Upgrade Your Capital Campaign Committee
In a well-organized capital campaign, it is the Campaign Executive Committee, or CEC, that understands and assumes responsibility for the success of the campaign. The members of the committee are often serious business professionals in their own right, but each campaign is typically a multi-million dollar project. Therefore, as fundraising counsel, we cannot assume that they understand their role on the CEC. It is our job to define what it means to be a member of the CEC, and to communicate to each of these leaders what is expected of them.
What Defines a Capital Campaign Committee Member?
Capital Campaign Committee members are leadership and major gift donors who have agreed to help solicit the support of others. They are each influential among their peers and are willing to lead a particular phase of the campaign. They are brought on early in the campaign process and they have a vested interest in the project’s success. In short, they are willing to put their financial and personal capital on the line to make the campaign a success.
While each of the committee’s members may have these skills, they may not have the focus that is necessary to make the campaign a success. We have to employ a variety of tactics to motivate them to their fullest potential. I would like to discuss the role and importance of the campaign executive committee in an unusual way. Let’s look at the word “committee” and analyze this word as it pertains to the functions and significance of being a member of a capital campaign committee.
Commit to Your Capital Campaign
First, let’s look at the first six letters of this word—“commit.” There is the sum of your job: a commitment! Through your significant financial gift, you have committed to supporting a very vital community project, and to providing facilities that fill a major need in our communities. By committing to service in this capacity, you have demonstrated and acknowledged the importance of the effort. You’ve also indicated your desire to help this campaign succeed in raising or exceeding its monetary goal.
But you must also commit to the following:
- The dream represented by your project
- Following the campaign principles
- Do your part, and then some
Now, consider the rest of your role as a member of the “commit-TEE.”
TEE: Time, Energy, and Effort
Let’s look at the final three letters of “committee.” Look at TEE this way:
T is for Time.
Your commitment includes time. Time for necessary meetings, time for discussing prospects, time to make calls asking for gifts, time to report results, time to follow-up, and time to contribute in many ways to the successful conclusion of this vital effort. The timetable for soliciting pledges in a capital campaign is typically a 12-24 month time frame.
E is for Energy.
Your commitment to the campaign and the expenditure of time as described above means using your energy to make things happen positively for this campaign! Your campaign director will look to you for insights and guidance for prospect development and community awareness. Additionally, your energy for the campaign will elicit greater knowledge about the project. As you progress with your campaign and enjoy successes along the way, you will find your energy level rising and your interest growing as the goal comes closer to reality.
E is for Effort and Enthusiasm.
Sure, spending the time and using the energy requires making an effort. Everyone is pulled in many directions by a variety of priorities in the course of a day or a week. When time and energy are coupled with enthusiasm, the effort flows naturally in the quest for success. The successful campaigns are oftentimes accomplished when campaign executive committee members feel they don’t have the time or the energy to put into the project—but when mixed with enthusiasm, they make the effort, find the time, dig up the energy and make things happen! When capable leaders agree to serve as members of the Campaign Executive Committee, dreams can come true.
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.