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Eight Things You Need to Do Now if You Are Launching a Campaign in 2015

By Sarah Sullivan

Campaigns are a great way to increase your revenues and to enable your nonprofit to better serve its mission. However, executing campaigns is not as easy as it once was.  Finding the right time to launch a campaign, developing the right case for support, and asking donors who have already contributed to your nonprofit to give again is tough and needs to be coordinated with the stakeholders who matter most to your nonprofit. 

Before you launch a campaign, you must prepare by following these eight steps:
 

1. Define the Campaign Vision.  Identify what you want to accomplish with the campaign and why you must do it now. It is important to determine the financial and other tangible goals of the campaign and define the specific initiatives and outcomes the campaign will fund.  
2. Identify the Campaign Revenue Goal.  For capital campaigns, you first need to determine the cost of the building purchase, construction, or renovations.  Do not forget to include the cost of building maintenance and upkeep.  For endowment campaigns, determine how much endowment you need to produce the desired annual payout.  For multiple initiative campaigns, identify the cost for each initiative and roll them up into the total campaign goal.
3. Write a Case for Support.  Make a case for why the campaign initiatives are crucial to your organization's future success and why you need to do them now. Be sure to consider your audience (key constituents) and use messaging will resonate with them. Include facts and data on the history, mission, and impact of your organization, but make sure you include compelling stories and pictures of those you serve.
4. Solicit Feedback.  This is the most important step in preparing for your campaign.  You need to identify the stakeholders who will likely be your campaign leaders and major donors and you need to involve them early in the campaign planning process by asking them for their thoughts on your campaign vision, goal, and case for support.  One-on-one feedback meetings are the most effective strategy, but you can also gather feedback more broadly through focus groups or surveys.  Use these conversations to start the process of soliciting your top donors and, thus, set the stage for campaign success.  You can also use a full Feasibility Study to solicit feedback -- click here to learn more.
5. Prepare Your Current Staff or Hire New Campaign Staff. Assess your organizational leaders' ability to lead a campaign. The executive management, board of directors, and development staff must actively participate in order for the campaign to be successful. Ensure they have the training, tools, and time needed to lead a campaign. Hire additional staff or retain outside counsel to fill any gaps.  
6. Recruit Your Campaign Leadership and Set Goals and Expectations.  Determine the right structure for your campaign committee and develop job descriptions for each position, including length of campaign/commitment, expected hours per week, and giving expectations. Based on the feedback received in step four, develop a list of your top campaign committee prospects and assign the staff and/or board member best positioned to recruit them.
7. Research Prospects.  In close collaboration with the campaign committee and development staff, create a list of campaign donor prospects. Use the feedback data from step four and mine your donor database to find donor prospect with the capacity and inclination to give to the campaign.
8. Finalize the Campaign Vision, Goal, and Case for Support.  Using the feedback from step four, revise the final parameters of the campaign's vision.  Determine how you will reach your financial goal by mapping out quarterly targets.  Refine your case for support in both online and print versions.  Create a timeline with specific steps that you, your nonprofit leadership, and the campaign committee need to take to successful implement the campaign.

Once you complete these steps, you will be ready to launch your campaign.  You must remember, however, that planning is an ongoing process. Be sure to continue to revisit, update, and hone the campaign materials, donor lists, and campaign timeline, as you execute the campaign. 

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OAI has decades of experience working with nonprofits to prepare for and execute campaigns.  If you need support as you prepare for a campaign, please contact me today at [email protected] or (202) 719-8048.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Foundation Center
79 Fifth Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, Second Floor
New York, NY 10003

There is no denying that major donors have altered their behavior post-recession.  While individuals still represent the biggest source of donations, major gifts have never been harder to secure and sustain.  Major gift donors demand impact and return on investment, and it is your job to demonstrate those results. 

Join us for an interactive session, led by a 15-year major gift fundraising veteran, which will take you beyond the fundamentals and guide you on how to build the components of a successful major gift program.  The components we will cover are not new, but we will take a fresh look at them through the lenses of today's challenging fundraising environment. They include:

• A donor-centric approach;
• A fundraising plan;
• A case for support that demonstrates impact;
• Committed staff and volunteers; and
• A winning "ask".

You will come away from this session with strategies for how to create or refine your major giving strategy so that you can increase giving from those donors who can have the greatest impact on your mission.

Presenter:

• Kelly Dunphy, Vice President, Fundraising and Development, Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

Registration:

This session is free.  Click here to register.