The 16-week ship-list from today (Aug 2026) through Christmas Appeal peak (Dec 2026), sequenced around the actual launch calendar: 1 Oct 2026 charity-live, 25 Oct donate-flow deadline, 2 Dec Giving Tuesday. Supersedes the funnel-order sequencing in Backlog v2.0 for everything up to 31 Dec 2026. Recalibrated Sprint 55.5 — charity-live moved from 1 Sep to 1 Oct 2026 per founder ratification; downstream dependency dates shifted by +30 days where they were tied to charity-live; 2 Dec Giving Tuesday and 25 Oct donate-flow deadline preserved as external calendar / internal hard dates.
Why this document exists. Carla asked, on Turn 23: “we are in aug26 now and we are about to launch in oct26 — what are the priority marketing mix materials given this timeline?” That question exposed a real error in the sequencing I proposed in Backlog v2.0: I put EOFY (May–Jun 2027) as Sprint 46. EOFY is nine months away. The actual next-in-line calendar events are Sep launch (Room A + F) and Christmas Appeal (Room C, Giving Tuesday 2 Dec 2026). This plan re-orders the P1 backlog around those two dates. Backlog v2.0's catalogue of 32 items still stands; only the sprint order changes.
Authority. Authored under full delegated authority to the AI CMO after Carla's Turn 23 re-scope. Governed by the Sprint 44.1 5-gate Marketing Governance Envelope.
Source of the launch calendar.Marketing Plan 12mo — §2 “Month-by-month deep briefs”, table “Prerequisites and dependency dates”. Those dates are the ground truth; this plan is derivative of them.
Ratifies but re-orders. Backlog v2.0's 32 items remain the catalogue. The 8-sprint sequence in Backlog v2.0 §5 is superseded for Sprints 46–50 by this launch-window plan. Sprints 51+ (Retention, Media & PR) revert to Backlog v2.0's order, calibrated to post-launch state.
1. The honest position: 16 weeks to Christmas Appeal go-live
Prerequisite for Oct launch. Not a marketing deliverable — a legal/registration deliverable that unblocks marketing. Buffer of 16 days to charity-live.
Charity goes live — Foundation Launch & Referrer Groundwork
1 Oct 2026
Room A discovery-call outreach to 15 target foundations. Room F MOU packs to Palliative Care Australia, MND Australia, 3 PHNs. Room C soft-launch to founding-donor list only. No paid media. First 5 referrer MOUs targeted for signature by 12 Nov 2026 (T+6 weeks). Laurence + Lisa LinkedIn thought-leadership sequence starts within Week 1.
Donate flow shipped + server-side tag manager configured
25 Oct 2026
Non-negotiable dependency for Christmas Appeal ad launch. Attribution must work.
Christmas Appeal build starts
1 Nov 2026
Hero landing page. Four-email sequence. Meta + Google Search ad library. Organic social calendar (Lisa-led daily posts). PR push targeting metro morning-news slots.
Christmas Appeal go-live — Giving Tuesday
2 Dec 2026
Full spend from 2 Dec through 24 Dec. Dark 25–31 Dec. Automated stewardship within 4 hours of every gift.
What this means for the next 16 weeks. Every marketing sprint from now to 31 Dec 2026 must serve one of three dated windows: (a) 1 Oct 2026 charity-live launch, (b) 25 Oct donate-flow deadline, or (c) 2 Dec Giving Tuesday. Anything that does not serve one of those three windows is deferred. EOFY (May 2027), Wills Week (Aug 2027), Palliative Care Week (May 2027), and the Annual Report (mid-Aug 2027) are all real deliverables — they just are not the next one. Recalibration note: the go-live date moved from 1 Sep to 1 Oct 2026 in Sprint 55.5, collapsing the Sprint 47 “referrer activation” milestone into charity-live week — referrer MOU signatures now target T+6 (12 Nov 2026) rather than T+4.
