Rivergate Foundation
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Coordinator Playbook

Your complete guide to running a successful campaign.

Everything from gathering information before you launch to thanking donors after the campaign closes. Read it in full before your campaign goes live.

Overview

What Is the Jubilee Fund?

The Jubilee Fund is a giving platform created by Rivergate Foundation to help the church rally around missionaries and church staff facing urgent, unexpected financial needs. These are not handouts. They are the church doing what the church has always done: showing up for one another.

Why it matters

Missionaries and church staff are often the last people to ask for help. When a medical emergency hits, a vehicle breaks down, or a crisis arrives in the middle of an already stretched budget, the need is real and the timeline is short. The Jubilee Fund exists so that the church can respond with speed and dignity.

Your Role as Campaign Coordinator

You are not the recipient. You are the advocate. You know this person. You trust them. And that trust is the single most important thing you bring to this campaign. People give when someone they know makes a personal ask, not a platform, not an organization. A person. That person is you.

What the Research Says

Before you launch, here is what fundraising data consistently shows about campaigns that succeed versus those that stall.

Factors that predict success

DO

  • Launch with 20–30% of the goal already pledged privately before going public
  • Send personal texts and calls first, then post on social media
  • Post a campaign update within the first 7 days, campaigns with updates raise 3x more
  • Tell a specific, honest story, not a summary
  • Set a realistic goal with a clear breakdown of how money will be used
  • Thank donors publicly and by name when appropriate
  • Ask donors to share, not just to give

DON'T

  • Launch cold with zero initial donors and wait for the platform to do the work
  • Post once on social media and go silent
  • Use vague goals like "help with expenses"
  • Set an unrealistically high goal that feels unachievable
  • Tell the story in a way that asks for pity rather than invites participation
  • Go quiet after week one assuming people already know
  • Share to everyone and ask personally of no one

The single biggest predictor of failure

Campaigns that raise less than 20% of their goal in the first week have a significantly higher failure rate. People want to join something that is already moving. Your first week is everything.

Recruit 5 to 10 people before you ever post publicly and ask them to give on day one.

Your biggest advantage

You are not a stranger asking for money. You have a relationship with the person in need and with the people you are asking. That personal connection is more powerful than any marketing platform. Campaigns succeed because someone the donor trusts made a personal ask. That is the playbook.

Gift Collections

Running a Gift Collection?

A Gift Collection lets a church, team, or group of friends give a personal gift to a Christian missionary, pastor, or church staff family facing a verified need. Because it is a personal gift rather than a charitable one, it comes with more freedom, and a few differences you should know before you start. Everything else in this Playbook applies the same way.

What's Different

  • It is a personal gift to the family. Once it is delivered, it is theirs to use as they need it.
  • Gifts are not tax-deductible, and givers do not receive a tax-deductible receipt. Say this plainly every time you invite someone to give.
  • There are no providers to pay and no invoices to submit. When the collection closes, Rivergate sends the gift to the family.
  • The family's employer is not able to give to their Gift Collection.

What's the Same

  • The need is reviewed and verified by Rivergate, including a verification reference.
  • An Advocate from Rivergate walks with you from page review through close-out.
  • You build the page, send it for approval, and launch on the launch date, with an end date, just like a Jubilee Fund.
  • A 3% sustainability margin covers processing and administration.

Where this Playbook mentions providers

Sections about paying providers, invoices, and provider documents apply to Jubilee Funds only. For message templates written for Gift Collections, use the Gift Collection versions on the Sharing Resources page.

Phase 1

Before You Launch

Gather everything you need. This takes 30 minutes, not 30 days.

What You Need to Have Ready

Before the campaign goes live, collect the following. Rivergate Foundation will verify some of these before approving the campaign.

About the Recipient

  • Their name and ministry role (missionary, church planter, church staff, etc.)
  • Organization or church they serve with
  • A brief description of the specific need: medical costs, vehicle failure, housing emergency, etc.
  • Total amount needed with a line-item breakdown where possible
  • Timeline: when is the money needed by?
  • Their explicit permission to share their story publicly

Documents to Gather

  • Invoices, estimates, or provider documentation supporting the dollar amount
  • A short personal statement or story written in your own words as coordinator
  • A reference from a leader at the recipient's church with the authority to confirm they are on staff and to approve the need
  • Contact details for the recipient and for the church-leader reference

How disbursement works

Funds from the Jubilee Fund are paid directly to providers: hospitals, clinics, auto dealerships, landlords, etc. Funds are never disbursed directly to the recipient. This protects both the recipient and the integrity of the campaign. When you submit the application, be ready to provide vendor or provider contact information. The need, the provider, and the payment must all be based in the U.S. Running a Gift Collection? The gift goes to the family instead; see Running a Gift Collection above.

The Story

This is where most campaigns win or lose. You need a short, honest, specific story.

Story structure that works

  1. 1Who they are: their role and why they do this work (1 to 2 sentences)
  2. 2What happened: the moment the need became real, specific about what changed
  3. 3What the money will do: break it down ($500 for repairs, $1,200 for the medical bill)
  4. 4What it means to have the church show up: honest, not sentimental
  5. 5A simple, direct ask: what you want people to do and how

Assets

  • At least one photo of the person with their permission. A face connects a story to a donor.
  • Optional: a short video. Even 60 seconds filmed on a phone performs significantly better than none.

