2015-12-03 preparing for a campaign
TRANSCRIPT
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
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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
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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
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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)
202-719-8048
Q&A22