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Steier Tips

Strategies for Success:
Assessing Your Organization's Campaign Readiness

If your organization is looking to embark on a capital campaign in the near future, it is important that you evaluate your overall development efforts and the structure of your development team to test your "campaign readiness." Doing so will have a positive affect on your campaign as well as your overall development efforts.

Pre-campaign studies, or feasibility studies, generally ensure that you are prepared externally for a campaign. Campaign readiness assessments assure that you are prepared internally as well. As part of your campaign readiness assessment, consider evaluating the following areas:

Strategic Plan/Case for Support:
Prior to beginning a campaign effort, it is vital that the organization's needs are evaluated and the needs align with the organization's overall strategic plan. Defining these needs helps to build the organization's case for support, which is ultimately what will impact a donor's decision to give. Without a strong case for support, it is difficult to garner the support needed.

Donor Database and Records:
Throughout a campaign effort, communication pieces, correspondence materials and personal visits will have to be organized with and for your constituents. To do so, it is important that the organization has up-to-date records of the donors' contact information. Furthermore, during a campaign it is necessary to evaluate donors and set gift request amounts that take a donor's past giving history into account. To fulfill these activities, it is important that your organization has an up-to-date database.

Donor Cultivation and Relations:
When embarking on a capital campaign effort, it is important to evaluate which of your donors has the potential to make a major gift to the effort. After all, major donors can greatly impact the success of a campaign. With that in mind, it is important that your organization sits down and assesses your top 10, or even your top 100, prospects. Once these prospects are determined, your organization may want to involve them in focus groups and other cultivation activities. Doing so helps make donors feel a part of the organization, which can ultimately impact the likelihood that they will consider a significant gift to your campaign.

Board and Volunteer Support:
A successful campaign effort involves the support of an organization's board of directors and volunteers. If your organization is looking to embark on a capital campaign, it is important that these individuals are able and willing to help identify other potential leaders, identify and evaluate prospects and solicit donors.

While each individually is important, evaluating your case, database, donor relations and volunteer support, all within your development strategy, can set up your organization for success in contemplating a capital campaign.

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