see Connecting your CRM).

Each fund is listed with how many donors gave to it: the number of constituents in the file with a gift to that fund (money received or a planned gift) in any year. If the file has no fund column, you'll see “gifts-2026.csv has no fund column, so prospects come from the whole file.”

Note: If your file calls the column something like Designation, it won't be recognized as a fund column, because the header has to include “fund”. Rename the header, for example to Fund designation, before you upload.

Linking and changing funds

• When you add a priority, tick funds under Seed from these funds.
• Later, choose Change funds under the priority's name in the Priorities table, tick or untick funds under Funds for the priority, and choose Save funds (or Cancel). Change funds on the priority's own page and in the thin data card bring you to the same place.

Saving counts every priority again, so donors who now fit better in another priority move there. Linked funds show as chips under each priority's name and in the priority's Seeded from panel. You can link one fund or several, and the same fund can be linked to more than one priority.

Funds can only be linked while the campaign has a file; without one, you'll see “Choose a giving history file above to link funds.”

Who a priority's prospects can come from

A priority with linked funds draws on two groups:

• donors to any of its linked funds (money received or planned gifts, in any year of the file), and
• anyone in the file with a capacity rating, whatever they've given to.

From that pool, the priority's own prospect rule decides who counts at which level, exactly as on any gift pyramid. Funds narrow down who can be a prospect; they don't change how the rule measures giving. With the standard rule, “gave at least 10% of the level over the last 5 years” still counts everything the donor gave, not just gifts to the linked funds.

A priority with no linked funds draws on the whole file, like a gift pyramid of its own. It wins few of the donors another priority also fits: anyone who gave to that priority's funds is counted there, because a priority without funds has $0 of fund giving from everyone, and a tie (a rated donor who gave to no linked fund, say) goes to whichever priority is listed first. See Donors who fit more than one priority.

Donors who fit more than one priority

A loyal donor might fit the building, the endowment and the program. Counting them as a prospect in all three would make the campaign look better prospected than it is. So each donor is counted in one priority only.

How donors are placed

• A donor fits a priority when that priority's current scenario would count them: they're in its pool and its prospect rule qualifies them at some level.
• A donor who fits several priorities is counted in the one they gave most to, measured by their gifts to each priority's linked funds (money received and planned gifts, over every year in the file).
• On a tie, including $0 everywhere (a rated donor who never gave to any linked fund, say), the priority listed first counts them.
• In the other priorities they also fit: they're flagged there but not counted.

A priority's page says so in its Seeded from panel: “Donors who fit another priority better are counted there, not here.” A priority's prospect plan also leaves them out of its suggestions; see Prospect plans for campaign priorities.

Reviewing the list

When at least one donor fits more than one priority, the campaign page shows Donors who fit more than one priority, with how many there are. Choose Review (for example Review 3 donors) to open the list, or Hide list to close it; it's open to start with when there are 10 or fewer. Each row shows:

constituentid

The donor's ID.

Counted in

The priority that counts them, with “Moved by you” and Reset if someone on your team moved them.

Also fits

Each other priority they fit, with what they gave to the counted priority's funds against that priority's funds. “Endowment · gave $40,000 vs $15,000” means $40,000 to the funds of the priority they're counted in, and $15,000 to the Endowment's funds.

Move to

A list of the priorities they fit, to move them.

To find someone, type all or part of an ID into Find a constituentid and choose Find; Show all clears the search. The list shows 50 donors at a time, with Previous and Next.

Moving a donor

Your team may know better: a donor who gave most to the building fund may be your best endowment prospect. Pick another priority in the donor's Move to list. The move happens at once (in a browser without JavaScript, choose Move), the row says “Moved by you”, and the whole campaign is counted again so every priority's numbers reflect it.

• You can only move a donor to a priority they fit.
• A move holds through later recounts as long as the donor still fits that priority. If a change to funds or the prospect rule means they no longer fit it, they go back to the priority they gave most to.
• Choose Reset to undo a move: the donor goes back to the priority they gave most to, and the campaign is counted again.

Data coverage

Every priority's prospect counts rest on your data: donors to its funds, and capacity ratings. Data coverage tells you whether there's enough of it to trust the counts: Good or Thin. You'll see it:

• in the Data coverage column of the Priorities table: a Good or Thin label, the number of fund donors (or “No funds linked”, or “No file yet”) and the share of prospects that are rated, such as “38% rated”;
• on the priority's own page, for example “Data coverage: Good · 1,186 Building Fund donors · 62% of prospects have a capacity rating”;
• on the campaign's dashboard card, as “thin data” under a priority, and as purple progress bars wherever a thin priority's prospects are shown.

