If a capital campaign is in your organization’s future, you will want to do everything you can to assure its success. There are several key ingredients to every successful campaign and three of these ingredients, when analyzing successful campaigns, surface as the most crucial.

The following items will help assure success:

• A strong annual fund history;
• A realistic goal;
• A sufficient pool of qualified prospects;
• Strong staff support;
• Gift acceptance policies;
• Campaign organizational structure;
• Adequate donor software system.

And the three key ingredients:

• A compelling case for support;
• A committed Board of Directors;
• Strong volunteer leadership.

Annual Fund History
One mistake that many organizations make at the outset of a campaign is to concentrate their efforts on soliciting new donors. Since most donors are reluctant to provide a major gift to an organization unless they already have a previous relationship, it is always best to start with established donors.

Look at the top 10% of annual donors to see if there may be some prospective lead donors for the campaign. Another group to review is the list of “loyal donors,” those people who support the organization year after year. Even if their gifts have been small, it is possible that among them there might be a few major donor prospects, who were simply never asked for a large gift before.

Realistic Goal
To determine the goal of a capital campaign, first start with the architectural study. An architect will develop renderings to be used in presenting the case for support to potential donors. Donors will be motivated to give if the vision is inspiring.

A building that looks too extravagant may turn off donors if they feel money is being spent on buildings that could be better spent on programs. On the other hand, however, the building should not be so utilitarian that it fails to excite people with possibilities for new or better services.

Once these plans are in place, they need to be tested in the community, usually by means of a planning study which involves a series of interviews with community leaders, major donors, and others who can influence the outcome of the campaign. The planning study will also determine the interviewee’s thoughts regarding the proposed goal.

It is important to realize that the case for support may evolve after receiving this feedback in order to arrive at a realistic, attainable campaign goal.

Qualified Prospects
The difference between a prospect and a qualified prospect is that adequate research has been done in order to determine the Linkage, Ability and Interest (the LAI Principle) of the prospect in order to have them qualify as a viable prospective donor for this campaign.

Without these three qualifications, it is unlikely a major gift will be forthcoming. Screening sessions during the early phase of the campaign can help determine the ability of a prospect to give, and at what level; the best team members to make the ask; and which possible named giving opportunities might appeal to this prospect.

Staff Support
A capital campaign tends to disrupt the overall operations of the development office. The campaign, because it is running on a tight timeline, will require intensive periods of concentration on developing prospect lists, working with volunteers, developing campaign material, and scheduling solicitation visits.

The CEO of the organization will need to be involved in identifying, cultivating and soliciting donors. About 50% of the CEO’s time may need to be devoted to the campaign.

Support staff is also crucial during a campaign. There will be a lot of paperwork generated during the campaign, volunteer training packets, letters of solicitation and acknowledgement, recording of gifts and pledges, grant proposals. Often, additional staff support is hired for the duration of the campaign.

Gift Acceptance Policies
Before launching a campaign, the organization needs to have clear polices in place regarding what type of gifts they will accept, how those gifts will be disposed of, and how they will recognized. It is important that volunteers and staff are aware of these policies before they are assigned to solicit prospective donors or process gifts.

Campaign Organizational Structure
A campaign plan should be developed before recruiting the campaign leadership. This plan will include position descriptions for all members of the Campaign Cabinet, timelines, campaign budget, and a scale of gifts, along with suggested goals for each division of the campaign.

An organizational chart showing how many volunteers will be needed for each effort is crucial before recruiting volunteers to head up each campaign division. Organizations that do not plan to hire a consultant to manage their campaign might do well to consider still having a consultant develop the campaign plan.

Donor Software
An adequate donor software system needs to be in place during a campaign. For many organizations, the capital campaign may be the first time an organization needs to record pledges.

Most campaigns will have a three year pledge period, and often donors will want to make quarterly or semi-annual payments on their pledges. Therefore it is important to have a software system that can manage all this, in addition to being able to record which solicitors are assigned to which prospects so that tracking results of each solicitor can be done.

If the organization is financing the building project during the pledge payment period, it will also be crucial to have a system that can generate a cash-flow projection report in order to show the bank when pledges are expected to be paid.

The Three Key Ingredients

While most of the qualifications already discussed can be developed during the early phase of the campaign, there are three key ingredients that should be in place before a decision is made to go forward with the campaign.

Case for Support
There must be a clear, compelling case for support that inspires and motivate donors. The case is often referred to as being “bigger than the organization.” It talks about the people who will be served by this building, the importance of this project to the community, and the difference the donor can make in the lives of people by supporting this campaign.

Once the preliminary case is tested during the planning study, it should be reviewed again in light of the input received by community leaders. If it is found that the case is not strong enough, it may not be the right time for a campaign, at least not for this project. The case forms the basis from which all campaign materials will be developed; therefore, it needs to be written before the campaign.

Board of Directors
Board commitment must be present before making a decision to proceed with a campaign. The board should pass a resolution approving the campaign once the planning study report is received and discussed.

Board commitment means that the board is committed to this campaign in every respect—emotionally, mentally, spiritually and financially. At least five or six Board members should be willing to serve on the Campaign Cabinet.

One hundred percent of the Board must make their financial commitment before any other gifts are solicited for the campaign. It is crucial to show other funders that the “family” of the organization has made its commitment first, and at the highest level possible for each Board member. This is the time to ask Board members to stretch their giving to a truly visionary level.

Volunteer Leadership
Good leadership can make or break a campaign. It is essential to select a Campaign Chair or Chairs that can inspire others to become involved and to support this campaign.

The selection of the Campaign Chair may take several months in order to identify, cultivate and recruit the right person(s). Prepare a recruitment package that includes the case for support, the campaign timeline, and position descriptions for each member of the Campaign Cabinet along with an organizational chart.

Whenever possible, the Campaign Chair should be someone who has been involved with the organization. Always choose someone who believes in the organization's mission and supports it wholeheartedly.

The Campaign Chair should also be someone who is known and respected in the community and has the ability to both give a leadership gift themselves, and solicit leadership gifts from others. Once the Campaign Chair is in place, other key positions should be filled on the cabinet. These volunteers will, in turn, recruit others to serve on the campaign as needed.

With effective volunteer leadership, full Board commitment and a compelling case for support, most campaigns will succeed.

 

For permission to reproduce or distribute copies of this article, please contact info@funding-exchange.org .