Involving the CEO in
the Campaign Process
The effective development director possesses
both the skills and intuition to know when,
where, and how to involve the CEO in the
campaign process. There are four essential
ways to make sure that the CEO remains your
supporter and buys into the campaign process
during every phase. Assuming that the CEO
drives the project planning process that
provides the information for the project
budget, the development director can then
suggest and guide the CEO to phase one of
the process.
The first -- and highest -- level of involvement
for the CEO should be in sanctioning the
Community Readiness AssessmentSM, or feasibility
study. As development director, you need
to have complete buy-in and support for
the study and the key aspects of the study,
which include:
(1) how you will present
your case;
(2) the goal amount that
will be tested;
(3) who are the key individuals
you will select for interviews; and
(4) agreement by the
CEO to attend at least _ of the interviews.
Since the information returned from the
study may affect every future aspect of
the campaign, the CEO needs to be 100% confident
that its recommendations will lead to success.
Second, the CEO should be involved directly
in the recruitment of the campaign chair
and possibly his/her top 2-4 lieutenants.
It is unlikely that a volunteer leader would
accept such a prestigious and challenging
assignment without knowing that the CEO
is completely behind the effort.
Third and fourth, which occur concurrently,
the CEO provides input on and final approval
of the case statement and campaign plan.
This should solidify the CEO’s full
endorsement of the project and provide ample
opportunity for the development director
to interpret points where future involvement
by the CEO will be required, essential,
or requested. Depending the CEO’s
personal style, you may need to suggest
more points of involvement or encourage
specific appearances. Periodic written reports
and personal visits among the CEO, development
director and campaign chair will assist
in maintaining a high level of support and
in motivating the CEOs involvement when
it will be most helpful.
Finally, you should not overlook the importance
of the CEO in cultivating and soliciting
top donors to the campaign. Just as with
leadership recruitment, your top donors
will often want to “be in front of”
the organization’s top staff leader
and will want to hear his/her vision for
the project. The CEO should have the opportunity
to be trained in the campaign process and
the way the effort will be organized, as
well as in effective solicitation techniques.
A job description will provide specific
guidance on the number of PR appearances,
cultivation and solicitation calls that
the CEO can anticipate over the course of
the campaign.
In the same way that effective development
depends on partnerships with key volunteers
and donors, the access to and involvement
by your CEO will often determine the success
of your capital campaign effort. To learn
more about planning for other key positions
in your campaign organization, visit our
website at www.jeffreybyrneandassociates.com.
