Capital campaigns are a major undertaking.
To help inform your campaign planning and set you up for success, we’re extending our discussion from Ingredients for a Successful Capital Campaign Part 1 to outline suggested best practices.
Stay in the “silent phase” for as long as you can. Most organizations do not broadcast the capital campaign to the entire donor file until after 90 percent of the funds are raised.
Be selective in whom you approach to fund the campaign. You do not want donors to shift from operations support to capital campaign support.
Board involvement is essential. While board members are not always the source of large gifts, they play key roles in opening doors and making connections.
Cultivate major donors — ongoing and new. See your campaign as an opportunity to engage key supporters not just for the project at hand, but for the future of your organization.
Secure your top gifts first. They will set the benchmark for future gifts.
Involve donors early. To the extent they are interested, keep them involved with regular communication — even after they’ve made their gift.
Develop a master grant proposal. This creates a tem- plate for future requests and allows you to make subtle and appropriate variations as needed. It can also provide significant savings in time and money.
Persevere. Securing the meetings needed to move forward with both private and institutional donors can take an inordinately long time. Plan ahead.
Plan to include government officials and political representatives, who can assist at many levels. For example, they can help with citing, permitting issues, and identifying private funding sources. Develop and make use of these relationships.
Humanize your effort. Share client stories (with permission, of course). They are the reason for your fundraising efforts, and the reason why potential donors should care about investing.
Prepare for construction planning and monitoring, as well as rigorous cost control, which are critical elements of a successful campaign. Do not start construction too early. Most organizations do not begin construction until more than 50 percent of expected revenue is in hand.
