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Project M–05 / Middle School

The
Cause
Campaign

6–8 / Five Weeks / 28 pages
BSG
Now Available / Middle School

Pick a cause. Build the campaign. Report what changed.

A real fundraising effort with a real target, a real strategy, and a real organization receiving real money. The civic side of the entrepreneurial mindset, taught with the same rigor as a product launch.

Fundraising Project Grades 6–8 5 Weeks 28 Pages

Students pick a cause they genuinely care about, set a fundraising target they can defend, build a multi-channel strategy, and execute it from concept through honest impact report. The mid-campaign pivot worksheet is where most of the learning happens. By week five, the kid has practiced storytelling, the ask, follow-through, and honest reporting. Skills that transfer to almost everything else.

$18
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The Hard Skill

Telling a story that moves.

A campaign that doesn't move money is a campaign that didn't tell the story right. The hard skill underneath this kit is learning to make a clear, honest, specific case for why someone should care about this cause and contribute now.

The pitch script worksheet walks the kid through four passes: rough draft, after a stranger reads it, after the first ask in the wild, and the version that worked. It's hard work and it's the work.

01
Inside the Kit

Twelve pages from the 28-page kit.

Not a teaser. The cover, the parent intro, the full scaffolding pattern, and the artifacts your kid will actually run a real campaign with. Grouped the way the kit teaches.

Group 01 / The Setup

Before the kid starts.

The brand sets the tone. The parent learns their job. Then the campaign begins.

Project M–05 BSG
Middle School / Fundraising
The
Cause
Campaign
Pick a cause. Run a real campaign. Report what changed.
6–8 / Five Weeks 28 Pages
p.01 / The Cover Editorial. Real. No stickers.
Front Matter p.03
For The Parent
How to use this kit.

The campaign is your kid's. Your job is to be a sounding board and a checkpoint, not the engine.

W1 Help them research, but don't pick the cause for them.
W2 Read their pitch out loud. Mark the weak parts.
W3 Be the first donor. Make it real.
W4 Help them face the gap honestly. Run the pivot.
W5 Sit with them while they write the impact report.
"The campaign teaches because they ran it. If you run it for them, no lesson lands."
p.03 / Parent Intro The roadmap before they start
Front Matter p.04
Kit Map
What's in this kit.

A map of every artifact, when it gets used, and what it teaches. Read this once, then put it down.

WhenArtifactWhat it teaches
SetupSkills ScaffoldingPitch craft
W1Cause SelectionPick what matters
W2Pitch ScriptThe case
W2Outreach PlanFind donors
W3-4Goal TrackerRun the campaign
W3-4Mid PivotAdjust honestly
W5Impact ReportTell the truth
Plus: Onboarding Workbook + Reflection Journal (universal across all BSG kits)
p.04 / Kit Map Every artifact, when it's used
Group 02 / The Teaching Layer

How the kit actually teaches.

A pitch that worked. A pitch that didn't. A self-check rubric. The pattern other curricula skip.

Skills Scaffolding p.05
What Right Looks Like
A pitch that moved money.

An annotated example pitch on a different cause, with margin notes explaining each move.

Ms. Park,
Last spring 412 dogs at Maple Shelter waited longer than 6 weeks for adoption. The shelter has 3 trainers. They need 2 more.
I'm raising $800 to cover one trainer's certification. Three families have already pledged $50 each.
Would you be willing to sponsor an hour of training? It's $40.
1. Specific number. Names the gap.
2. Goal is concrete and small enough to imagine.
3. Social proof. Then a small, specific ask.
p.05 / What Right Looks Like Worked example, annotated
Skills Scaffolding p.06
What Weak Looks Like
The counter example.

Same cause. Vague pitch. Why donors don't act on it.

Hi!
I'm raising money for animals. They really need help.
Anything you can give would be amazing! No amount is too small.
Please donate if you can! It would mean a lot.
× "Animals" is too vague. Which? Where? What problem?
× "Anything" puts work on the donor. They'll do nothing.
× No social proof. No specific ask. No urgency.
Vague pitches get vague responses, and vague responses are usually no.
p.06 / What Weak Looks Like Why most pitches don't work
Skills Scaffolding p.07
Self-Check Rubric
Score it honestly.

Five criteria. Three honest grades each. One revision prompt per row.

Criterion Good Getting Not Yet
Names the gap
Concrete number
Small, specific ask
Social proof
Donor knows next step
If any row is "not yet": rewrite that line, then re-check.
p.07 / Self-Check Rubric How the kid grades their own pitch
Group 03 / The Work

What the kid actually does.

Six artifacts they run through across the five weeks. Two are shown filled in by a real campaign.

Week 1 / Pick p.09
Choose The Cause
The Decision Tree.

Three filters, in order. Stop at the first "no." Pick the cause that gets through all three.

