Capital Campaign Prep: 5 Things to Do Before Fundraising

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The title of the article, “Capital Campaign Prep: 5 Things to Do Before Fundraising”

When you think about capital campaigns, you might picture your team spending hours on research, shifting all your attention to major donors, and trudging through months of non-stop fundraising. The good news: It doesn’t have to be this way.

Capital campaigns can be joyous, community-driven endeavors that rally your entire support base around a project that will make a clear difference to your mission. It’s not just about fundraising—capital campaigns are about building excitement, momentum, and lasting communal support for your cause.

Achieving these results, however, takes plenty of preparation and thorough campaign planning. In this article, we’ll cover five important steps your nonprofit should take before you start fundraising to set your capital campaign on the path to success.

1. Partner with a fundraising consultant.

Fundraising consultants are invaluable assets to your capital campaign, especially if your organization has never launched one before. A consultant who specializes in capital campaigns can take your organization through every step of the process, providing expert, tailored advice along the way.

Specifically, they can help you with:

  • An internal assessment or feasibility study. Whether you choose to conduct a traditional feasibility study or a more transparent internal assessment, a consultant can guide you through the process and help you analyze the results.

  • Campaign planning and strategy. Get expert advice on your campaign’s goals, budget, timeline, fundraising strategy, events, and more.

  • Prospect research. Consultants with access to professional prospect research databases and wealth screening tools can identify, research, and target the prospective major donors who are most likely to give to your campaign.

  • Major gift cultivation and solicitation. After identifying the most likely major giving prospects, your consultant can create personalized donor cultivation plans and provide major gift solicitation tips.

When hiring a capital campaign consultant, remember that you’ll be working with your chosen expert for an extended period (potentially multiple years). It’s essential to consider factors like value alignment and communication styles in addition to prospective consultants’ services and areas of expertise.

Partner with a consultant you’ll enjoy working with—someone who will put your organization’s mission and values at the heart of their campaign strategy.

2. Analyze your past fundraisers.

Since capital campaigns are large-scale fundraising endeavors, it’s worthwhile to assess your organization’s current fundraising practices and identify areas for improvement. By improving your processes now, your team will be in a better position to succeed throughout your capital campaign and beyond.

With your consultant’s help, dive deep into your database and analyze your organization’s past fundraising data. Historically, where has your team struggled most? Have your biggest challenges been related to your team’s capacity, major gift solicitation, donor retention, or something else?

Once you know where to improve, take steps to make your fundraising team more efficient, effective, and confident before you start fundraising.

3. Identify and interview key stakeholders.

Traditionally, interviewing stakeholders is part of a feasibility study designed to determine whether your capital campaign can realistically meet your goals. However, many organizations find this approach outdated, opting instead to have open conversations about the campaign with key stakeholders to gather insights, strengthen relationships, and boost excitement for the project.

To gauge opinions and energize potential supporters, ask major donors, community leaders, and other important stakeholders questions like:

  • How do you feel about our organization’s vision for the future?

  • Do you think this campaign is relevant and important to our mission?

  • What do you think are our nonprofit’s strengths and challenges?

  • How high does our organization fall on your list of charitable priorities right now?

  • Can you see yourself contributing to this capital campaign? At what giving level?

The answers to these questions will give you an idea of the support your organization can expect for the campaign. When you lead these conversations yourself, you can also use them as an opportunity to test and refine your case for support. According to NXUnite by Nexus Marketing, it’s important to take supporters’ insight into consideration and make your case for support as appealing to their motivations as possible.

4. Obtain buy-in from board members.

Once you’ve done sufficient research and have solidified the core elements of your capital campaign (like messaging, initial timelines, potential lead donors, etc.), it’s time to get approval from your board. This is a crucial step to take before collecting any campaign donations. Make sure your board members have a thorough understanding of what the campaign will look like, how much support you can expect, the resources needed, and their own responsibilities.

To secure board buy-in, you might need to:

  • Share the detailed results of your internal assessment or feasibility study.

  • Provide initial campaign resources, like a budget, timeline, and case for support.

  • Explain the vision for the campaign and how it will drive your mission forward.

  • Create capital campaign committees (i.e., a planning and steering committee) and assign committee members if you haven’t already.

  • Set expectations for board member involvement and contributions to the capital campaign.

  • Discuss any major gift commitments you’ve received or can realistically expect to get.

Securing board buy-in on such a large project can be challenging, so don’t be afraid to lean on your consultant during this process. Ask them if they’d be willing to join a board meeting and discuss your plans for the campaign with board members. They’ll have valuable insight into your organization’s specific needs and common challenges that nonprofits like yours face when running capital campaigns.

5. Build up your community.

According to Donorly’s capital campaign guide, “organizations can achieve better, longer-lasting results when they take a community activation approach to capital campaigns.”

Major donors are not the only key players to be concerned with—what truly drives your mission forward is your community. After your capital campaign ends, your community members will be the ones to step up and fund the maintenance of your new building, use your new programs or services, and sustain your nonprofit long-term.

That’s why it’s essential to spend time building up your community and cementing your organization’s value to community members before you start fundraising for your capital campaign. You might do this by hosting regular events, reaching out to community leaders, or working to promote your cause to new audiences.

All of this work will help you raise more funds for your capital campaign once you’re ready to enter the quiet phase. However, this isn’t to say you can’t discuss giving at all with excited donors. If a lead donor is excited about the campaign and feels ready to dive in, collect a verbal commitment instead of accepting the donation now. This way, you’ll have the knowledge, buy-in, and pre-committed support to build a strong foundation for your capital campaign.

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