Capital Campaign Plan: A Road Map to Success

Closeup image of travel pins on a map. Much like a map used for traveling, a capital campaign plan can be your organization's road map to success.

Every successful campaign begins with a plan. The capital campaign plan is a detailed set of procedural guidelines for campaign leaders and volunteers. Read on to learn some key fundraising elements and techniques to include in your own capital campaign plan.

Fundraising Plan Techniques

There are many vital techniques at work within a good fundraising plan. These include the following five:

1. Personal Visits

Personal visits always yield more money. People give to people—people they love, people they admire, and people they respect. Often, it is the personal relationship of the volunteer making the request that has the most sway with the potential donor.

2. A Phased Approach

Our classic technique demands that we employ a phase-by-phase approach to our fundraising. We always ask for the largest gifts first, and then medium sized gifts, and finally smaller gifts. This ensures that we create enthusiasm and build momentum. Our success, as evidenced by our rapidly rising fundraising totals and our large average gift, will pull undecided people toward us and encourage them to give. 

3. Specific Gift Requests

If people are going to help you achieve ambitious plans, they need to know what is required of them. That’s why it is vital to ask for a specific gift. Make it clear that the reason you are asking them for this specific amount is because you need it if you are to succeed. It is important that they not get the sense that we are asking them for this amount just because we think they have it, or because we think that is what they ought to give. 

4. Lead and Major Gift Solicitation

Every campaign that is successful in reaching its potential is going to do a good job of soliciting Leadership and Major Gifts. Within the fundraising industry, it is a well-known fact that approximately 80% of the money (or more) will come from just 20% of the people.

These Leadership and Major Gifts set the pace for others to follow and they provide the financial foundation upon which to build a successful campaign. Much time is spent, early in the campaign, trying to determine who should be challenged to consider a gift of this significant nature. A well-run campaign will always stress equal effort from every prospective donor, but not equal giving. Each prospect should be encouraged to do their individual best.

5. Pledge Gifts

Another element of a successful capital campaign plan is to offer people the opportunity to make pledges, rather than one-time gifts. Offer longer pledge redemption periods where appropriate and possible. Depending upon the length of the pledge redemption period, pledges are usually two or three times larger than one-time contributions.

In today’s busy world, people often budget their money very carefully. If a family were going to give you $100 per month, you would rather have that run for 60 months (5 years) than 36 months (3 years), would you not? Narrowing the pledge collection period is not going to get this family (which is giving out of current income) to pay the money any sooner. It will merely get you a smaller pledge.

Elements of a Successful Capital Campaign Plan

  • Financial Goals and Objectives
  • A Detailed Campaign Timetable
  • Campaign Phases and/or Divisions and Tracks of Activity
  • Lead and Major Gift Programs
  • Commemorative Gift Plan
  • Operational Materials
  • Administrative Policies and Procedures
  • Public Relations and Publicity Plan
  • Identification of Potential Sources of Support
  • Solicitation Procedures
  • Itemized Budget

Questions to Ask Yourself

When compiling the capital campaign plan, some principles to measure plan elements against include:

  • Does this help build momentum? Are we planning to solicit large gifts from our best prospects first?
  • Do our leaders understand the nature of the commitment required (of time, talent, and treasure)? Will this help us secure our leadership’s commitment?
  • Are we doing this in the best possible manner – both in terms of potential funds raised and volunteer management? Do we have a comprehensive phased approach with definite time periods? Does each phase of activity build on the success of the previous phase?
  • Are we remembering the “80/20” rule? That 80% of the money will come from 20% of the donors?
  • Are we stressing the importance of pledge gifts? Does our plan facilitate the receipt of pledge gifts?

Keep in mind that the plan may evolve as the campaign moves forward. Preparing a detailed timetable and organizational chart is a good way to measure the progress of the campaign. It also provides a specific measure of accountability.

Establish goals for each constituency and phase. Each person needs to know what is expected of him or her! Keep a regular summary of the number and level of gifts required to reach the campaign goal for each phase of activity. This list should be constantly monitored against progress to date and should be consulted daily to develop a precise order of solicitation.

Summary

A capital campaign plan must be carefully researched and crafted. Remember to keep a close eye on the fundraising plan and modify it in view of your actual experiences. The plan is your road map to success. Use the plan as your basic guide, maintaining your liberty to deviate from it briefly where called upon, and you will find it serves you quite nicely and leads to your fundraising success.


CDS has been a leader in nonprofit fundraising for the past three decades. Contact us for more intensive help with your major gift fundraising, strategic planning, or preparing for a capital campaign.

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