2. Room activation at launch — who fires when
Room
Aug 26
Sep 26
Oct 26
Nov 26
Dec 26
A · Foundations
HERO · outreach pack build
HERO · 15 discovery calls
Warm · ship 2 applications
Warm · ship 2 applications
Hold
B · Corporate
Hold
Hold
LinkedIn thought-leadership
Hold warm
Hold
C · Regular Giving
/give hub build + calculator
Soft launch to founding-donor list
First Meta ad test low-spend
HERO · Christmas build
HERO · Christmas peak
D · Government
Hold (Y2 activation)
Hold
Hold
Hold
Hold
E · Bequests
Hold (Aug 27 Wills Week peg)
Hold
Hold
Hold
Hold
F · Health referrals
HERO · MOU pack + QR card
HERO · ship packs to PCA/MND/PHNs
HERO · sign first 5 MOUs
Warm · case-load begins
Warm
G · International
Hold (Y3+ trigger)
Hold
Hold
Hold
Hold
Room A (Foundations) and Room F (Health referrals) are the two Sep-launch heroes. Room C (Regular Giving) is warm through Sep–Oct and takes hero from 1 Nov for the Christmas Appeal. Rooms B, D, E, G are on hold this window — not because they don't matter, but because activation without capacity to serve is worse than delay.
3. The 5 launch-window sprints (46 → 50)
Five sprints, dependency-ordered, each with a dated deadline. Backlog v2.0 IDs are cited so the traceback holds.
46Foundations Outreach Pack (Room A)Ship by 25 Sep · use from 1 Oct
Headline outcome
On 1 Oct, Room A can send 15 pre-warmed discovery-call requests to named foundation officers, each carrying a personalised cover email + the Prospectus + Foundations one-pager + an evidence-pack link tailored to that funder's declared priorities.
Backlog items
Extends BL-01 (Prospectus, done) · net-new: Foundations Outreach Pack (not in Backlog v2.0 but implied by Marketing Plan §Sep-2026)
Deliverables
/foundations-outreach-pack internal working page — 15-foundation target list with columns: funder name, priority match, ask-tier, contact name, personalised angle, discovery-call script variant, follow-up cadence
Objections playbook: 8 hard questions (incl. the RG 96 “how is this not a debt-relief co?” question) with approved-language answers
Acceptance
15 named foundations with matched-priority evidence · audit clean 0 findings · every cover-email variant carries ACL disclosure · discovery script fits in 15 min timed read.
G1G2G3G4 Consideration · FunderG5 FIA best-practice
47Health Referrer MOU Pack (Room F)Ship by 25 Sep · use from 1 Oct
Headline outcome
On 1 Oct, Room F can send MOU-ready proposal packs to Palliative Care Australia, MND Australia, and 3 named Primary Health Networks. By 12 Nov (T+6 weeks), LWD is negotiating first signed MOUs. By 1 Dec, case-load begins.
48/give hub + Weekly Giving calculator + attributionShip by 25 Oct · ad-launch deadline
Headline outcome
By 25 Oct, the donate flow can accept traffic from paid media, and every gift is attributable to source (channel + campaign + creative). Missing this deadline blocks Room C's Nov ad launch.
Backlog items
BL-03 + BL-04 (both brought forward from Sprint 47 to Sprint 48-in-launch-plan)
Calculator maths cite $1,840/case, 87c ratio verifiably · WCAG 2.2 AA on all inputs · UTM parameters persist through donate flow · test gift produces receipt within 4 hours · audit clean.
G1G2G3G4 Conversion 20·40·40G5 WCAG 2.2 AA + attribution-framework
49Christmas Appeal package — landing + 4 emails + ad libraryBuild 1–25 Nov · go-live 2 Dec
Headline outcome
On Giving Tuesday (2 Dec), Room C runs a co-ordinated Christmas Appeal with a single anchor CTA, four calendarised emails, publish-ready ad creative for Meta + Google, and a PR push slot filled. Peak spend from 2 Dec → 24 Dec. Dark 25 Dec → 31 Dec.
Backlog items
BL-02 (repurposed from EOFY to Christmas Appeal) + BL-10 + BL-11
Deliverables
/christmas-appeal hero landing page — single ask, single question, single CTA
Meta ad pack — 3 video scripts (15/30/60s), 3 still concepts, 1 carousel
Google Search ad pack — 3 ad groups × 15 responsive headlines
Organic social calendar — Lisa-led daily posts across LinkedIn/Instagram/Facebook for 22 days
PR pack for metro morning-news pitches (release + spokesperson brief + b-roll direction)
Auto-stewardship email — 4-hour SLA thank-you with tax-time-forecast paragraph
Acceptance
Every ad passes RG 96 (no “debt relief”) · every email carries unsubscribe + privacy · auto-stewardship tested pre-launch · audit clean · sunset date on last-chance email honoured.
