How Do I Know We Are
Ready For A Campaign?
By Gary Rick, Business Development Manager
Mid Atlantic Region
As Business Development Manager for Jeffrey Byrne & Associates, Inc., I often speak to CEOs and Development Directors to learn about the challenges they face in planning for a campaign.
Just recently, I had a phone conversation with Lindsay, the CEO of a nonprofit organization in the Midwest.
“You do a lot of work with organizations on capital campaigns,” Lindsay said. “How do you know when an organization is really ready to do a feasibility study or campaign? How can we know we aren’t pulling the trigger too soon, or just wasting our time? This is a huge step for us and I need to know if we’re prepared.”
These are valid questions and are shared by more of you than you’d probably imagine. It’s natural to have some anxiety over taking a big step like committing to a feasibility study or launching a campaign. After all, the majority of nonprofit staff may only be involved with a major campaign once or twice in their careers. On the flipside, a fundraising consulting firm manages capital campaigns every day, so we have seen the signs that an organization is ready.
Some of the answers to Lindsay’s questions lay right in our own firm’s Criteria for Success. Consider how you would meet the criteria below:
A Case that is Valid, Realistic, and Universally Accepted
A “case” is the basis of every campaign. Do you know the “case” for your current vision and have you committed it to writing? How about your organizational “Case for Support?” Both of these will be important tools in translating how your current plans will help you better meet your mission and, ultimately, change lives.
You’d be surprised how many organizations fail to accomplish this basic step in development best practices. At a recent conference in the Midwest, a sizeable majority of the more than 160 nonprofits in the room admitted they lacked complete development plans and/or a case for support.
My message to you today is to think about your case – NOW. Define how your projects benefit the community. Answer how your vision will help accomplish your mission and create greater good.
This is a good time to test your “case” with community leaders as an early cultivation tool, and to learn what they may or may not know about your organization. Does your project have universal appeal to different sectors of the community? Get beyond the bricks and mortar to how your project will make a positive impact on the community, now and for many years.
Commitment by the Organizational Leaders
Critical in evaluating your internal readiness is understanding your own leadership’s commitment and willingness to work on a campaign.
Organizations should ask: “Do our board members demonstrate their commitment by being advocates and supporters of our organization? Are they contributing financially to best of their ability on a regular basis?” If they are not financially vested, staff members should find out why. You cannot succeed in a campaign when your “inner family” is not supportive. Education, cultivation and communication efforts should be implemented to help board members realize their role in this regard. This is critical. Your leaders will set the tone of a campaign by creating an example that others will follow.
Involvement by the Community Leaders
How connected are you and your board in the community? Community leaders play a huge role in campaigns as donors, solicitors and project ambassadors. Throughout a campaign, more depends on “who” asks for a donation than the size of the donation requested. If organizations are going to succeed in a capital campaign effort, the organization and its leadership need to be connected to persons who can make donations, but also to those who can lead you to other donations by asking their peers for gifts.
Proper Timing
Board members, in particular, want staff and consultants to answer with certainty: “When is the best time to run our campaign?” Many times, the answer to that question is, “The time is now!” However, “now” should be defined as when the following factors are in place: the campaign can be the center of attention for your organization and your donors; the board and staff are motivated and excited about the project; prospective campaign leadership and donors have been identified; and the organization has taken the time and effort to pre-plan the campaign, inclusive of a specified calendar of activities with assigned accountabilities and deadlines.
Now, back to Lindsay. She and I talked about where her organization was in its planning, and whether she thought they could meet the criteria for a successful campaign. It turns out that on many levels they were ready, but there was still much she and her board could do to ensure a successful campaign. Lindsay came away with a game plan to improve her organizational campaign readiness. She realized that it would take a few more months, but she felt great about her chances for a successful campaign once she gets there.
For tools to help you in your planning process, visit our resource index at www.fundraisingjba.com/resources.htm and browse through the articles. Below are a few links to some of the valuable information on our website. If you find this information helpful and would like more information on a topic, please contact us and let us help you be successful BEFORE you begin.
Email: grick@fundraisingjba.com
Phone: 800.222.9233.
Resource Articles:
