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The fund raising world is replete with reported “truisms.” Here’s what I’ve learned over more than seventeen years of consulting to nonprofit organizations: In truth, some of what we refer to as “truisms” are true, while others are nothing more than myths. The following describes three long-perpetuated myths, as well as three lesser known but critically important realities. The “case in point” used by way of example for each myth and each reality is drawn from actual experience.
Myth 1: You must have an existing donor base to succeed.
Every organization must have the ability to find prospects. One way to find them, of course, is within your organization’s data base. However, many organizations, particularly community based organizations, are able to find prospects through cadres of volunteers who are able to identify others in the community who are prospects for a capital campaign. Case in point: The Senior Center that, in six months, raised more than $500,000 from 400+ donors, even though it did not have a single name in a “donor base” prior to launching its capital campaign. Every one of the prospective donors was identified by a campaign volunteer.
Myth 2: Leadership for your campaign must come from your Board of Trustees.
Actually, your Board should follow the axiom of Big Dog t-shirts: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” Board members may have knowledge about your organization, but sometimes they simply lack the influence or the personal skills required for effective leadership in a capital campaign. People follow leaders, so your organization should seek the most effective leadership possible, whether it comes from within or outside your Board. Case in point: The Soup Kitchen, where the Board of Trustees had always been comprised of clergy, social workers and other caregivers. It raised nearly $600,000 through campaign leadership drawn entirely from outside its Board. In fact, none of the Board members participated as volunteers in the campaign.
Myth 3: Campaign leaders must be people with “reach.”
“Reach,” in this context, means ready access to people and businesses that control wealth. Although it may be desirable to have campaign leaders with such access, it is even more desirable that an organization’s mission and purpose foster access. Case in point: The library that raised more than $4 million, more than ½ of it through the efforts of one Trustee—a person who allegedly was “too young, too naïve and had too little access to wealth.” In fact, she was too intelligent and too passionate not to succeed, where the “cause”—the library—was sufficient to open doors for her.
Now that we have explored three key myths regarding capital campaigns, let’s look at three key realities.
Reality 1: Inclination is more important than capacity.
Capacity is an absolute: There is absolutely enough wealth in most cities to support a capital campaign for most any organization. Yet, surely your city has seen some capital campaigns succeed, while others have failed. The failure is typically because a prospective donor’s inclination to support one organization more than another is relative to any number of factors, including the emotional appeal of the cause and the prospect’s personal history with the organization. Case in point: In this New England city, population 30,000, hundreds rallied to support capital campaigns for the Red Cross, the hospital and the humane society; while in that same city even businesses failed to support a campaign for the highly-regarded Chamber of Commerce. Why? People were less inclined to support the Chamber’s move to an historic building at an obscure location, and more inclined to support its continued presence on Main Street. Nothing had changed regarding the city’s capacity; only inclination had changed.
Reality 2: Capital Campaigns, by definition, are low volume, high dollar.
For all of fund raising history in this country, most capital campaigns have succeeded by a relatively few number of donors giving relatively high amounts of money. Annual fund raising, by definition, is typically dependent upon high volume, low dollar. Case in point: The school had always been small, so its alumni and parent base was small as well. The school often struggled to reach its Annual Fund goal of less than $200,000, although the fund was supported by nearly than five hundred donors. Yet, this school was able to successfully reach its $6mm capital campaign goal, even though the campaign was supported by fewer than seventy donors.
Reality 3: People have needs; organizations must have solutions.
Many people feel the need to help. For example, they feel the need to save the environment, feed and house the poor, educate tomorrow’s leaders, or provide medical care in their community or distant lands. There are, of course, many more “needs” that people feel. Too often, however, organizations think about their own needs—needs such as a better work environment, more space and a better location. Organizations that succeed in capital fund raising are, in the main, those that are best able to find the solutions for meeting the needs of other people, rather than organizational needs. Case in point: I’m willing to be that the best example I can give you is your own experience as a donor to a nonprofit cause!
Alan T. Popp, M.S., is the founder and Director of Alan Popp Consulting, LLC. He has counseled nearly two hundred nonprofit organizations in leadership, planning, marketing and fund raising. Alan can be reached at http://www.alanpoppconsulting.com