G1G2 RG 96 in every adG3G4 ConversionG5 M+R Giving Tuesday + IAB/GARM
50Corporate LinkedIn thought-leadership pack (Room B warm-up)Ship by 25 Sep · protect-date 31 Oct 2026 · publish through Oct
Headline outcome
Through October, Laurence + Lisa publish a LinkedIn thought-leadership series targeting CSR/ESG leads at Australia's big-four banks, top-tier insurers, and industry super funds. The purpose is warm-up — the ask comes in Q1 2027, but the content authority is built now.
Protect-date — do not slip past 31 Oct 2026
Room B's first hero moment per marketing-plan-12mo §6 is Feb 2027 (corporate calendar-year budget planning). CSR/ESG leads assess partners in Nov–Dec for Feb decisions. If this sprint slips past 31 Oct 2026, Laurence + Lisa go into the Feb 2027 pitch window cold on LinkedIn — no authority signal, no follower base, no engagement history. Sprint 50 is the last sprint in the Aug–Dec launch window and therefore the first at risk if Sprints 46–49 run long. If a Sprint 46–49 slippage looks likely by 15 Oct 2026, escalate to Carla for a re-scope call — do not silently absorb the slip into Sprint 50. Escalation date shifted from 15 Sep to 15 Oct in Sprint 55.5 with the go-live recalibration.
Backlog items
BL-12 (LinkedIn ad pack, repurposed to organic thought-leadership)
Deliverables
8-post LinkedIn content series: 2 for Laurence, 2 for Lisa, 4 co-authored — each 200–600 words with a specific evidence hook
Target list — 40 CSR/ESG contacts at named institutions
Engagement playbook — who Laurence/Lisa comment on, what they never share, no-DM-asks discipline
Companion Corporate case-for-support one-pager (already exists at /case-for-support/corporate) linked from posts as the “go deeper” artefact
Acceptance
Every post carries voice-discipline check · no ask-CTA (this is warm-up, not conversion) · each cites Y1 numbers or a named external authority · first post live by 31 Oct 2026 at the latest · audit clean.
Sprints 51 onward revert to Backlog v2.0's original ordering, but calibrated to post-launch state:
Sprint 51 (Jan 2027) — Retention infrastructure. With Christmas Appeal donors in hand, build stewardship cadence + quarterly impact micro-report (BL-13, BL-14). Not before — retention infrastructure without donors is theatre.
Sprint 52 (Feb 2027) — 3 SEO/AEO pillar pages (BL-05, BL-06, BL-07). Organic search takes 4–8 weeks; publish in Feb so pillars are ranking by EOFY start (May).
Sprint 53 (Mar 2027) — Media & PR pack (BL-15, BL-16, BL-17). Timed to precede Palliative Care Week (May) — the natural PR peg.
Sprint 54 (Apr 2027) — EOFY appeal + 5-touch email sequence (BL-02 in its original form). This is where EOFY belongs. Nine months later than Backlog v2.0 initially proposed.
Sprint 55–56 (May–Jun 2027) — EOFY execution + Palliative Care Week PR (Room F re-hero for one month).
Sprint 57 (Jul 2027) — Public Room pages D, E, G (BL-18, BL-19, BL-20).
Sprint 58 (Aug 2027) — Annual Report + Wills Week Room E activation (BL-26). The first Annual Report with real audited Y1 numbers.
5. What I got wrong — the lesson from Turn 23
Backlog v2.0 sequenced the sprints by funnel logic — anchor doc first (45.1), then EOFY conversion (46), then conversion optimisation (47), then awareness (48). Funnel logic is one legitimate ordering principle for a marketing backlog. But launch-calendar logic overrides funnel logic when a launch date is close. When a charity has:
a fixed launch date 8 weeks away (1 Oct 2026 — recalibrated from 1 Sep in Sprint 55.5)
a fixed dependency deadline 12 weeks away (25 Oct donate flow)
a fixed campaign peak 17 weeks away (2 Dec Giving Tuesday)
…then the ordering principle is calendar, not funnel. This document is the correction. The prospectus (45.1) was correctly chosen as the first anchor. EOFY (46) was wrong — it belongs at Sprint 54, not Sprint 46. The AI CMO owes Carla and the Board the discipline to check the calendar before sequencing every future sprint. This document institutionalises that check.
What Carla and the Board see at 31 Dec 2026. LWD has: 15 foundation discovery calls done or booked · 5 signed referrer MOUs · first case-load flowing through Room F · a corporate LinkedIn presence Laurence + Lisa can point to in Q1 2027 warm asks · a Christmas Appeal that ran on 2 Dec Giving Tuesday with full ad + email + PR co-ordination · every gift attributable to source · a stewardship email that landed within 4 hours · audit-clean the entire way.