The 12-Month Marketing Plan
Everything Life Without Debt Ltd will ship, spend, publish, pitch and measure between 1 September 2026 and 31 August 2027 — organised by month, by room, by funnel stage, by channel, with 100% attribution and a $10,000 per-month paid-media budget baked in. Sprint 55.5 recalibration: charity-live moved from 1 Sep to 1 Oct 2026. September 2026 is now the T-30 pre-launch preparation month; the operating year (Sep 2026 → Aug 2027) is preserved so annual anchors (EOFY May–Jun 2027, Annual Report Aug 2027) remain in place.
What this document contains
- The 12-month thesis — why this shape, why this order
- The KPI ladder — what success looks like at 3, 6, 12 months
- Authoring framework recap — Story · Trust · Data · Compliance
- The master calendar — 12 months × 7 rooms, one table
- Month-by-month deep briefs — Sep 2026 → Aug 2027
- Room-by-room 12-month arcs — how each room ladders across the year
- Budget and channel mix — where the $120,000 goes
- Attribution stack — how every dollar is traced to a source
- Governance and compliance envelope — RG 96, hedge-word discipline, composite labelling
- Dependencies and unlocks — what has to be true before what
1. The 12-month thesis
Life Without Debt Ltd starts its 12-month cycle in a specific moment: post-establishment, pre-first-case. The charity is registered, DGR endorsement is in place, the ACL is documented, the board is seated, but the case load is still zero and the donor list is still small. Every asset in this plan is built with that starting condition in mind.
The plan is shaped around three converging arcs:
Rooms A (Foundations) and F (Health referrals) run in parallel from Month 1. Foundation grants fund the first case cohort; health referrers supply the cohort. No public "impact number" is claimed until 30 real consented cases have closed. Until then, every outcome claim uses labelled composites.
Room C runs continuously with two hero moments: Christmas Appeal (Nov–Dec 2026) and EOFY 2027 (May–Jun 2027). The $19.25/week anchor is the primary CTA. Meta + Google + Email are the primary channels. Attribution is 100% because the funnel is fully owned.
Rooms B (Corporate) and D (Government/Health) run on longer cycles — quarterly cadence, LinkedIn-heavy, direct-outreach-heavy. These do not convert in Year 1 to material revenue. They build the pipeline that funds Year 2. Room E (bequest) and Room G (international) are stub-only in Year 1.
Put together: Year 1 revenue mix is targeted at approximately 45% foundations, 35% regular giving, 15% corporate/matched, 5% other. That mix is the answer to Carla's brief: diversify by funder type, don't bet Year 1 on any single channel, and keep the ratio of paid-media-cost to donated-dollar under 20 cents on the dollar in the giving-heavy months.
2. The KPI ladder
Every marketing dollar in this plan is measured against a specific number. Three horizons — 3 months, 6 months, 12 months — with the same shape at each: reach → engaged audience → captured lead → gift → retained supporter.
| Metric | Nov 2026 (Mo 3) | Feb 2027 (Mo 6) | Aug 2027 (Mo 12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reach — unique Australians exposed to LWD messaging (paid + organic) | 150,000 | 500,000 | 1.4 million |
| Engaged audience — click-through / video-completion / dwell > 30s | 12,000 | 45,000 | 125,000 |
| Email list — opted-in, verified, receiving nurture | 800 | 3,500 | 12,000 |
| Regular givers — active monthly, $19.25+ recurring | 60 | 350 | 1,200 |
| One-off gifts — donations of any size, not recurring | 150 | 600 | 2,200 |
| Foundation applications — submitted after fit call | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Foundation grants secured — cheque received | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Corporate conversations — active discussion with CSR/ESG lead | 2 | 8 | 20 |
| Health referral MOUs — signed referrer relationships | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| Cases closed — real, consented, published-ready | 2 | 15 | 60 |
| Cost per acquired regular giver (Room C blended) | $140 | $95 | $70 |
| Return on ad spend (LTV / CAC, Room C monthly cohort at 24-month value) | 1.6× | 2.4× | 3.5× |
| Total revenue — all sources, cash received | $45,000 | $280,000 | $1.1M target · $780K base case |
3. Authoring framework recap
Every asset in the 12 months follows the same four-part frame — the frame established in the CMO Position Brief and enforced by HAS §8.5 (agents draft, humans decide):
A named human situation that makes the problem legible. Until 30 consented cases exist, every story is a labelled composite — drawn from ASIC RG 96 industry data, National Debt Helpline casebooks, ACLC materials, and palliative-care research. Composites are described, never quoted. The phrase "labelled composite — drawn from real casework patterns; details composited" appears in the copy or an adjacent footnote every time.
