How to Make a Successful Capital Campaign Solicitation
If you are thinking deeply about launching a capital campaign, one of your fears may be asking directly for the largest gifts your nonprofit has ever received. How does one go from asking for a $5,000 gala sponsorship to a $500,000 campaign leadership gift?
If you hire a consultant to help plan and manage your campaign, that person should prepare and train you and your committee members to make professional and successful capital campaign solicitations.
As capital campaign consultants, we’ve had the honor to train nonprofit leaders to become amazing major-gift solicitors and raise millions more than they ever thought possible. Take a look at our process for preparing them.
Pre-Solicitation Preparation
Before solicitation begins, you and your consultant should identify and qualify your capital campaign prospects. This involves reviewing your database to identify donors who have great affinity for your nonprofit and are capable of making a major gift. You’ll be looking for frequency of giving, size of gifts, and the donor’s areas of interest. You’ll also want to assess whether you have access to them through a personal relationship or a board member.
Wealth screening also comes into play during the preparation process. Wealth assessment services may be included in your donor database, through your consultant, or you can purchase them through a separate vendor. Wealth screening will help you to identify whether those prospects you’ve identified who have the desire to give, also have the capacity to give. Wealth screening also can help you find additional donor prospects, possibility folks who give generously to other nonprofits like yours. This can make wealth screening a worthwhile investment for your nonprofit.
It’s also a good idea to ask your board to take a confidential look at the list of major-gift donors you have identified. Board members may have insight on appropriate ask amounts for specific donors based on their personal knowledge of that person. Your board members also may have ideas of other donors to consider adding to the list of capital campaign prospects.
When your list is ready, write an individual ask letter for each prospect outlining the campaign and a specific amount that you would like the prospect to consider. You could also develop a gift plan range to go along with the letter, so that instead of asking for $25,000, you can show the gift range document and ask for a gift in the “Silver Range” of $25,000 to $50,000. This is not information that is mailed. You’ll use this letter, and gift plan range if you decide to use one, during an in-person meeting to present the opportunity and make the ask.
Appointment Setting
Capital campaign solicitations are best made face-to-face, so your next step is to call your prospects to schedule an in-person meeting. Prepare for the call by reviewing your organization’s case for support (a description of your organization’s needs and how meeting them will benefit your community), any materials you plan to share during your ask, and your campaign video. You also may have a brochure or other tools that depict your organization’s impact. Use this review to remind yourself why you are committed to this project or organization and why you’re asking others to participate.
It is important that you call the prospect personally. Your personal connection to the prospect is key, so don’t delegate this task to anyone else. When you make this call, be enthusiastic. You are doing vital work that is worthy of this personal time and attention. Approach the call with these thoughts in mind.
When you make the call, the capital campaign and your desire to meet are the only purposes for calling your prospect. If you combine the call with other items, you may fail convey the urgency of the campaign and lessen its importance. If it is important enough to ask, it is important enough to visit in person. If you are too busy to visit in person and explain the case fully, chances are the prospect won't take it seriously either.
The phone call is only to get a face-to-face appointment, not a gift. Do not get into a detailed discussion about the case for support over the phone. You’ll need to plan for a minimum of a 30-minute meeting, but you could need an hour or more.
Plan to meet with the prospect, and their spouse or other decision maker, if possible, in the place of their choosing. Their home or office is best, but you can also schedule an ask at your facility. Avoid restaurant meetings as they are noisy and can distract from the importance of the discussion.
In our capital campaigns, we ask campaign leaders to work in pairs. Face-to-face fundraising can be daunting and is accomplished more comfortably and professionally in pairs. This serves multiple purposes: it heightens the importance of the ask; it ensures that most questions can be addressed during the ask (Two brains are better than one!); and it makes the solicitation team more accountable to following best practices. Including a second person may also allow you to have a person with a stronger relationship with the prospect involved in the ask.
Time to Meet
When it’s time for the meeting, open with small talk and then give a brief personal overview of the case. At this point in a capital campaign solicitation, we show the video. This allows every solicitation to be based on common and complete information.Plan ahead on how you will share your own view on the campaign or present the highlights of your brochure.
Assume the prospect knows nothing about your case for support. Take the time to talk about your organization, the campaign, and how it benefits the community. Let the prospect absorb and internalize the project’s importance and let them ask questions. Anticipate what those questions might be and be prepared to answer the tough ones. Answer briefly and honestly. Use your answers to explain how this investment in your organization brings the return of an improved community. Also talk about the fundraising success to date to demonstrate community support.
Make the Ask
Once you have fully explained the organization’s needs and how filling those needs benefits the community, the next step is to request a gift. Capital campaigns typically seek large gifts or pledges that can be paid out over time. Using the ask letter that has been prepared in advance and a campaign brochure or gift range chart, capital campaign leaders ask for the gift like this:
“There are three ways we hope you will support our effort. First, we hope you will champion it. Our community members will want to know that respected leaders like you support this project. Second, we need help opening doors to more donors. Your friends, family, and neighbors might be valuable to our success, and we’d like you to share their names with us if you feel they would be interested in supporting this project.
“We recognize the valuable contributions you make to our community, and we’d like you to make an equally valuable contribution to this effort. We have no way of knowing what you might be capable of giving, but would you consider a gift in the Silver Range (or a pledge of $25,000) to support our project?”
Then, and sometimes this is the hardest part, you stay silent and wait for the prospect to think and to respond to your request.
Possible Responses to Your Ask
The prospect's response will be one of four answers. Here is how you approach each of them:
Yes: Thank the donor and ask him or her to complete a gift intention form.
No: Politely thank the prospect, conclude your conversation, and leave.
I need time to think about it: This is a positive answer and means the prospect is seriously considering your request. Graciously grant the time but set a return appointment before leaving. It is best to set an in-person return appointment for within one week of the initial visit. Meeting in person will allow you to have the prospect complete the gift intention form and close out the solicitation.
I can give a lower amount: If you believe this may be the most the donor will ever give, accept the gift and complete the gift intention form. Many donors will actually give more if given a little time. Rarely will they lower the gift if given time. You may consider offering the donor some time to think about it. A good response is: “I really wasn’t prepared for you to make a decision right away. I’d like you to think about your involvement and I’ll come back to see you.” Then, set a firm appointment.
Your organization and its fundraising efforts are important. You are doing good work to improve your community and the lives of people in it. Never apologize for asking for a gift or leadership.
Click to read more on how Professional Asks Impact Capital Campaign Solicitation Success. If you are interested in learning more about capital campaigns, we invite you to explore our free Guide to Capital Campaigns.
Kevin Wallace is president of CampaignCounsel.org.