Your inner circle

Before the campaign goes public, identify 5 to 10 people who will give on day one. Text or call them personally before you post anywhere. Ask them to give on launch day. This seeds the early momentum every successful campaign depends on.

A word on security and privacy

Before you share anything publicly, have a direct conversation with the recipient about what is safe to share and where. Some workers serve in contexts where public visibility on social media carries real risk. Let them guide what details, photos, and platforms are appropriate. When in doubt, share less and ask first.

Phase 2

Launch Day

How you start determines whether you finish.

Launch Day Checklist

  1. 1Confirm with Rivergate that the campaign is live and approved
  2. 2Send personal texts or calls to your inner circle asking them to give today
  3. 3Post on social media with the link and a short personal message
  4. 4Send a personal email to anyone you know who is not on social media
  5. 5Ask church leadership if there is a way to mention the need to the congregation

Sample Language for Launch Day

Adapt these to sound like you. The language should feel like it came from you, not a template. Running a Gift Collection? Use the Gift Collection versions on the Sharing Resources page.

Personal text, to your inner circle, before going public

Hey [Name], I'm helping run a campaign for [First Name], who [one sentence about what they do and where]. They just hit a really hard moment: [brief description]. Rivergate Foundation is facilitating it. Everything is verified and accountable. I'm asking 10 people I trust to give on the first day. Would you be one of them? [LINK]

Social media post, launch day

I want to introduce you to [First Name]. [One sentence about who they are and what they do.] Right now they're facing [brief, honest description]. I'm running a Jubilee Fund campaign through Rivergate Foundation to help. Rivergate pays providers directly, hospitals, auto shops, wherever the need is. Nothing goes to the recipient. If you can give, even $25 matters. If you can't right now, sharing this link helps just as much. [LINK]

Email, for contacts not on social media

I'm writing because I know you care about the people doing this work. [First Name] is a [role] with [organization/church]. They've given [brief description of their service], and right now they need the church to show up for them. [Two sentences on the specific need and what it will take to meet it.] Rivergate Foundation is hosting the campaign and pays providers directly, so every dollar goes exactly where it's needed. You can give or share here: [LINK].

Phase 3

During the Campaign

Momentum dies without tending. Here is how to keep it alive.

The Update Schedule

Campaigns that post updates raise 3 times more than campaigns that go silent. Plan at least three touchpoints:

Days 1–3

Momentum update

Thank early givers by name. Share how far you are and what hitting the goal will mean. Ask them to share with one person.

Midpoint

Story update

Share a new detail about the person. How are they doing this week? Make it real. Invite people who have not given yet.

Final 72 hrs

Urgency update

Be direct about where you are. "Two days left. We are $X away. If 10 more people give $Y, we get there."

When Momentum Stalls

Every campaign hits a mid-campaign wall. This is normal. Here is what to do:

  • Go back to personal. Stop posting publicly for a day and send 5 to 10 personal texts to people who have not given yet.
  • Ask your most engaged early givers to personally invite 2 to 3 people from their own network.
  • Share a new piece of the story: a photo, a voice note, a short video update from you.
  • Ask your church small group or community group to give together as a group.

What you should never do mid-campaign

Do not go silent and hope things pick up on their own. They will not. The algorithm does not care about your recipient. The people in your network do. Get back to people, not platforms.

Phase 4

Closing Well

How you end matters as much as how you start.

When the Campaign Closes

  • Post a public thank-you, and where possible, thank donors personally, not just through a mass post
  • Send a personal thank-you message to your top givers, not just a mass post
  • Tell donors what happened: did you hit the goal? What will the funds specifically cover?
  • Share a brief update from or about the recipient if they are comfortable with it
  • Notify Rivergate Foundation that the campaign has closed so disbursement can be processed
  • Rivergate sends a close-out email to all donors, including those who gave anonymously. You will not have anonymous donors' contact info, Rivergate handles that outreach on your behalf

On transparency and follow-through

Donors who feel like they participated in something real and saw what their money did are more likely to give again. A simple two-sentence update after the campaign closes is one of the most powerful things you can do for the next campaign Rivergate runs.

Closing Thank-You Template

To everyone who gave or shared

To everyone who gave or shared this campaign: thank you. [First Name] now has what they need to [specific outcome: pay the bill, fix the car, cover the month]. This is what the church does when it shows up. Not because it has to. Because it gets to. From me and from [First Name], thank you.

At a glance

7 Principles of a Successful Jubilee Fund Campaign

  1. 1Seed the campaign privately before going public. Get 5 to 10 commitments before anyone else sees it.
  2. 2Tell a specific story. Names, details, and exact amounts build trust. Vague needs raise vague amounts.
  3. 3Ask personally first, post publicly second. A text is worth 10 posts.
  4. 4Update early and often. Silence kills campaigns. Campaigns with regular updates raise 3x more.
  5. 5Ask donors to share, not just to give. One share from a connected person is worth more than 20 cold views.
  6. 6Thank loudly and specifically. People who feel seen give again.
  7. 7Close the loop. Tell donors what happened. It matters for this campaign and every future one.

Contacts

If you have questions about platform setup, security, or disbursement, contact Rivergate Foundation:

Campaign questions

hello@rivergatefoundation.org or rivergatefoundation.org/jubilee-fund

Security concerns

Contact Rivergate before the campaign launches. Work with the recipient to determine what can safely be shared and where.

Disbursement

Funds are paid directly to providers: hospitals, clinics, auto shops, etc. Never disbursed directly to the recipient.