Capital Campaign Architecture: Building a Campaign That Works
A capital campaign has a lot of moving parts, but the basic structure is fairly simple. Like constructing a building, a campaign needs to be built in the right order. You begin with the groundwork, pour a solid foundation, put up the walls, add the roof, and only then worry about the finishing touches. Skip a step, or build something out of sequence, and problems usually show up later. Capital campaigns work much the same way.
Groundwork: Campaign Planning
With building anything, we begin with groundwork. We start with just dirt and dig the holes and trenches that will fuel the future structure with water, electricity and gas. The equivalence to this in campaign architecture is your campaign planning (feasibility) study. What is the fuel that it provides? The valuable information that shapes every aspect of your campaign.
Steps: Information gathering from donors and leaders to answer these questions:
What’s our organization’s image and how will that help/impede our campaign?
Who are the donors and leaders who are willing and able to assist?
What is our campaign vision (case for support) as seen by our donors and how do we use it to garner the most support?
What is a realistic campaign goal?
What’s the best campaign plan to follow to reach our goal?
Outcome: Your donor community has been identified, qualified, segmented, educated and cultivated and are prepared to participate (or not participate) in your project.
Foundation: Campaign Committee and Tools
The next step is to pour the foundation. This will keep the structure secure so it doesn’t collapse onto itself. Your campaign’s foundation is the people on your campaign committee along with the tools/training they use in making solicitations.
Steps: During and after the planning study, identify and recruit the best committee (people with capacity and influence) from your board and the donor community. Give them the tools/training they need to succeed. Examples of tools:
Gift pyramid
Gift plans
Naming opportunities
Solicitation letter
Campaign video
Outcome: A group of respected individuals who champion your project’s vision to their friends/family/peers and make professional, personal solicitations.
Walls: Campaign Strategy
After the foundation is cured, the walls go up. Walls create utility and flow throughout your structure. In a campaign, the walls are your strategy. Who to ask, when to ask, where to ask, and how much to ask for. The strategy has two components: solicitation and stewardship. Solicitations are handled by the campaign committee while stewardship is managed by the staff.
Steps (Solicitation): From the information gathered/shared during the planning study, assign donor prospect solicitations to committee members based upon these factors:
Accessibility – is the committee member the prospect’s peer, can they get the solicitation scheduled through a personal relationship?
Similarity – did the committee member give at a level comparable to the donor prospect’s capacity?
Accountability – is the committee member bought-in on the project vision, will they properly represent your organization, and will they follow best practices in making solicitations?
Steps (Stewardship): All donors deserve and most want recognition, which comes in many forms and should be a top priority within your organization. The planning study audits stewardship functions such as:
Recording – does your organization have suitable CRM (customer relationship management) software and an experienced person managing it?
Acknowledging – does your organization have a protocol for communicating with donors on a timely basis?
Appreciating - does your organization have a protocol to ensure that donors receive prompt and appropriate recognition?
Outcome: An effective major-gift strategy (quiet phase) that makes the most of every solicitation.
Roof: Campaign Processes
Now it’s time to put on the roof so that everyone inside your structure can stay comfortable and perform efficiently. In a capital campaign, the roof is the processes within your strategy. What proven, efficient and effective processes will your organization adhere to to reach the campaign goal?
Steps: Campaign Counsel has a saying: process creates potential. This means that the more often an organization follows proven processes, the more often that opportunities present themselves. These are the steps to follow in soliciting major gifts ($25,000+):
Identify high capacity donor prospects
Qualify these donor prospects based upon their philanthropic propensity along with their affinity towards your organization
Educate and cultivate these prospects on your vision (case for support)
Assign these donor prospects to campaign committee peers for solicitation
Solicit them using the proper tools and training
Follow up with them promptly
Close them promptly
Steward your donors forever
Outcome: Your campaign committee becomes confident and competent, your campaign giving is maximized, and your donors are happy.
Furnishing and Decorating: Public Phase
The final step to completing your structure is furnishing and decorating it. Most find this step the most appealing because it’s the most comfortable. Not many people know how to (or want to!) plumb a structure, but they do know how to select furniture for a comfortable staff lounge. In capital campaigns, this step is known as the public phase. It is when the campaign committee switches its focus from personal solicitations to public solicitations.
The Public Phase can be exciting, but it should not be initiated until 90-95% of the campaign goal has been met.
Steps: All donor prospects are invited to support the campaign through a variety of platforms:
Webpage
Direct mail
Social media
Events
Outcome: New donors make small gifts to the project and, if properly stewarded, become consistent donors to your organization.
A well-built capital campaign depends on doing the right work in the right order. Planning provides the information, campaign leaders provide the credibility and relationships, strategy directs the solicitations, and disciplined processes keep the campaign moving. The public phase may be the most visible part of the campaign, but most of the money should already have been raised through personal major-gift solicitations before you get there. Build each part carefully and in sequence, and you give your organization the strongest structure possible for reaching its campaign goal.
Are you considering a capital campaign? Contact us to learn more about how we can help.
Kevin Wallace is president of Campaign Counsel.
