Everyone wants to associate with a winner. Whether rooting for a championship sports team or working on a successful capital campaign, people want to invest time and energy and make sacrifices for a champion. To ensure your organization is primed for success, make sure to conduct a campaign planning study prior to conducting a major fundraising effort. This allows your organization to set attainable capital campaign goals and come out a winner.
But what happens when organizations are faced with projections that won’t allow them to meet all their needs? The key to success is setting a series of tiered goals that fall within the projected dollar range. This positions the capital campaign for success even if it is unable to fund every possible goal.
Using tiered capital campaign goals is an approach that can prove successful for a nonprofit, its benefactors and volunteers. When employing this tactic, a nonprofit defines the projects that will be funded as the campaign reaches specific benchmarks. The goals and projects are determined based upon planning study projections and donor feedback.
A common three-tiered approach begins with the baseline or Celebration Goal. This first rung on the ladder recognizes success and ensures all parties understand that individual sacrifice is worth the investment. Donors are investing in a winning organization.
The second rung (Challenge Goal) defines the next level to be realized as the campaign dollars increase. When reaching the final level (Victory Goal), supporters know the nonprofit is able to address all of its needs.
Every capital campaign offers challenges, requiring a commitment from a nonprofit’s leadership, volunteers and supporters. Tiered campaign goals provide a realistic opportunity for a campaign to balance goals with financial expectations and for all parties to be called winners.
I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions regarding best practices and the professional services of the Steier Group.
