You are here > Home > Funding Strategies > Capital Campaigns

Capital Campaigns: Everything You Need to Know

by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE

Identifying & Cultivating Donors
Part Eleven

As mentioned in the first article in this series, one of the key ingredients of a successful capital campaign is having a pool of donors to solicit.

For many organizations, this is fairly easy—perhaps they have a solid base of steady donors, an alumni, or list of grateful recipients of services.

For others, this task may be more challenging because they have no donor history or built in pool of donors. However, every organization has people with a vested interest in their success. The trick is determining who they are, their ability to make a gift, and their level of commitment to the organization.

One mistake a lot of organizations make is that they think they need to go out and find a whole new group of donors for their capital campaign because they don’t want to ask their loyal donors once again. Or, sometimes organizations think they can raise all the money they need for their capital project through grants.

While grants will usually play a significant role in the campaign process, it is important to remember that over 80% of all contributions to charitable organizations come from individuals.

Another principle of fundraising that is important to remember is that the most likely donors to the capital campaign will be those who are already supporting the organization.

The first place to start is with the “family” of the organization—board, staff and others close to the organization. It will be crucial to have 100% board commitment before asking others to support the project. A staff appeal should also be held early in the campaign in order to show the public that the family of the organization has given its full support to the campaign.

If the organization has an annual giving history, the first place to start is by searching its donor records. Using a good donor software system will facilitate this task. First run a list of the top 10% of the organization’s donors. These are good prospects for lead gifts. Another key is to search the records for loyal donors, those who have given consistently to the organization, even if not at significant levels. Often these donors have never been asked to give at a higher level, or have not been aware of the bigger vision of the organization.

Many organizations have “alumni,” groups of people who have received services from them or have given service to the organization. Those who have given blood, adopted animals, hold a library card, etc. are likely donors when the organization they are connected with launches a capital campaign.
Volunteers are another good source for campaign donations. Many organizations hesitate to ask their volunteers for money, knowing they are giving their time. However, remember that a person’s time is often more precious to them than their money, and if they are giving their time, they are likely to want to support the organization financially as well.

Vendors of the organization are another likely pool of prospective donors. If the organization cannot identify a pool of obvious prospects, the campaign cabinet and board of directors should be called upon to help identify prospects that, after some cultivation, might be prospective donors.

Once a pool of prospective donors has been identified, the campaign leadership needs to determine each prospect’s readiness to be asked for a gift.

If it is determined that the prospect is not familiar enough or enthused enough about the organization’s mission, the campaign cabinet will need to plan an appropriate cultivation strategy for each prospect. Cultivation can include one-on-one meetings, invitations to tour the organization’s facilities or meetings with agency leadership. Group cultivation events may also be used, such as having a board or cabinet member host a small cocktail party in their home, bringing the prospects in for a breakfast or luncheon at the organization, or other such events.

During the cultivation period, donors are not asked to donate, but are provided with information, presented with the case for support and provided with an opportunity to meet those who benefit from the organization’s services. Cultivation may take several months or several years in some cases, depending on the amount of the gift and the level of interest the prospect has in the organization. In some cases the prospect may not be ready to make a gift for this campaign, but cultivation for the future is important even if there is not a significant gift at this time. Patient cultivation for major gifts is better than rushing the prospect into a decision that may result in a smaller gift and a lack of commitment to the organization’s vision for the future.