Preparing for a Campaign

Sarah Sullivan, Vice President of Strategy, Orr Associates, Inc.

December 3, 2015

Thrive. Grow. Achieve.

Introduction2

Agenda

Four Pillars of Fundraising

Assess Campaign Readiness

Prepare For a Campaign

3

About me

Vice President of Strategy, Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

Lead strategy practice and client engagements

Conducted campaign feasibility studies and

developed campaign plans for a number of

organizations

Over 15 years experience in the nonprofit and

public sectors

4

Your turn

Your name, title and organization

Past, current and future campaign experience and

plans

Goals for this session

5

Four Pillars of Fundraising6

Four Pillars of Fundraising

The success of any fundraising effort hinges on the strength of the case,

leadership, donors/prospects, and fundraising systems

Case

• Clear and compelling reason for why you are raising funds and what will be different/better as a result

• Tied to the strategic vision and plan of the organization, with solid metrics and planning available to inform donors how their investment will be maximized

Leadership

• Agreement on and commitment to campaign initiatives among staff and volunteer leadership

• Engaged in fundraising and willing to make a leadership gift and bring others to the table

Donors & Prospects

• Engagement and support of current donors

• Breadth and depth of prospect pool

Systems

• Effective and adequate fundraising infrastructure and systems to raise campaign funds in addition to annual operating support needs:

• Staffing

• Fundraising practices

• Prospect/donor identification and management

• Database

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Assess Campaign Readiness8

Taking Stock

• Needs assessment and revenue gap

• Perception of the organization

• Need for and impact of campaign initiatives

• Is the case clear and compelling?

Case

• Perception of staff and volunteer leadership

• Is staff and volunteer leadership in alignment?

• Level of commitment to and support of campaign and initiatives

• Engagement in fundraising and willingness to support campaign at leadership level

• Availability of campaign leadership

Leadership

• Depth and breadth of donor and prospect pool

• Donor and prospect capacity and willingness to support campaign

• Reaction to campaign goal

• Identification and inclination of lead and major gift prospects

Donors & Prospects

• Strength and capacity of fundraising systems and infrastructure

• Impact of campaign on annual fundraising

• Establishment of campaign policies (gift acceptance, gift recognition, etc.)Systems

9

Methodology

Document Review & Data Pulls

• Needs assessment

• Fundraising trends and performance

• Size, capacity, and inclination of donor/prospect pool

• Fundraising collateral

• Fundraising processes and procedures

Research

• Peer/competitor research

• Prospect research

Interviews

• Staff

• Board

• Donors

• Prospects

10

Outcome of Assessment

The assessment will help you determine:

If you should proceed with the campaign

The appropriate structure, goal, and timeframe for the campaign

What gaps you need to fill before launching the campaign

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Case

• Perception of the organization

• Reaction to the campaign initiatives

• Messages that resonate

Leadership

• Perception of staff and volunteer leaders

• Leadership alignment

• Commitment to campaign initiatives and willingness to support campaign

• Potential campaign leadership

Donors & Prospects

• If have the donors/prospects needed

• Realistic campaign goal

• Identification of lead and major donors and prospects

• Willingness to support the campaign

Systems

• Staff and infrastructure needs

Your Turn

Have you done this type of assessment?

What did you learn?

What challenges did you face?

What was the outcome of the process?

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Prepare for a Campaign13

Campaign Readiness

Finalize campaign initiatives

Finalize case statement, incorporating feedback from assessment

Develop other campaign collateral materials (printed and online)

Develop talking points

Ensure alignment across all communication materials

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Case LeadershipDonors &

ProspectsSystems

Campaign Readiness

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Case LeadershipDonors &

ProspectsSystems

Staff

• Address any alignment gaps

• Conduct needed training

• Identify prospects from network

• Assign prospects

• CEO: 10-30

• CDO: 50

• MGO: 75-125

• Provide needed materials and staff support

Board

• Address any alignment gaps

• Cultivate and secure gifts from all board members (40-60% of campaign goal)

