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Getting four key issues under control will lead to fundraising success
By: John Carroll
Congratulations! You’ve made the decision that you will conduct a capital campaign on behalf of your organization. You clearly understand the importance of that decision: this campaign and its success will help determine its future effectiveness in providing services consistent with its mission and purpose. You’ve taken all the appropriate steps, including a comprehensive feasibility study to ensure that your base of support is ready, willing and able to help you reach or exceed your campaign goals.
Now it’s time to assemble all the pieces as you prepare for your campaign. As with so many things in life, assiduous and thorough preparation increases your odds for success. Regardless of whether you realize it, these are critical moments in the life of your organization. Now is the time to set your campaign infrastructure.
Four keys to preparation success
What will help ensure that you’re ready for your campaign? Check on these four aspects of your preparation:
Plan – Ideally, you’ve already made the decisions on how and where you’d like to see your organization go and grow in the next three to five years. Clearly articulated strategy provides a strong basis for your path forward. This same written strategy also serves as a touchstone for the inevitable questions that arise during the campaign.
Process – The best campaigns follow a distinct road map. Taking the right steps in the correct order certainly increases the odds of your campaign’s success. You simply cannot overestimate the importance of the specific approaches you’ll take to gain support of your board, enlist key volunteers and generate significant leadership gifts.
Paperwork – You already know that the job is done only when the paperwork is complete. Where your campaign is concerned, there will be a case statement, key checklists, written communications and forms that promote proper recording of events, accomplishments and concerns. By understanding how important it is to have the proper documents in place and use them, you give battlefront tested, proven systems a chance to work on your behalf.
People – With all of the other pieces in place, you will rely heavily on the people involved throughout your campaign. While you might be able to limp along with only some of the elements above, you simply can’t get it done without people. Leaders, staff, board, volunteers and supporters all need to be front and center at the appropriate times, handling their roles effectively and efficiently. This will require thorough briefings in advance as well as continuous and comprehensive communication. Ideally, you’ve taken the steps to ensure buy-in and agreement by each of your key constituencies. Now you’ll want to keep people in the loop at each step and phase of the campaign.
An ounce of prevention
As with any new undertaking, even if your organization has capital campaign experience, things will happen. To the degree that you can anticipate the unanticipated, you’ll be able to step over, through or around obstacles that land in your path.
How do you, in essence, surprise the potential surprises? You do so by being ready for them. Gather the appropriate people and begin to ask questions starting with, “What would we do if…?” and complete the question. Examples:
- What would we do if the Executive Director or campaign chair were to depart mid-campaign?
What happens if and when we lose a key player?
- What would we do if we found ourselves 50 percent below our milestone fundraising targets?
- What would we do if the economy took a dive during the early stages of the campaign?
- What would we do if a third party, influential in the community or market, attacked the organization or campaign?
There can be many more examples than those listed here, but you get the idea. Remember that the purpose of this exercise is not gloom and doom nor is it to kick off a year or more of worry and fretting. Quite to the contrary, this sort of contingency thinking will help you and those around you take those inevitable bumps relatively in stride. Done well, you’ll be able to handle virtually anything that the world can throw at you as you conduct your campaign.
Tips to remember and use
Here are some practical tips you can use in your campaign preparation:
- Take the time to write out your strategy – Do this yourself or with professional assistance. Either way, give yourself the advantage of clarity of purpose and mission. Fully written, this strategic document gives you a tool to share with and enlist the support of key volunteers, staff and donors.
- Know your process in advance – This is critical for anyone undertaking a significant campaign. You don’t want to be making it all up as you go. There is confidence and assurance in a known, proven process.
- Have the forms, documents and paperwork in hand and ready – Remember that the structure and progress of your campaign will be determined by the quality of and your effective use of these printed (and sometimes electronic) documents and sheets. Make them as readily and plentifully available as you can.
- Take great care with people at every opportunity – Try in every phone call, face-to-face meeting and written piece to over-communicate. By shooting for a target that would have you repeating yourself somewhat, you’ll increase your chances of catching those who may have missed a word, phrase, sentence or message or meeting along the way. Be aware that distractions abound and the world continues to turn. Your ability to cut through the clutter and deliver the goods when it comes to news, critical information, feedback and encouragement are keys to your success and that of your campaign.
Make your campaign preparations as important if not more important than any other element in your campaign. Be ready for pitfalls, prevent the need for continuous crisis management and help those around you carry the confidence and assurance that comes from smooth progress throughout your campaign.
John Carroll is Director of Strategy for Custom Development Solutions. His work on strategy, business and organizational development has appeared globally. You can reach him at strategy@cdsfunds.com.
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