How Good and Thin are decided

Two signals are checked:

1. Fund donors: at least 2 donors to the priority's linked funds for every prospect it needs.
2. Ratings: at least 50% of the prospects it counted from the file have a capacity rating.

A priority is Thin when the campaign has no file, when the priority has no linked fund, or when both signals fall short. Either signal on its own is enough for Good.

Thin doesn't mean the numbers are wrong. They're still counted the same way; they just rest on less of your own data, so treat them with more caution.

The thin data card

When any priority is thin, the campaign page shows a card titled Thin data makes these numbers less certain, naming the thin priorities and why, with three suggestions. The same card shows on a thin priority's own page.

• Link funds to the priority (or Link more funds to the priority): if donors to related funds would support this work, link those funds too. Change funds opens the priority's funds; with several thin priorities it takes you to the first of them in the table.
• Add a capacity column to your upload: wealth-screening ratings let people count as prospects even if they haven't given to these funds yet. Upload a new file starts an upload; then choose that file on the campaign.
• Survey donors about their interests: asking which programs matter most to them can turn up supporters for a priority who haven't given to its funds.

The roll-up

The campaign page is the roll-up: the campaign's own numbers at the top, then the file, the priorities side by side, the thin data card, Compare priorities, the donors in more than one priority, and the assumptions behind it all. Anyone on your team can open and change it.

Campaign goal

The first tile holds the campaign goal. Change it right there: it saves a moment after you stop typing (or when you press Enter), and the page refreshes with the new numbers.

Priority goals and unallocated

Priority goals adds up the goals of every priority, each from its current scenario. Under it, the campaign goal minus that total:

• “$1,000,000 unallocated”: part of the campaign goal isn't assigned to any priority yet. It also appears as an Unallocated row at the bottom of the Priorities table, with its share of the campaign goal and “Not yet assigned to a priority”.
• “$500,000 more than the campaign goal”: the priorities add up to more than the campaign goal. The table row then reads Over-allocated, with “The priorities' goals add up to more than the campaign goal”.

Unallocated isn't an error. Many campaigns keep part of the goal for unrestricted or yet-to-be-named needs. If you want every dollar assigned, raise a priority's goal or add a priority for the rest.

Prospects identified

The total of every priority's Prospects identified, out of the total prospects all priorities need, for example “214 of 891 needed”. It includes counts you've typed in on a priority's page.

Concentration

The concentration tile checks the whole campaign the way each gift pyramid checks itself (see Concentration): what share of the priority goals the top gifts make up. It takes every planned gift across all the priorities, each level's gifts plus each priority's “many” row as gifts of its average size, finds the top 10% of them (or whatever your target says), and divides their total by the priority goals combined.

The label shows the target, for example “Concentration · target 90/10”. That's the target every priority shares; if the priorities have different targets, it's your organization's default from Settings › Pyramid defaults. The tile shows “—” until there's a priority.

The Priorities table

The Lead gift column

The lead gift is the gift most campaigns rise or fall on, so each priority shows where it stands:

“Lead gift: 3 prospects identified”

At least as many prospects as the lead gift needs.

“Lead gift: 1 prospect, 2 needed”

Some, but not enough. Shown in purple.

“Lead gift: 2 prospects needed”

Nothing has been counted for the lead gift yet, typically because there's no file.

“No one in your file near $1,200,000”

No one in the priority's pool has a rating or giving that reaches the lead gift. This is the gift pyramid's unfillable level flag for the top level.

“No levels yet”

The priority's current scenario has no levels.

Compare priorities

Each priority as a small pyramid in three bands: lead gifts (its first four levels), major gifts (the next three) and community gifts (the rest). The darker a band, the more of the prospects it needs are identified. A surplus at one level doesn't make up for a shortfall at another. Under each pyramid: the priority's goal and the share of its prospects identified, for example “$6,000,000 · 42% of prospects identified”. Choose a pyramid to open that priority.

Assumptions behind these numbers

The bottom of the campaign page spells out how every number above was worked out: that each priority uses its current scenario, how unallocated is figured, how priorities are seeded and how fund giving is measured, the one-priority-per-donor rule, the data coverage thresholds, how concentration is measured, and which file and date the data runs through. It's worth copying into board materials.

When the campaign is counted again

Because one change can move donors between priorities, the whole campaign is counted together. That happens when you:

• add a priority (when the campaign has a file),
• save a priority's funds,
• choose the campaign's file,
• move a donor or reset a move, or
• change any priority's goal, template, levels or prospect rule, or add a scenario to it.

