I’m hearing lots of rumblings about capital campaign planning these days. Some of my colleagues are laying the groundwork now so they can launch capital campaigns as soon as the economy turns.

So if you are planning a capital campaign, thinking about one, or even hoping to have one in the future, be sure to check out this Free Checklist Tool.

It’s short and quick, and will give you an indication on where you stand in the seven “must do” areas of capital campaign planning.

It’s what you do ahead of time that makes all the difference.

Smart campaign planning is like stacking the dominoes.  You take the time to carefully and strategically line them up. Then once the campaign begins, they all drop one after the other in perfect sequence.

This Checklist Tool will help you identify where you need to put energy NOW so that you’ll be ready when the time comes.

One more thing.

Please know that very few organizations can say 100% YES to all these questions. It’s the questions that you answer “maybe” that will point out your focus for the next few months.

Run this list by your board and CEO so that they understand just how much new, additional effort a capital campaign requires. It’s NOT business as usual.

AND join me for my next webinar on July 29: 10 Mistake-Proof Steps to Get Ready for Your Next Capital Campaign.  The early bird webinar-only price is only $49, and $64 with a Capital Campaign Planning Workbook.

YOUR BOARD

Can your board set the financial pace for a campaign?

Are your board members influential in the community?

Does your board understand capital campaign fundraising?

Is your board in full agreement on the plan?

Does your board have good fundraising connections?

Does your board operate with business minded board practices?

Does your board have a good relationship with staff?

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP

Do you have a history of influential people involved with your cause?

Can you enlist top leaders in your community to help lead your campaign?

Do you have influential people currently involved with your cause?

Can you identify potential campaign leaders and create a plan to enlist them?

Do you have campaign leaders already enlisted?

Can your leaders  make major gifts to the campaign?

PROSPECTS

Do you currently have a major gift program in place?

Has your major donor program been in place for 3 years?

Does your organization have a history of major gifts?

Can you identify a leadership gift?

Do you have a well cultivated and involved group of donors?

Can you identify 15-20 potential sources of major gifts right now?

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE and INFRASTRUCTURE

Do you have experienced, capable staff?

Is the development office fully staffed now?

Is your back office functioning smoothly?

Are you able to get thank you notes out within 48 hours?

Do you have a system for tracking pledges and policies for accepting gifts of stock and real estate?

Have you allocated funds to staff up for the campaign?

Do you have a plan for funding the campaign budget? (the campaign will cost 8-10% of your overall goal)

Do you understand what a Campaign Feasibility Study can do to lay the groundwork for a campaign?

Have you determined if you need outside expert guidance as Campaign Counsel?

YOUR PLAN/CASE

Is the need well established, urgent and understood?

Do you have an updated strategic plan?

Do you have an updated master facilities plan?

Are your capital projections and capital budgets complete?

Can you convey the impact of your project in vivid emotional terms?

Do you have statistics to back up your case?

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Are you well respected in the community?

Do you have a track record of success in the community?

Are you a leader in your service area?

Is there confidence in your organization and its leadership?

Are you communicating your results and your good work to the rest of your community?

Are you visible in the community?

TIMING

Is the fundraising environment good right now?

Are the economic conditions in your community good right now?

If you have these conditions all set, then you are ready to raise the money you need.

If not, it’s time to get to work enlisting volunteers, identifying prospects, cultivating your prospective donors and sharpening up your case for support.

Let me know if I can help you get ready for your next capital campaign.

What have I left out? Leave a comment and tell me what you think of this list!

Here are the number one, absolute essentials for writing a hard-hitting successful appeal:

1.  Use I and you words.  Keep it personal. Keep it between you and me. Make it intimate.

2.  Give them detail regarding what exactly you need and exactly how the money will be used.

3.  Show how the money will make an immediate and lasting difference.

OK – an  example:  a ballet company can write and ask for:

1. general support, OR

2. Help us pay our dancers; they make less than $xx/year and can’t even afford xxx.  If we can reach our goal to cover our dancers’ salaries, we’ll be able to (do this, and this and this)  and with more dancers, we can stage the ballets you know and love. Without enough dancers we’ll have  to eliminate dances from our repertoire.

Another example: A community college program helps foster youth when they transition out of the social services program to go on their own:

You can ask for a gift to “fund the foster youth program,” or

• $25k to expand the program, employ another coach/social worker, and bring in an additional 20 kids into the program. These kids are much more 40% likely to become incarcerated or pregnant than others of their age group.  Helping them transition to college gives them a new hope for the future. And they return as coaches to inspire the foster kids currently  in high school who may be thinking about dropping out.

You tell me which type of appeal works!

I am teaching today in Greensboro, NC at the AFP CFRE Review Course and the AFP First Course in Fundraising.  As usual, they have me talking about managing and motivating volunteers and board members.

In my last class, we had such a laugh over “Boards Gone Wild.“  What do I mean?

A Board Gone Wild is a well-meaning group of volunteers who gallop off in the wrong direction.  It’s the wrong direction because the plan or project they are espousing is not well-planned, not well-thought out, has unintended negative consequences, and cannot be pulled off with the current staff and human resources on hand.

Here’s a typical example: Board members are desperate for easy fundraising short cuts.  Board member Bob recalls a golf tournament that made over $75,000.  (He never saw all the back end work that made it happen – he just saw a seamless event on the day of.)

Other board members grab on to the idea. To them this seems like an easy way out.  Let’s do a golf tournament!  No matter that we will need to pull it off within a six week time frame, leaving little time to solicit sponsors.  Not a problem!

If we can’t do it then the staff can help, right? No matter if it’s not in our fundraising plan, we can heap additional stuff on our already overworked staff easily. No matter if they will have to bail out our non-performing volunteer group at the last minute.  No matter if all our major donors have already been solicited recently, we can always go back to them.  And on and on.

Meanwhile the staff has fainted.  They  know what the fundraising plan is for the year and it sure doesn’t call for a golf tournament. They know that golf tournaments, of all things, require an enormous commitment of organizational time and energy to be successful.

The staff is trying to speak up but they are brushed off in the wake of the board galloping down the road to a possible disaster.    Can this board be saved???

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not picking on golf tournaments.  In fact, they are excellent fundraising tools when planned for properly and when supported with appropriate staff and volunteer energy. They are just the example I am using.

There are many examples of Boards Gone Wild.  It could be a pancake supper (groan), a new staff member or fundraising consultant who will be the silver bullet, something called “grantwriting” that will be the magic solution to all the organization’s challenges.

What’s YOUR EXAMPLE of a Board Gone Wild?

Come on and share your own experience!