The governance and licensure layer. Every donor-facing asset carries at least one of: ACNC registration tick, DGR status, ACL 387398 attribution (per Laurence's approved wording), board composition, evaluation partner. Trust is not decorative — it is the thing that converts hesitancy into a first gift.
The numbers that make the intervention legible. Room A weights Data heaviest (foundations assess rigour first); Room C weights Story heaviest but always includes at least one Data point (usually the 87c-in-the-dollar figure and the four measured outputs). No data point ships without a citation.
RG 96 outcome-language rule: "may result in reduced or waived debt in some cases", never "we eliminate debt". LWD funds; the licensed advocate negotiates. Hedge-word required whenever an outcome is described in the abstract. Australian English throughout. No PAF eligibility claim until DGR Item 1 is confirmed on the ACNC public register.
4. The master calendar
One table. Twelve months across the top, seven rooms down the side. Each cell shows the room's activity level for that month, colour-coded: HERO = primary focus, big spend, heavy asset production. ACTIVE = steady cadence, planned assets shipping. WARM = light touch, LinkedIn only or nurture only. COLD = paused, no new production, existing assets continue serving.
| Room ↓ / Month → | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 | Feb 27 | Mar 27 | Apr 27 | May 27 | Jun 27 | Jul 27 | Aug 27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A · Foundations | HERO | Active | Active | Warm | HERO | Active | Active | Active | Warm | Warm | Active | HERO |
| B · Corporate | Warm | Active | Active | Cold | Active | HERO | Active | Warm | Active | Warm | HERO | Active |
| C · Regular giving | Active | Active | HERO | HERO | Warm | Active | Active | Active | HERO | HERO | Warm | Active |
| D · Government/Health | Cold | Warm | Cold | Cold | Warm | Cold | Active | Warm | Active | Warm | Warm | Active |
| E · Bequest/Legacy | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Warm | Warm | Cold | Warm | Active |
| F · Health referrals | HERO | HERO | Active | Warm | Active | Active | HERO | Active | Active | Warm | Active | Active |
| G · International | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Warm | Warm |
Read the table left-to-right for one room to see its 12-month arc. Read top-to-bottom for one month to see which rooms are firing that month.
5. Month-by-month deep briefs
Each month below is a link to its own campaign brief — a 2,000-word document specifying that month's primary theme, hero asset, room activations, channel plan, KPI targets, dependencies, and compliance notes. The one-line summary below is what you'll see when you scan the calendar.
Sep 2026 — Pre-launch preparation (T-30 → T-0)
1 Sep → 30 Sep 2026 · 30 days pre-launchThe charity is not yet live — Sprint 55.5 recalibration moved go-live from 1 Sep to 1 Oct. Month 1 of the operating year is a preparation month: ACNC endorsement targeted 15 Sep; foundation and referrer target-list re-verification; attribution stack provisioning (Meta / Google / LinkedIn accounts stood up on the T-33 timeline to 25 Oct donate-flow deadline); founder-personal-account activity around R U OK? Day (11 Sep). No LWD-channel content. No public fundraising. No paid media. Detailed launch content for Oct 2026 sits in the recalibrated Oct M02 block below and in the Sprint 56 launch pack.
Oct 2026 — Referrer Activation & Corporate Warm-Up
1 Oct → 31 Oct 2026 · 31 daysRoom F stays HERO — pushing to sign the first 5 referrer MOUs so case load can begin. Room B (Corporate) warms up with a LinkedIn thought-leadership sequence from Laurence and Lisa targeting bank/insurer/super-fund CSR leads. First Room C ad set goes live at low spend — testing Meta creative variants before Christmas Appeal scale-up.
Nov 2026 — Christmas Appeal Build & Launch
1 Nov → 30 Nov 2026 · 30 daysRoom C takes over. The Christmas Appeal launches on Giving Tuesday (2 Dec 2026) — but the build starts 1 November: hero landing page, four-email sequence, Meta + Google Search ad library, organic social calendar (Lisa-led, daily posts across LinkedIn/Instagram/Facebook), and a PR push targeting metro morning-news slots. Room B holds warm. Room A ships two foundation applications.
Dec 2026 — Christmas Appeal Peak & Year-End
1 Dec → 31 Dec 2026 · 31 daysPeak-giving month. Giving Tuesday (2 Dec) → Christmas Day → New Year's Eve tax-year close. Room C runs at full spend for the first 24 days, then dark for 25–31 Dec (respectful pause). Automated stewardship emails go to every new giver within 4 hours of gift. First "thank you" video (Lisa piece-to-camera) ships mid-month.