While it runs, the page shows “Counting prospects for every priority…” with a percentage, and it refreshes by itself when the count is done. Open pages for the priorities refresh too.

The campaign card on your dashboard

Each campaign shows on your Pyramids dashboard as one card, most recently updated first. Its priorities aren't listed again as separate pyramid cards. The card shows:

• “Campaign · 3 gift pyramids” and the campaign's name;
• the goal and the priority goals, for example “Goal $10,000,000 · $9,000,000 in priorities · $1,000,000 unallocated” (or “… over the goal”; nothing extra when they match exactly);
• prospects identified across the campaign, with a bar, and when it was last updated;
• a tile for each priority: its name, its goal in short form (“$6M goal”), a bar and “52 of 297 prospects”, with “· thin data” when its coverage is thin.

Choose the card to open the campaign. A campaign with no priorities yet says “No priorities yet. Open the campaign to add one.”

Exporting the campaign

Choose Export Excel at the top of the campaign page. The workbook is named after the campaign, for example Growing Together Campaign.xlsx, and has two sheets.

Campaign: the campaign's name, your organization, the export date and data file; the campaign goal in a shaded cell; then one row per priority with these columns:

Below the priorities, an Unallocated row (a formula: the campaign goal minus the priorities' goals) and a Total row with formulas for the goals, prospects needed and prospects identified, then a note explaining data coverage and the one-priority-per-donor rule. Change the campaign goal cell and Unallocated and Of campaign recalculate.

Donors in more than one: one row per donor who fits more than one priority, with constituentid, Counted in, Gave to its funds (to the funds of the priority they're counted in), Moved by you (“Yes” when moved) and Also fits (each other priority and what they gave to its funds). It has a filter on each column and holds up to 50,000 donors.

Each priority's own chart exports from its gift pyramid page (see Excel export), and each prospect plan from its plan (see Exporting the plan).

Deleting priorities and campaigns

• A priority: delete its gift pyramid in Settings › Data. See Removing a priority.
• The campaign's file: deleting that upload in Settings › Data deletes every pyramid built from it, which means every priority, with their prospect plans. The campaign stays, with its name and goal but no file and no priorities. See Deleting uploads and pyramids.
• The campaign itself: there's no button to delete a campaign on its own. Its card stays on your dashboard, even with no priorities. The owner's Delete everything in Settings › Data deletes the whole workspace, campaigns included.

Careful: Deleting the campaign's file deletes all of its priorities at once, along with every other pyramid built from that file. It can't be undone.

Worked example: a $10 million campaign

Advanced: how campaigns are counted

Who fits a priority

For each priority, take every constituent in the campaign's file. Keep those in its pool: if it has linked funds, anyone with a gift of type one-time, recurring, pledge payment, in-kind or planned to one of those funds, plus anyone with a capacity rating; with no linked funds, everyone. Apply the priority's current scenario's prospect rule and levels, exactly as a gift pyramid counts. Everyone counted at any level, including those counted only in the Planned column, fits the priority.

How overlaps are decided

1. List the priorities in campaign order (the order added).
2. A constituent who fits one priority is counted there.
3. A constituent who fits several is counted in the priority someone on your team moved them to, if they still fit it.
4. Otherwise, in the priority with the largest given amount: the sum of their gifts to that priority's linked funds, of type one-time, recurring, pledge payment, in-kind or planned, over every date in the file. Open pledges don't count. A priority with no linked funds has $0 for everyone.
5. Ties go to the priority listed first.

Every scenario of every priority, not only the current one, is then counted leaving out the constituents placed in another priority. Constituent IDs are compared ignoring capital letters.

How coverage is computed

• Fund donors = distinct constituents with at least one gift to a linked fund (one-time, recurring, pledge payment, in-kind or planned), any year in the file.
• Needed = the prospects the priority's current scenario needs (gifts × prospects per gift, added over its levels).
• Counted = prospects the current scenario counted from the file at any level. Planned-column prospects and counts you typed in yourself aren't included: typed counts aren't data.
• Rated = how many of those have a capacity rating in the file; rated share = Rated ÷ Counted × 100, rounded to a whole percent (0% when nothing was counted).
• Good when the campaign has a file, the priority has at least one linked fund, and either fund donors ≥ 2 × needed or (Counted > 0 and rated share ≥ 50%). Otherwise Thin.

