Are you Ready to Start a Capital Campaign? 

By Ruston Pierce
Fundraising and Capital Campaign Manager| Fortify Foundation

What need are you meeting? 

Before any school embarks on a capital campaign, there should be a very clear discussion between the administration and school board around the needs of the community and how the school plans to meet those needs.  Does your school have a clear understanding of your purpose and goals for the community?  Many schools jump into campaigns to “get something built” or “show progress” but quickly find out they’re just staying busy and not really meeting a need.  This hurts credibility with donors.  Your donors want to see you being well-planned and thoughtful.  Proactive discussions on the needs of your community can help you clearly define what your campaign should achieve. 

What goals are you trying to meet? 

Does your school have a strategic plan?  If so, congratulations!  The goals of the strategic plan should drive your capital campaign.  The purpose of the campaign should be moving forward in meeting some of your strategic plan goals.  The plan will also help you clearly communicate the purpose of the campaign as well as assist with cost analysis for the campaign.  If you do not have a strategic plan, you are not ready for a campaign.  Fortify Foundation can help you create a strategic plan so your campaign can be effective.  Contact us to learn more about how we can help. 

Have you crafted a compelling message? 

People want to invest in your mission, but you must make sure your mission is compelling.  A compelling mission should grab the attention of your constituents and build trust with them.  It should include a call to action that allows people to see themselves in your mission, whether that’s through giving of finances, volunteerism, or talents/gift in kind.  It’s important that your message is easily shared by your constituents.  They need to understand it and be able to easily repeat it. 

Are all constituent roles clear? 

A typical issue in new campaigns is a lack of clarity in role sort.  Every school who begins a capital campaign should clearly identify 4-6 people who will be making asks for the campaign.  Others can be trained to assist with the ask, but these pre-determined people should be making the majority of the asks.  Internal processes for gift reconciliation and thank you letters should be clearly defined with who will execute them.  Additionally internal and external communications should be mapped out with who will be responsible and who will assist in the execution of those communications. It is good for the school board to go through training in their role in fundraising.  Many times, the board is not fully clear on their role, and they actually have a very important role in the process.  Fortify Foundation provides free board training on their role in the fundraising process.  

Are you clearly communicating your message? 

Before you start a campaign, it is important to map out, as much as possible, your internal and external communications. This could include how your people who are making asks will track touchpoints with donors.  It would also include any internal and external communications that will be produced for all of your constituents, both physical and digital.  Have you effectively taught your constituents how to discuss the key messages of the campaign? Are your primary communicators of the campaign all trained in making sure their message is the same? Clear communication of your campaign must be a priority. Great pains should be taken to fully map out how that communication will be delivered, when it will happen, and what vessel will be communicating the message. 

What does long-term relationship building mean for your school? 

The long-term goal of any campaign should be relationship building. No campaign should be about building a thing or a program. Every campaign should be hyper focused on engaging people to support your mission. The item being created in the campaign is just a piece of your mission.  The mission is the priority.  By engaging donors in your mission, you can create raving fans who will continue to give long after your campaign ends.  That should be the internal goal of any campaign, engaging existing donors in a more meaningful way and engaging new donors to support your mission. 

Fortify Foundation would love to assist you with the planning and execution of your capital campaign. All the necessary tools to plan and execute a campaign can be provided by Fortify. Wealth screening, strategic planning, board training, and campaign management are all available to your school at a rate scaled for every size of school.  In addition, Fortify’s unique campaign fee structure is designed to help your school become sustainable.  Fortify charges 2% of the total raise of the campaign, but when the campaign ends Fortify donates back 25% of the fees to the school to create an endowment.  Please contact Fortify to learn more about how we can help you execute a successful capital campaign.