Jan 2027 — Foundation Renewal & Post-Appeal Debrief
1 Jan → 31 Jan 2027 · 31 daysFoundations wake up in January — Room A returns to HERO. Three annual funding rounds open this month (Perpetual, Vincent Fairfax, Snow Foundation). Post-Christmas debrief: full attribution audit, cohort-level LTV modelling, creative winner/loser breakdown. Room C shifts to stewardship mode — no new asks, only thank-yous and impact reports to Christmas givers.
Feb 2027 — Corporate Push & Six-Month Mark
1 Feb → 28 Feb 2027 · 28 daysRoom B takes HERO. Corporate calendar-year-planning happens in Feb–Mar, and CSR/ESG leads are receptive. Bank Paradox thought-leadership sequence goes into paid distribution. Direct outreach to the four major banks, three super funds, and two insurers. First matched-giving pitch decks go out. Six-month operating review is published internally.
Mar 2027 — Government Positioning & Referral Scale
1 Mar → 31 Mar 2027 · 31 daysFirst quarter case data is available (targeting 15 closed cases by end of Feb). Room D (Government/Health) wakes up: policy brief to the Federal Department of Health, submission to any live inquiry (aged-care, palliative-care, financial-hardship), and PHN engagement round two. Room F pushes for MOU 10–15.
Apr 2027 — EOFY Pre-Build & Bequest Preview
1 Apr → 30 Apr 2027 · 30 daysEOFY landing page, ad library, and email sequence all ship in April so they're battle-ready for the May–June peak. Room E (Bequest) wakes with a soft Wills Week campaign (variable calendar — Wills Week usually mid-August, but the underlying "have you got a will?" positioning tests here in April to inform the August main event). Room D holds warm.
May 2027 — EOFY Launch & Palliative Care Week
1 May → 31 May 2027 · 31 daysEOFY campaign launches 1 May. Palliative Care Week (typically last week of May) provides a natural PR peg — Room F and Room D both leverage. Room C is HERO with peak spend. Foundation Q4 payments start arriving (Snow, Perpetual usually pay May–June).
Jun 2027 — EOFY Peak & Year-End Cash
1 Jun → 30 Jun 2027 · 30 daysBiggest single revenue month of Year 1. The 25-30 June "last chance for this year's tax deduction" push runs at maximum spend. Automated end-of-day receipts confirm every gift. Retargeting sequences to every website visitor who didn't convert during May.
Jul 2027 — Post-EOFY Debrief & Year-2 Planning
1 Jul → 31 Jul 2027 · 31 daysRecovery month. Full-year attribution report, cohort LTV re-model, ad-creative library audit, room-by-room performance review. Corporate room B goes HERO for new-financial-year budget cycles. Room E preps Wills Week campaign for August.
Aug 2027 — Annual Report & Year-2 Ignition
1 Aug → 31 Aug 2027 · 31 daysAnnual Report drops mid-month — the first real one, with real numbers, real (consented) cases, and real financials. Wills Week (typically 11–17 Aug) provides Room E's launch peg. Foundation Q1 FY28 applications go out. Year-2 marketing plan finalised and published as v2.0 of this document.
6. Room-by-room 12-month arcs
Each room has its own annual shape. This section is the counterpart to the calendar above — read across a row instead of down a column. Every room's 12-month arc has a hero moment, a build phase, and a stewardship phase.
| Room | 12-month arc | Hero moments | Primary channels | Year-1 target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Oct launch → Jan-Feb annual rounds → year-round applications. Every quarter ships one whitepaper. | Oct (launch), Jan (annual rounds), Aug (Y2 pipeline) | Direct outreach · LinkedIn · Discovery-call funnel · Whitepapers | 14 applications submitted · 4 grants secured · $500K–$800K committed |
| B | Warm-up Oct-Nov → Feb HERO for calendar-year budgets → Jul HERO for FY budgets. LinkedIn-native. | Feb (corporate CY planning), Jul (FY28 budgets) | LinkedIn · Direct sales · Pitch decks · Matched-giving toolkit | 20 active conversations · 2–3 matched-giving MOUs · $100K–$200K |
| C | Warm start Sep-Oct → Christmas HERO Nov-Dec → recovery/steward Jan → build to EOFY → EOFY HERO May-Jun. | Christmas Appeal (Nov-Dec), EOFY (May-Jun) | Meta ads · Google Search · Email nurture · Organic social | 1,200 active monthly givers · 2,200 one-off gifts · $600K–$750K |
| D | Cold until Mar (Q1 case data ready) → HERO Mar → warm through Y1 → Y2 institutional focus. | Mar (first policy brief), May (PCW peg) | Policy briefs · Ministerial submissions · PHN roadshow · LinkedIn | Positioning only in Y1. Pipeline seeded for Y2 institutional funding. |
| E | Cold until Apr (soft test) → Warm through Y1 → Wills Week HERO Aug. | Wills Week (11–17 Aug 2027) | Solicitor outreach · In Memoriam giving page · Content marketing | 3–5 first bequest conversations · No revenue expected Y1 |
| F | HERO Sep-Oct to sign first MOUs → active all year → HERO Mar with Q1 impact data. | Sep-Oct launch, Mar Q1 data | Direct outreach to PCA/MND/PHNs · Referrer kits · Clinical rationale | 15 signed MOUs · 60+ referrals converting to closed cases |
| G | Cold through Y1. Warm-only preview Jul–Aug 2027 to inform Y2 planning. | None in Y1 | Nil in Y1 (preview thinking only) | Y2 launch prep. No Y1 revenue expected. |
7. Budget and channel mix
The $10,000/month baseline flexes between $3,000 (Month 1) and $14,000 (Month 10, EOFY peak) — total $120,000 across the 12 months, allocated across five channel groups.
