Are you ready for a campaign?

Campaign success rests on good planning. Before we begin any campaign, we work with our clients to make sure that both the institutional and campaign planning efforts are strong enough to support a major campaign effort. We examine several areas of readiness that we test prior to a campaign: institutional planning, fundraising planning, and donor readiness.

Bold, visionary institutional planning based upon a thoughtful and inclusive planning process will not only help determine what kind of fundraising effort is right for your institution, it will also ensure that the money raised will have the greatest possible long-term impact on your mission. A solid planning process serves as the foundation for creating the campaign case statement that will drive the campaign effort. At West Wind Consulting, we help you translate your institutional plan into a powerful and inspiring case for support that will motivate donors to give.

Whether you need a major comprehensive campaign, capital campaign, or a limited project-based campaign, a well thought-out, customized, and creative plan is critical. The first step is figuring out if you are ready. Why? Campaigns are more intensive, and they put a lot of stress on a fundraising program.  Without proper planning and preparation, any weaknesses can lead to major problems down the road and even compromise the success of a campaign.

To start, we conduct an assessment of the current fundraising operation to determine both strengths and weaknesses and to recommend programmatic changes needed in anticipation of a campaign. We also examine the size and level of maturity of your prospect management program. The goal of this step is to determine whether you currently have enough donors with the financial capacity to support your campaign and whether those donors might be inclined to make larger gifts based on the nature of their relationship with your organization. Here we look at past giving patterns, any wealth screening data available, and a donor-by-donor review of the relationships you have with those individuals who might be able to support the campaign.

Once we have determined that the organization and the fundraising program are prepared for a campaign, it is time to test this readiness with your donors to determine if they are ready to support your campaign. A feasibility study determines the readiness of the organization’s external audience to support the strategic directions or initiatives that have emerged from the institutional planning process.

The feasibility study usually takes between 4 and 6 months, and includes a consultant conducting a series of confidential interviews with a select group of the client’s closest friends and supporters. It is designed to determine whether the project being tested is compelling and exciting enough to your donors that they would be willing to support it in sufficient numbers and with large enough gifts to enable a campaign to be successful. The study also helps to determine what other issues or concerns donors may have regarding support of your organization generally.

At West Wind Consulting, we believe that, like campaigns, feasibility studies accomplish much more than the testing of the project and proposed campaign goal. That’s why we focus on the quality of the process for our client’s interviewees. From the point of invitation through the interview and follow-up, we work hard to make sure that your interviewees’ experience is professional and meaningful, and that it provides an important opportunity for them to feel closer and more connected to your organization.

The feasibility study results in a report presenting the findings of the interview process and outlining a series of recommendations for proceeding, including: a suggested goal, a general campaign strategy, proposed changes to improve the case for support, and a proposed campaign timeline.

Once your organization decides to proceed with a campaign, ongoing campaign counsel services can help you stay on track by providing a consistent level of focus and accountability that helps staff, leaders, and volunteers maintain energy and momentum throughout the campaign. Usually for the duration of a campaign, ongoing counsel services include assistance in developing and implementing a comprehensive campaign plan, training volunteers, identifying a pool of prospective donors, developing strategies that help prepare donors to be asked to give, and developing individual strategies for soliciting top prospective donors. We also advise on the development of creative and meaningful recognition programs for campaign donors and help resolve complex issues that may arise during the campaign.