How the roll-up numbers are worked out

• Priority goals = the sum of each priority's current-scenario goal. Unallocated = campaign goal − priority goals (negative means over-allocated).
• Of campaign = priority goal ÷ campaign goal, rounded to a whole percent.
• Prospects identified and needed are the sums of the priorities' totals. Identified isn't capped, so a priority with more than it needs can push the total up; the progress bars stop at 100%.
• Concentration: list every level's gifts across all priorities, plus each priority's “many” row as its gift count at its average size. Take the top N% of that number of gifts, rounded up (at least 1), largest first; divide their total by the priority goals and round to a whole percent. N is the priorities' shared target, or the organization default when they differ.
• Compare priorities shading for each band = Σ min(identified, needed) ÷ Σ needed over the band's levels; a band's opacity runs from 15% (none) to 100% (all).

How a recount runs

A recount is one build for each file the priorities use (normally one), run as a build of the first-listed priority on that file. That build counts every priority on the file together, saves which donors fit more than one, and tells any open page for the campaign or its priorities to refresh.

Edge cases

• Selecting or deleting a scenario on a priority doesn't count the campaign again. The scenario you select shows the counts from the last recount, and who fits which priority is settled again at the next one.
• Deleting a priority doesn't recount the others; see Removing a priority.
• Switching files keeps each priority's linked funds by name. A fund the new file doesn't have matches no one. Change funds lists only the new file's funds, and saving drops any the file doesn't have.
• Adding a priority without a file keeps no funds, even if you ticked some, because there's nothing to check them against.
• Up to 200 funds are listed, in alphabetical order.
• Split gifts from a CRM can arrive with one fund value naming several funds, separated by semicolons (for example Building Fund; Endowment Fund). That value is listed as a fund of its own; link it wherever it applies.
• The same fund on two priorities puts its donors in both pools with equal giving, so the first-listed priority counts them unless you move them.
• Search in the overlaps list matches any part of a constituent ID.

Questions

Do I need a campaign, or is one gift pyramid enough?

One gift pyramid is enough for a campaign with a single purpose. Use a campaign when your goal is split into priorities with their own goals and donors and you want each planned on its own and rolled up. See Campaign or a single gift pyramid?

Can I add a gift pyramid I've already built to a campaign?

No. Priorities are created inside the campaign with Add priority. To reuse a pyramid's setup, add the priority with the same goal and then match its levels and rule on the priority's page.

Why does my campaign show money unallocated?

The campaign goal is set on its own, and the priorities' goals add up to less. Raise a priority's goal or add a priority for the rest, or leave it if that's intended.

What does Over-allocated mean?

The priorities' goals add up to more than the campaign goal. Raise the campaign goal in its tile, or lower a priority's goal on its page.

Why can't I pick any funds?

Either the campaign has no file yet (“Choose a giving history file above to link funds.”) or the file has no fund column. The column's header has to include the word “fund”. See Where funds come from.

Our CRM calls them designations. Will that work?

Only if the column's header includes “fund”. Rename a Designation column to something like Fund designation before uploading. CRM connections name the field Fund, so include it in the fields you pull.

Why isn't a big donor counted in the priority I expected?

They fit more than one priority and gave more to another priority's funds, or tied and another priority is listed first. Find them in Donors who fit more than one priority and move them.

I moved a donor, but they went back. Why?

A move holds only while the donor still fits that priority. If its funds or prospect rule changed so that its rule no longer counts them, they return to the priority they gave most to.

Does Thin mean our numbers are wrong?

No. It means the counts rest on few fund donors and few capacity ratings, so they're less certain. Link more funds, add capacity ratings, or treat that priority's numbers with caution.

Can we plan a campaign without uploading gifts?

Yes. Create it with None for now, add priorities and type each level's prospect counts on the priorities' pages. Funds, overlaps and data coverage need a file, and every priority shows Thin until there is one.

Can I rename a priority?

No. A priority keeps the name it was given. You can rename the campaign and the scenarios inside a priority.

Can I change the order of priorities?

No. They're listed in the order added, and the first-listed priority wins ties for a donor. Moving donors lets you override any tie.

How do I delete a campaign?

There's no button to delete a campaign on its own. You can delete its priorities, or its file, in Settings › Data; the campaign itself only goes when the owner deletes the whole workspace. See Deleting priorities and campaigns.

Why is the campaign's concentration different from each priority's?

The campaign pools every priority's gifts and takes the top 10% of all of them, so a large priority's big gifts lift the campaign's figure. In the worked example each priority shows 86% and the campaign 87%.

Who on my team can change a campaign?

Anyone on the team can create campaigns, change the goal, name and file, add priorities, link funds and move donors. Deleting a priority is limited to the owner and the person who added it. See Owners and members.

Where do we assign gift officers for a campaign?

On each priority's prospect plan: open the priority and choose Prospect plan. Its capacity check compares your team with the prospects needed across the whole campaign. See Prospect plans.