Capital Venture: Secrets for Success

Is your organization contemplating a capital campaign? Here are some tips to keep in mind.

A capital campaign can be conducted for "bricks and mortar," endowment or special projects needs, such as a major equipment purchase or starting a new program.
Most organizations do a planning study (or feasibility study) prior to conducting a campaign in order to help them plan a successful campaign.
A capital campaign will require a great deal of time from the Executive Director, Development staff, and Board of Directors. Often a CEO and CDO will spend 50-75% of their time on the campaign.
The three essential ingredients of a successful capital campaign are: a compelling case for support, a strong infrastructure (which includes full board support) and top notch volunteer leadership.
Capital campaigns generally involve three to five year pledges from donors. It will be critical to have a software system in place that can handle multi-year pledges.
Capital campaigns should always be worked "from the top down" and "from the inside out." This means the top leadership gifts should be solicited first, and the organization's "insiders"-board, staff and campaign volunteers-must make their campaign gifts first.
Capital campaigns are run for a specific period of time, usually eighteen months to two years for small to medium sized campaigns, longer for larger campaigns. The public phase of the campaign should be as short as possible, because people tire easily of long-running campaigns.
At least 60% of the goal should be raised in pledges and gifts before the campaign is announced publicly.
Most organizations hire a consultant to manage their campaign because they need the expert advice a consultant can provide. The planning study should always be conducted by an outside consultant.
One of the first steps in the campaign should be to appoint a small Steering Committee who will work with architects, construction managers, fundraising consultants, etc. to prepare the organization for the campaign before the Campaign Cabinet is recruited.

If your organization is contemplating a campaign, you will want to complete the campaign readiness assessment on our website and then contact CAPITAL VENTURE SM for a free summary of your readiness for a campaign.