Fundraising · Meta Ads · Email Automation · Funnels & Systems
AAE — Fundraising Funnel
Building a scalable nationwide fundraising engine from the ground up.
African American Expressions had a strong fundraising catalog but no real system for acquiring, tracking, and nurturing fundraising clients. I built the fundraising funnel from scratch — including landing pages, forms, automations, Meta campaigns, and internal pipelines — and turned it into a scalable, trackable engine for catalog requests and fundraising revenue.
Overview
African American Expressions (AAE) had a fundraising product line serving schools, churches, nonprofits, and community organizations. The problem was that there was no structured way to acquire new fundraising clients, capture catalog requests, or manage follow-up. Everything was manual, reactive, and difficult to scale beyond word of mouth and basic outreach.
I designed and built a complete fundraising funnel from the ground up. That included a dedicated landing page, forms and lead routing, automations in Klaviyo, internal lead pipelines in Google Sheets, and Meta campaigns to drive demand. The result: cost per lead dropped from $7 to $1, and catalog requests increased by roughly 1000%.
The Client
African American Expressions is a national brand specializing in culturally inspired gifts and fundraising products. The fundraising division works with schools, churches, nonprofits, and community groups that want to raise money by selling the company's products.
The Objective
The goal was to turn fundraising from a manual process into a scalable, nationwide acquisition system. Specifically, the funnel needed to:
- Increase qualified catalog requests from organizations.
- Increase fundraising revenue.
- Build a consistent, trackable pipeline of leads.
- Create a system that internal staff could operate without depending on guesswork.
- Automate follow-up so warm leads weren't lost.
- Improve conversion rate from catalog request to actual fundraiser.
- Support growth year after year instead of just one season.
The Challenges
- No funnel existed — there was no centralized way to request fundraising catalogs.
- No landing page dedicated to the fundraising program.
- Lead follow-up was nonexistent or inconsistent.
- The process was not trackable, and there were no clear KPIs.
- No automations or email systems were in place for fundraising.
- No ad campaigns built specifically for fundraising.
- The overall system was confusing for potential customers.
- No segmentation for different fundraising groups like schools, churches, and nonprofits.
The Approach
To fix this, I treated fundraising as its own product with its own funnel. The work was divided into infrastructure, operations, and acquisition.
Infrastructure and Landing Page
- Built a dedicated fundraising landing page from scratch with clear messaging and structure.
- Wrote all copy and designed the layout to explain how the program works, who it's for, and what organizations get.
- Positioned the fundraising offer in a way that makes sense to schools, churches, and nonprofits.
Lead Capture and Routing
- Created a catalog request form that captures key details about the organization and their needs.
- Built lead qualification logic to understand the size and type of each organization.
- Implemented routing rules to guide leads to the right internal team members.
Automation & Email
- Connected the funnel to Klaviyo for automated follow-up.
- Built a series of emails to welcome new leads, confirm catalog requests, and explain next steps.
- Set up internal notifications so staff could respond quickly.
- Implemented segmentation by organization type and engagement level.
Operational Systems
- Built a Google Sheets pipeline to track every fundraising inquiry.
- Added statuses such as New, Contacted, Qualified, Ready, Ordered, and Closed.
- Created rules for handling large-quantity inquiries.
- Gave the team a clear view of where each lead was in the process.
Traffic & Acquisition
- Designed and launched Meta campaigns to drive fundraising catalog requests.
- Created AI-assisted ad creatives tailored to schools, churches, and community groups.
- Structured campaigns to balance volume and cost per lead.
- Used email campaigns to warm and follow up with interested organizations.
The System I Built
Landing Page
- A dedicated fundraising landing page that clearly explains the program.
- Concise, benefit-focused copy designed for busy administrators and organizers.
- Clean layout with a strong, simple call to request a catalog.
Forms & Routing
- A catalog request form collecting essential organization details.
- Segmentation fields for organization type and size.
- Routing logic for internal handling of different lead types.
Automations
- Klaviyo flows that send immediate confirmation and follow-up emails.
- Internal notifications for new high-value leads.
- Tagging and segmentation to tailor communication.
Operational Infrastructure
- A Google Sheets pipeline that tracks leads across their lifecycle.
- Columns and statuses for consistent team workflows.
- Basic KPI tracking for volume, response time, and outcomes.
Traffic System
- Meta ads driving targeted traffic into the funnel.
- Campaigns and creatives aligned to fundraising decision-makers.
- Email campaigns nurturing warm leads toward launching a fundraiser.
The Execution
I directly handled both the marketing and operational build of the fundraising funnel.
- Wrote every word of copy on the fundraising landing page.
- Structured and implemented the layout and visual hierarchy.
- Created and deployed the catalog request form.
- Defined and implemented lead qualification and routing logic.
- Built the Google Sheets pipeline and stages for internal tracking.
- Installed tracking and events for visibility into funnel performance.
- Connected the funnel to Klaviyo and built automated sequences.
- Designed Meta ad creatives and wrote ad copy with AI assistance.
- Managed Meta campaigns and optimized based on performance.
- Refined the funnel over time as new data came in.
The Results
- Cost per lead decreased from approximately $7 to about $1.
- Catalog requests increased by roughly 1000%.
- Lead quality improved as messaging and targeting aligned with ideal organizations.
- The number of large fundraising orders increased.
- Lead pipeline became fully trackable instead of getting lost in inboxes.
- Staff no longer had to manually manage every inquiry.
- Faster follow-up improved close rates.
- Leadership gained visibility into fundraising performance.
- The fundraising engine became seasonal and evergreen without needing rebuilds.
Tools Used
- V0
- Google Sheets
- Klaviyo
- Meta Ads Manager
- GA4
- AI tools for copy and creative support
Testimonial
"Mathew built our entire fundraising funnel from the ground up. His systems made our fundraising program scalable in a way we've never seen before."