Filter 01 / Care
Do you actually care about this? Not "is it important." Care.
Filter 02 / Reach
Can you name 5 people who'd consider giving? Real names.
Filter 03 / Specific
Can you finish: "$X for one ____"? If not, narrow it.
All three yes → that's your cause.
p.09 / Cause Decision Tree Pick the cause that survives three filters
Week 2 / Build p.13
Write The Pitch
Four passes, no skipping.

Each pass strips away weakness. By the fourth one, you have something a stranger would actually answer.

1
Brain dump.
Get every reason on the page. No editing.
2
Cut by half.
Keep what makes a stranger care. Cut the rest.
3
Add the number.
Specific gap. Specific goal. Specific ask amount.
4
Read out loud to a parent.
If you stumble, that line gets cut. Repeat.
The fourth pass is the version you actually send.
p.13 / Pitch Script Four passes from rough to ready
Weeks 3-4 / Run p.17
Track The Progress
The Goal Thermometer.

Every donation gets logged. The thermometer fills in real time. Honesty is non-negotiable.

Goal: $800
$600
$400
$200
$0
Today
$510
64% of goal. 14 donors so far. $290 to go.
Update this every time money comes in. Not at week's end. Every time.
p.17 / Goal Thermometer Track every dollar in real time
Week 4 / Adjust p.20
Be Honest About The Gap
The Pivot Worksheet.

Halfway through, most campaigns hit a wall. This page is where you decide what to change and what to drop.

Working
Not Working
Will Drop
Will Try Next
If you can't admit the gap, you can't close it.
p.20 / Mid-Campaign Pivot The honest halftime
Real Kid's Page
Week 5 / Report p.24
Tell The Donors What Happened
The Impact Report.

A real kid's filled-in report. Five short sections. One page. Honest about the gap.

Goal
Raise $800 for one trainer at Maple Shelter.
Raised
$735 from 19 donors.
What it covered
Most of the trainer cert. Shelter is funding the rest from reserves.
What I learned
Ten "no"s before five "yes"es. Specific asks worked.
What's next
Volunteer Saturdays at Maple. Try a follow-on campaign in the fall.
p.24 / Impact Report (Real Example) A 7th grader's actual report
Real Kid's Page
Week 5 / Reflect p.26
Look Back At The Campaign
What did you learn?

A real kid's filled-in reflection. The lesson is in the answers.

01 / What did you actually do?
Pitched 32 people. 19 gave. Hit 92% of goal.
02 / What was hardest?
The first "no." I almost stopped.
03 / Did you hit your goal?
No. $65 short. The shelter still got most of what they needed.
04 / What would you do differently?
Start the pitch list earlier. Practice out loud sooner.
05 / Something you learned about yourself.
I can take a "no" and still ask the next person.
p.26 / Reflection (Real Example) The page that becomes the lesson
Twelve of 28 pages shown. The full kit includes all artifacts plus the universal Onboarding Workbook and Reflection Journal.
02
Everything Included

What's inside.

A complete five-week campaign kit. 28 pages. Every artifact does one job. The work scales from picking the cause through the final impact report.

01 / Front Matter
Parent setup
  • Cover and welcome page
  • Parent intro and roadmap
  • How to use this kit
  • Materials list
  • Cause selection conversation prompts
02 / Skills Scaffolding
Pitch craft
  • What right looks like (annotated example)
  • What weak looks like (counterpoint)
  • Pitch script practice rubric
  • Self-Check Rubric, 5 criteria
03 / Week 1: Onboarding
Pick the cause
  • Project Onboarding Workbook
  • Cause selection and goal worksheet
  • Campaign strategy planner
  • Budget for the campaign itself
04 / Week 2: Build
Make the case
  • Pitch script worksheet (4 passes)
  • Multi-channel outreach planner
  • Campaign poster template
  • Three social post templates
05 / Weeks 3 & 4: Run
Execute and adjust
  • Goal thermometer (printable)
  • Donor tracker
  • Mid-campaign pivot worksheet
  • Daily update template
06 / Week 5: Close
Honest reporting
  • Campaign results report template
  • Donor recognition card template
  • Donor thank-you tracker
  • Project Reflection Journal
  • Completion certificate
03
The Five-Week Arc

Week by week.

Week One
Pick & Plan

Choose a cause. Set a defensible target. Pick the strategy. Build the campaign budget.

Week Two
Build the Case

Write the pitch. Make the assets. Map the channels. Practice the ask out loud.

Week Three
Launch

Go live. Make the asks. Hit the wall. Run the mid-campaign pivot.

Week Four
Push

Double down on what's working. Drop what isn't. Final push to hit the target.

Week Five
Report

Tally. Deliver the funds. Write the impact report. Thank every donor by name.

Get the Kit

The full 28-page kit, instant download.

$18
PDF / Instant Download
Get The Cause Campaign

One-time purchase. No subscription. Yours to print and use.

Cost is genuinely a problem? Read our access policy →

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