How to assess campaign readiness: measuring an organization’s campaign readiness across 7 indicators and identifying what assets to leverage and gaps to fill before launching a campaign.

1. Preparing for a
Campaign
Sarah Sullivan, Vice President of Strategy,
Orr Associates, Inc.
December 3, 2015
Thrive. Grow. Achieve.

2. Introduction2

3. Agenda
 Four Pillars of Fundraising
 Assess Campaign Readiness
 Prepare For a Campaign
3

4. 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

5. Your turn
 Your name, title and organization
 Past, current and future campaign experience and
plans
 Goals for this session
5

6. Four Pillars of Fundraising6

7. 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
7

8. Assess Campaign Readiness8

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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
11
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

12. 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?
12

13. Prepare for a Campaign13

14. 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 Leadership
Donors &
Prospects
Systems

15. Campaign Readiness
15
Case Leadership
Donors &
Prospects
Systems
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

16. 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)
16
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
16

17. Sample: Campaign Committee Expectations
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Responsibilities
Honorary Campaign
Co-Chair
Campaign 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)

18. 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 Leadership
Donors &
Prospects
Systems

19. Sample: Gift Table
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Gift Level
Number
of Gifts
Total
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
LeadMajorGeneral

20. 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 Leadership
Donors &
Prospects
Systems

21. 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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22. Sarah Sullivan
Vice President of Strategy
Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)
ssullivan@oai-usa.com
202-719-8048
Q&A22