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Capital campaign strategy best practices - Steier Group

Feb 13 2020

Nonprofits active on social media see higher donations

By Steier Tips

For nonprofits, social media presents a major opportunity. Nonprofits can share their stories, interact with supporters and donors, and have an impact on the daily life of their communities. As of 2019, Pew Research Center found that 72 percent of American adults are on social media. Facebook was most popular with 69 percent of adults using it. From that group, 74 percent said they use Facebook daily. Looking at those statistics, it should come as no surprise that social media can have an impact on the fundraising of a nonprofit. CatholicSocial.Media, a Steier Group partner, found that churches that post daily on Facebook…

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Jan 21 2020

Strong capital campaigns follow storytelling structure

By Steier Tips

Facts don’t always speak for themselves. It may be obvious to your leadership that it’s time to update the HVAC system, address that longstanding debt or that your growing organization requires more space. But for your supporters to convene and push such projects to success, plain facts must be shared within the framework of a story. Fittingly, one of the most important pieces to any successful fundraising campaign is effective storytelling. All stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. In the beginning, a problem arises. The middle of the story is finding the means to solve the problem,…

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Dec 19 2019

Three ways to steward a donor relationship

By Steier Tips

The holiday season is the perfect time to reflect on the past year. Your organization was likely blessed in countless ways over the last 12 months and you should recognize and acknowledge those blessings. It is especially important this time of year to maintain donor relationships by showing your appreciation. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to assume donors know how their gift impacted your organization. It’s easy to fall into the trap of losing touch with your donors as the months and years pass from their initial gift, but it is important to continue, and ultimately strengthen,…

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Nov 15 2019

How to incorporate Giving Tuesday into a capital campaign

By Steier Tips

A national or regional day of giving, such as Giving Tuesday, could seem to be at odds with a complex fundraising effort like a capital campaign. Devoting time and resources to one day of fundraising could take away focus and funds from a campaign. But that doesn’t have to be the case! With proper planning and clear communications, it’s possible to successfully incorporate Giving Tuesday or any day of giving into your capital campaign. At the Steier Group, we often conclude our onsite campaign management with Commitment Weekend. It’s a chance to celebrate the fundraising success achieved during the capital campaign while…

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Oct 09 2019

Building faith through stewardship

By Steier Wire

Every day, 100 workers descend on the campus of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church for construction of a larger, permanent church and a new school gym for the growing parish in Wichita, Kansas. The Rev. Dan Spexarth, pastor, said parishioners drive through the parking lot at “1 mile per hour” just so they can get a closer look at the projects taking shape. “It’s very exciting,’’ Spexarth said. The parish’s Out of Love for God campaign is funding the projects. The dynamic parish in northwest Wichita partnered with the Steier Group on that successful effort in 2018, raising more…

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Oct 08 2019

Power your capital campaign with wealth screening

By Steier Wire

Nonprofits planning a capital campaign can draw on plenty of effective tools to ensure success. There’s an essential one the Steier Group always recommends: wealth screening. Wealth screening is crucial because it helps nonprofits determine the capacity of donors to give. “Wealth screening provides our clients a tremendous advantage in a capital campaign,’’ said Matt Vuorela, Steier Group president. “We’ve seen countless examples of how wealth screening helps nonprofits not only meet but exceed their campaign goals.” The Steier Group partners with DonorSearch, a leading provider of prospect research, for wealth screening services. Sarah TeDesco, DonorSearch executive vice president, said…

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Aug 15 2019

What to do between capital campaigns

By Steier Tips

You’ve just finished a successful capital campaign. Time to celebrate! All that hard work has helped you get a long-awaited project off the ground. However, you knew this project was going to take more than one capital campaign to accomplish. You’ve raised enough to get the project started, but you have more pieces that are part of your vision. And your organization needs some time in between campaigns. What do you do in between campaigns to sustain your vision and put yourself in position for a successful follow-up effort? Here are a few ideas: Effectively follow up on the first…

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Jul 10 2019

Capital campaign follow-up leads to even greater success

By Steier Tips

So, your campaign ends with great success. Your effort raised millions, meaning you can address your organization’s pressing needs. You mark the achievement with a donor/volunteer appreciation party, say goodbye to your fundraising counsel, close the door on the capital campaign and wait for the pledge payments to arrive. Scenarios like this play out in the nonprofit community all the time thanks to generous benefactors and dedicated volunteers. But while the sacrifice of donors and the efforts of the campaign team eventually translate into completed projects or funded programs, the fundraising should not end with the conclusion of the active…

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Jun 11 2019

Don’t miss out on donors by ignoring digital giving in a capital campaign

By Steier Tips

For a student, 10 percent is the difference between earning a grade of B or that coveted A. For a baseball player, 10 percent is the difference between being a good hitter or among the best all-time hitters in the game. For your capital campaign – and more importantly, for your cause – 10 percent is the difference between Almost and We did it! In its Charitable Giving Report, the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact reported that nearly 10 percent of fundraising in the Faith Communities sector in 2018 came from online giving. Other sectors, such as Arts & Culture, K-12 Education and Animal…

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May 07 2019

Support from staff, volunteers critical to capital campaign success

By Steier Tips

At a recent 10k race, I looked around at the starting line and noticed how many people were there. Not just the runners stretching before the race. There were course marshals, volunteers, spectators and all the people associated with the event behind the scenes. I see a race like this as a great metaphor for running a capital campaign. Before toeing the starting line, many training miles must be run in preparation. By the time most supporters of your organization learn about a proposed campaign, many months, if not years, of planning have gone into this vision. Leaders of the…

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