• Identify board liaison to campaign

• Conduct needed training

• Identify prospects from network

• Assign prospects (1-3)

• Provide needed materials and staff support

Campaign Committee

• Determine campaign committee structure

• Develop job descriptions

• Recruit chair

• With chair, recruit committee members

• Secure gifts from all committee members

• Schedule regular committee meetings

• Conduct needed trainings

• Identify prospects from network

• Assign prospects:

• Chair: 10-15

• Member: 5-10

• Provide need materials and staff support

Sample: Campaign Committee

Organizational Chart

Campaign Co-Chair(s)

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Committee Member

Honorary Campaign Chair(s)

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Campaign committee members can represent/be responsible for certain

industries (finance, defense, energy, etc.) and/or geographic areas,

whatever is most appropriate to your organization and campaign

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Sample: Campaign Committee Expectations

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ResponsibilitiesHonorary Campaign

Co-ChairCampaign Co-Chair

Campaign Committee

Member

Duration of responsibilities 3 years 3 years 3 years

Lend name to campaign marketing

materials√ √ √

Represent the campaign at major public

events and key cultivation opportunities√ √

Help identify and recruit Campaign

Committee Members√

Attend all meetings of the Campaign

Committee

√

(preside at quarterly meetings)√

Make a significant personal gift to the

campaign√ √ √

Attend

Board meetings and report on results of

the campaign

√

Participate in meetings and calls with

key staff and volunteer leadership√ √

Identify and help develop strategies for

lead and major gift prospects√ √

Willingness to cultivate and solicit lead

and major gift prospects

√

(minimum of 10)

√

(minimum of 5)

Campaign Readiness

Determine appropriate campaign goal

Develop gift table

Identify prospects at each level, particularly lead and

major gift levels

4 prospects per needed gift

Assign prospects

Develop strategies for top prospects

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Case LeadershipDonors &

ProspectsSystems

Sample: Gift Table

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Gift LevelNumber

of GiftsTotal

Cumulative

Total

Cumulative

%

3 : 1 Ratio 4:1 Ratio

$5,000,000 1-2 $5,000,000 $5,000,000 33% 3 4

$2,500,000 1-2 $2,500,000 $7,500,000 50% 3 4

$1,000,000 1-2 $1,000,000 $8,500,000 57% 3 4

$750,000 2 $1,500,000 $10,000,000 67% 6 8

$500,000 3 $1,500,000 $11,500,000 77% 9 12

$250,000 5 $1,250,000 $12,750,000 85% 15 20

$100,000 8 $800,000 $13,550,000 90% 24 32

$50,000 12 $600,000 $14,150,000 94% 36 48

$25,000 15 $375,000 $14,525,000 97% 45 60

$10,000 20 $200,000 $14,725,000 98% 60 80

$5,000 30 $150,000 $14,875,000 99% 90 120

<$5000 many $125,000 $15,000,000 100% many many

Total $15,000,000

Prospect Pool

Required

Lead

Majo

rG

enera

l

Campaign Readiness

Hire Major Gift Officers (MGOs) and support staff, as needed

Assign responsibilities across leadership and fundraising staff: CEO, CDO, MGOs, fundraising support staff, board and campaign committee

Develop systems and infrastructure around prospect identification and cultivation

Event calendar

Communication calendar

Monthly prospecting meeting

Establish moves management protocols

Develop systems around donor solicitation and stewardship

Gift acceptance policies

Giving circles and gift recognition

Pledge period and agreement

Thank you letters

Donor reports

Finance coordination

Develop and maintain donor database

Prospect research

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Case LeadershipDonors &

ProspectsSystems

Campaign Launch

Determine timeframe for launch of the campaign

Silent phase:

Infrastructure, systems and messaging in place

Raise 60-80% of campaign goal

100% of board contributed

100% of campaign committee contributed

Most, if not all, of major and lead gift donors contributed

Public phase:

Determine public launch

What, when, where, how, who

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Sarah Sullivan

Vice President of Strategy

Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

ssullivan@oai-usa.com

202-719-8048

Q&A22