Full month-by-month, channel-by-channel allocation is documented in the Paid Media Plan.
8. Attribution stack
"100% attribution" means: every dollar spent, every asset shipped, and every donation received is tied by at least one identifier to a source. There is no "we don't know where that gift came from" line in the operating dashboard.
Every donate transaction captures email, name, postcode, gift amount, gift frequency, and consent. This is the source of truth. Merged into the CRM (Cloudflare D1
donors table) within 30 seconds of gift confirmation via webhook.
Every landing-page visit is stamped with UTM parameters (source · medium · campaign · content · term). Session tied to first-party cookie. If the visitor donates in the same session, attribution is direct. If they donate later, last-touch UTM + first-touch UTM both recorded.
Meta Conversions API (CAPI) with hashed email/phone deduplication. Google Enhanced Conversions with hashed email. LinkedIn Conversions API for Room B. All three receive server-side events with 24-hour delay tolerance — no reliance on browser pixels alone.
Foundation gifts, corporate cheques, and bequest pledges are entered manually into the CRM with source metadata (which conversation, which asset, which stage). Cheque = still attributed. Bank transfer = still attributed. Nothing is "unattributed".
The full attribution schema, UTM taxonomy, event dictionary, and dashboard mock-ups are documented at /attribution-framework.
9. Governance and compliance envelope
This 12-month plan operates under three non-negotiable constraints:
- RG 96 outcome-language rule. No copy claims that LWD "eliminates debt" or "cancels debt" or "makes debt go away". LWD funds; the licensed advocate negotiates; outcomes are described with hedge-words ("may result in reduced or waived debt in some cases").
- Labelled composite rule. Until 30 real consented cases exist, every human-story reference is labelled composite. Composites are described, never quoted. The label appears in copy or an adjacent footnote every time.
- HAS §8.5 — agents draft, humans decide. Every asset produced against this plan is a draft until a named human (Lisa, Laurence, Carla, or a Board member as appropriate) has approved it. No auto-publishing. No agent-approved live copy.
All three constraints are documented in the CMO Position Brief. Any deviation requires explicit written approval from Carla and Lisa. The plan does not permit lowering these standards for velocity reasons.
10. Dependencies and unlocks
Some assets in this plan cannot ship until upstream conditions are met. This section is the pre-condition ledger.
| Unlock | Depends on | Latest acceptable date |
|---|---|---|
| DGR-based tax-deduction messaging in donor-facing copy | ACNC DGR Item 1 endorsement confirmed on public register | 15 Sep 2026 (before 1 Oct charity-live, buffer of 16 days) |
| PAF/private ancillary fund messaging in Room A copy | DGR Item 1 confirmed AND legal advice on PAF eligibility | 1 Oct 2026 (charity-live launch, recalibrated Sprint 55.5) |
| First real consented case named in copy | Case closed AND signed 7-step consent form on file | By Feb 2027 to enter EOFY creative |
| Room D policy submission with LWD case data | Minimum 15 closed cases with anonymised outcomes | By 1 Mar 2027 for March HERO |
| Annual Report with real financials | First full financial year closed (30 Jun 2027) + audit | By 15 Aug 2027 for M12 hero |
| Meta CAPI + Google Enhanced Conversions live | Donate flow shipped + server-side tag manager configured | By 25 Oct 2026 for Nov ad launch |
| Wills Week Room E launch | At least 3 signed solicitor referral partners AND bequest form drafted | By 1 Aug 2027 for M12 hero |