DIY Campaigns
Some supporters love taking part in set challenges like “Run 100 Miles in May,” but many prefer the freedom to fundraise their own way - whether that’s hosting a bake sale, shaving their head, taking on a fitness challenge, or celebrating a milestone birthday.
DIY Campaigns give your supporters that freedom and provides an always on way to fundraise outside of fixed events, while keeping everything connected in GivePanel.
With DIY, they can:
Fundraise anytime - DIY can be open year round (or a fixed period of time for custom events), such as month long coffee mornings. Embed the form on your website for evergreen campaigns.
Share what they’re doing and when - from marathons to cake sales to birthday fundraisers
Create a fundraising page instantly on JustGiving or Facebook, directly linked to their registration
For your charity, this means offering more choice to supporters while gaining the benefits of structured data, accurate reporting, and tailored email journeys.
Every fundraiser, whether they join a set challenge or do their own thing through DIY gets the same great experience and stewardship.
Once you’ve created a DIY Campaign, you’ll also have:
A public Registration form URL - perfect for sharing widely so supporters can sign up and set up a fundraiser in just a few clicks (this can now be embedded on your website)
An Email Journey - to automate personalised messages at key moments, based on the dates of their fundraising
Interested in using DIY fundraising with GivePanel?
Our DIY solution brings supporter registration and fundraising page creation into one seamless flow.
Read the full blog post to learn how it works and the difference it could make to your fundraising.
Want to explore whether it’s right for your team? Get in touch with us to learn more or request access.
Step 1: Create your Campaign
Go to Campaigns in the top navigation, then choose Campaigns.
Click New Campaign.
On Create your fundraising campaign, select DIY Fundraising then Create DIY Campaign.
Complete Set up Campaign:
Title: the name of your DIY campaign. This becomes the event name on registration and fundraiser records created through this campaign.
Public Campaign Name (optional): if you want a different public name on supporter facing pages.
Description (internal): add any internal notes.
Default Label and Default Internal Code (optional): auto-apply to any fundraiser created by this campaign, if you don't see this in your account and would like it, please email [email protected]
Facebook Group URL (optional): used in emails and registration success messaging if you include it.
Advanced Settings: connect any Lead Forms if you plan to import leads into GivePanel
Click Save and Continue.
Tip: If you use SMS partners like Conversr, toggle those settings here so only eligible contacts sync.
Step 2: Build your Registration Form
Add Title and Logo.
Type will show as DIY Fundraiser Event.
Default Greeting and Default Message control the copy above the form.
Form fields
Drag to reorder, click a field to edit label and settings. Include Email address at minimum.
New fields for DIY campaigns
Event type (dropdown): “What type of fundraising event are you planning?”
Add your list of types, for example: Run, Walk, Cycle, Bake sale, Quiz night.Event name (text): “What is the name of your fundraising event?”
Event dates (date picker): supporters can set a single date or a start and end date. (here you can also restrict date range, for example if running a coffee morning month)
Fundraising target (amount)
Fundraising reason (dropdown)
Solo or group (dropdown)
Support needed (text)
Other useful fields
Custom dropdown 1 and 2 for extra structured data
Custom text field for anything bespoke
Marketing opt-in (radio buttons work best)
Address if you are sending incentives
Privacy, success message and platform choice
Privacy Policy: Add link.
Success Message: confirm next steps after form submit. HG CONFIRM IF THIS IS APPLICABLE
Fundraiser Options: choose the platform(s) supporters can create on for this campaign.
For DIY v1, JustGiving and Facebook are available. Availability can vary by account configuration.
Automated Registration Email
At the bottom of the Registration step:
Set From name, From email, and your Subject line.
Write your message.
Include your CustomFundraiserLink merge tag so supporters who have not yet created can do it in one click.
Optionally set a Link Preview Image and Title for when you share your form URL elsewhere.
Click Save and Continue.
Step 3: Set up your Fundraiser Template
This controls how fundraisers created from the Registration step will look.
Charity Logo and Fundraiser Image (required for some platforms).
Fundraiser Title: appears on each page.
Fundraiser Description: add your default long copy.
Fundraiser End Date: number of days from creation.
Target Amount: set a target, for DIY, this will actually pull from what the supporter sets as their target when filling out the sign up form.
Success message after creation
Choose the tab for your platform (Facebook, JustGiving). Set:
Heading, Message, and Button label (for example “View your fundraising page”).
Automated Fundraiser Email
Below the success message you can send an immediate email (fundraiser auto responder email) after the fundraiser is created.
Set From name and From address.
Choose platform tab if you want different copy per platform.
Write your message and include FundraisersPageURL so supporters can click straight back to their page.
Toggle to Active when you are ready.
Click Save and Continue.
Step 4: Build your Email Journey
Email Journeys let you send automated, personalised emails based on dates and milestones.
Basic setup
Open the Email Journey step.
Click Settings and complete:
Banner image (for corporate template)
From name, From email, Reply to email
Excluded recipients if needed
Click Save Email Settings.
Create emails
Click Add New Email.
Choose Personal Email or Branded Email.
Set your Trigger:
After Registration or After Fundraiser Created
X days before or after the supporter’s Event Start or Event End date
(DIY specific trigger)
Add a Condition if you want to segment:
Event Type (DIY specific condition)
Fundraising Platform, Fundraiser Matching, JustGiving Claim Status, Amount Raised, or No condition
Add your Subject line and write your Message.
Use merge tags to personalise:
Event Type, Event Start Date, Event End Date, Fundraising Target, Event Name, plus standard tags like First name.
Click Save changes, then toggle the email Active when ready.
Repeat to build the full journey.
What gets captured and where
DIY campaign data appears on:
Contacts, Registrations and Fundraiser records
Campaign Dashboard with a Total Raised by Event Type chart and an Event Type filter helpful for analysis
Report Builder and Export CSV for Registrations and Fundraisers
DIY fields available in reporting
Event type
Event name
Event start and end dates
Fundraising target
Fundraising reason
Solo or group
Support needed
Testing and go live checklist
Submit a test registration, then create a test fundraiser.
Confirm your automated Registration and Fundraiser Created emails arrive and links work.
Send yourself test emails from the Email Journey.
Check your campaign dashboard shows your test accurately.
If you run Meta lead ads, connect the Lead Form in Step 1 and fire a test lead.
FAQs
Can supporters have more than one fundraiser matched to them?
A supporter can have multiple fundraisers, but only one primary match is used for triggers like amount-raised emails. You can change the primary match from the fundraiser record using manual matching.
Which fundraising platforms can I use for DIY?
JustGiving, Facebook (and GoFundMe for select countries) are available in v1. Availability of additional platforms can vary by account and future updates.
Where do I find the Custom Fundraiser link?
Fundraisers are created straight after the supporter registers, therefor no custom fundraiser link is required. You will want to share with the supporter the form url (found in campaigns list).