Campaign Committee Prospect Evaluation

Prospect evaluation during the early parts of a capital campaign is perhaps one of the most awkward activities. The key is to have a well-developed strategy that demystifies the process, puts the campaign volunteers at ease, and draws out clear conclusions about which prospects represent the greatest potential for support. The benefits reaped from candid discussions about the organization’s prospects always outweigh the initial feelings of awkwardness. 

The First Meeting: Team Building

Typically, the first meeting of the campaign executive committee tends to be an orientation of sorts. That is, members are newly recruited and often not that familiar with the case or process of a capital campaign. Therefore, I use that first meeting as a team building session. I aim to incorporate all the volunteers in learning:

• Why the organization is raising funds
• Who is leading the effort
• What the needs are
• Where we will attempt to raise funds
• How we will go about it

This also provides an excellent opportunity to close any outstanding gift requests among committee members and others.

The Second Meeting: Prospect Evaluation

The second meeting of the committee is generally when we begin the process of prospect evaluation. I have found it helpful to have the campaign’s volunteer leaders start by welcoming everyone, updating them on the progress of the campaign, and describing the meeting objective.

Then, as counsel, I describe the end product of successful prospect evaluation—a major gift! With their focus on garnering major gifts, I then detail the process. This usually includes passing out copies of a list of prospects. I advise the committee that we will review the list as a group with three initial aims:

1. Who is on this list that probably should not be? 
2. Who is not on the list that should be? 
3. Who would you feel comfortable helping us contact?

With this as a starting point, the volunteers have a focus and can begin to discuss the names with some confidence. I then start at the top of the list, calling out each name and asking if anyone knows them or anything about them. I ask the leaders to join in and help keep the meeting upbeat and keep the pace moving as quickly as possible.

Summary

This starting point for prospect evaluation helps to get the committee past the initial feelings of reluctance to participate or to talk about other people. Let them know this is a confidential process and that nothing said leaves the meeting room. Consider using the example of making personal requests of our prospects, and ask them to take it one step further—who do we see first and why?

Once the committee members know the importance of asking for the biggest gifts first in order to build momentum, raise significant funds, and raise the expectations of others to follow, they typically see the logic and necessity of thorough prospect evaluation and assignment. As with all aspects of a successful capital campaign, the best results come when we join tried and true fundraising principles together with the inherent leadership skills of our top volunteers.

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