Are Your Goals Campaign Worthy?

By Judy S. Keller, CFRE, Vice President
Midwest Region

Effective fundraising campaigns must be consistent with an organization’s mission, be developed during a formal strategic planning process, and must significantly improve the delivery of services. They must be designed by strong, reputable and articulate executive staff and boards of directors who are proactively engaged in advancing a clear mission with measurable outcomes. A successful campaign will reflect their thoughtful participation in informed and critical strategic planning that clearly identifies where the organization should be in the next three to five years.

Failure is common when leadership — paid or volunteer—develops goals that are not critical to fulfilling the mission of the organization. For organizations considering a campaign, it is essential to ensure that your campaign goals are not a function of “mission creep,” or projects affiliated with, but not essential to your mission.

Your needs must be clear, documented and critical, rather than nice amenities, wish-listed or tangential items. When the strategic plan and its accompanying “wish list” is staff driven, it may fall short because it lacks the perspective board members bring to the table and, perhaps more important, discourages community “buy in.”

Successful fundraising campaigns make a simple, strong and solid case for support. An organization’s staff and leadership must think strategically and objectively about why they want to launch a campaign. They must be painfully honest in distinguishing between what is critical to their mission and what would simply be nice to have.

Answers to the following questions can help determine the difference between “wants” and “needs.”

1. Is the campaign essential to your mission, strategic plan, and delivery of services? It must be defendable.

2. Does it make good business sense? The financial plans for the project should be solid and the subsequent operating budget sound.

3. Does it pass your personal giving test? You must be willing to contribute in order to ask others.

4. Has it been tested? Ask someone outside your organization to review and respond to the plan.

Any proactive nonprofit manager can think of ways to expand facilities, staffing and programming. It requires much more thought to design and describe a campaign that meets critical needs, directly fulfills a longstanding mission, and compels the community—individually and collectively—to step up and help.