YOUR CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS
The Six Things You MUST
Have in Place
to Succeed In a Major Gifts Campaign
Whether you are planning to launch a capital
campaign or another major gifts effort,
there are certain essential conditions that
you and your organization must meet for
you to be successful. At Jeffrey Byrne &
Associates, Inc., we call these your Criteria
for Success. In the last issue of “News
You Can Use,” we introduced the first
criterion. In future issues, we plan to
highlight more about how you can use these
six simple rules to measure your readiness
to launch a major giving campaign. For a
complete list of the six Criteria for Success,
visit our website at : www.jeffreybyrneandassociates.com.
Criterion Number
2 -
Commitment by the
Organization’s Leaders
Prior to asking others
for a commitment to the project, the board
of directors must themselves demonstrate
their own commitment. They must be willing
to give of both their time and financial
resources. They will set the tone of the
campaign by creating the example that others
will follow.
Campaigns start off with an “Inner
Family” phase. This phase, which is
really a campaign within a campaign, sets
the tone for the campaign and demonstrates
the organization’s internal commitment
to the project.
The Inner Family is defined differently
for each organization, depending on the
group’s leadership structure. It may
include a few select volunteers, or it may
include a larger number of closely connected
volunteers and top staff. It always includes
the organization’s Board of Directors.
Starting with the Board President and Campaign
Chairman, gift solicitations are conducted
in the same manner that they will be during
the campaign – person to person, in
teams of two and peer to peer. The importance
of peer solicitations will be addressed
in Criteria 3 in the next issue of “News
You Can Use.” Two goals are set: One
for 100 percent participation and a second
“production” --- or dollar amount
-- goal, based on the potential giving ability
of the group. This important early activity
allows volunteers to practice their solicitation
skills in a friendly atmosphere and generates
a success story for volunteers to share
in later calls. The Inner Family should
be conducted in rapid succession, providing
momentum for the campaign.
But making a gift is only one aspect of
demonstrating commitment to a project. Organization
leaders should plan to contribute more than
their “treasure.” Every organization
leader should be involved in the project
and the campaign to raise funds for the
project in some way. While not all of an
organization’s Board members will
be part of the solicitation team for top
gifts, each volunteer leader should be asked
to give of their time and talent in some
way: by serving on a campaign planning group,
on the project planning or site selection
committee, as campaign treasurer, by working
on public relations and special events,
on policy committees such as gift acceptance
and recognition, or on a speakers’
bureau team. Every leader should be asked
to provide a list of prospects with whom
they are acquainted and with whom they would
be willing to introduce the project. Every
leader can attend a community tour or breakfast
meeting to help cultivate donors and volunteers.
Every leader can tell the organization’s
story in their own words and express in
a meaningful way why they are taking time
away from family, work and other commitments
to volunteer for this project. These are
the stories that will make a difference
in engaging other potential volunteers and
donors in your project, and they are the
stories that only a volunteer can relate.
So when you and your leadership are evaluating
your internal readiness you will want to
consider the capacity you have within your
own organization’s leadership –
to make gifts, to connect you to those who
can make meaningful gifts, and to offer
their time and talent to organizing and
carrying out a major fundraising effort.
One well-respected volunteer in talking
about his role as a chairman of various
campaigns even suggests that the chairman
should ask the following of each volunteer
in writing:
