Capital Campaigns During Times of Stress and Four Tips to Maximize Fulfillment

When nonprofits are feeling pressured and stressed, it is almost always because of concerns about funding. Times of stress, like the recent pandemic in 2020 and subsequent ups and downs of the economy, spurred concerns about how organizations can keep doors open safely in order to keep the doors open financially. This challenge led many organizations to rapidly shift and try new strategies to fundraise. Basic strategies seemed daunting, so what do we think about taking on a capital campaign during stressful times? It is possible when the right steps are taken to ensure success. Let’s take a look at some trends that we have seen occur with capital campaigns during challenging times as well as four important tips to make sure you’re making meaningful connections with donors in the post-campaign period.  

So what can you expect to see when conducting a capital campaign during a stressful time? It is not atypical to see a decrease in board engagement. This disengagement can present challenges because the board possesses many valuable connections with large donors in your community. Additionally, they drive valuable connections and relationships with new donors. Other aspects of their personal life can take precedence over board activities when financial, health, or social crises strike. Personal business and interests can become more important, or board members will choose to focus on the everyday organization/board activities rather than the future. Historically, the willingness to give has tracked alongside the success of the stock market. As the stock market hits highs, we perceive that our wealth is greater even though it is not realized. Perceiving wealth motivates individuals to be more generous when approached with a giving opportunity. Although this trend has been seen repeatable, the COVID-19 pandemic presented some unique challenges to perceived wealth and giving. Over the course of the pandemic, the stock market saw considerable gains from its initial falter in March and April of 2020, yet the pandemic caused many to feel concerned for their finances and stability. 

Those trends have been seen historically, but the COVID-19 pandemic itself was historical and changed the landscape of giving in an instant. The world has never experienced a pandemic in our modern context, and organizations did one of two things: they closed down and hid or they focused in and became nimble. The pandemic presented a unique set of circumstances in which the level of giving remained high despite the world being in a state of flux and for many months, chaos. Even though giving was at a high, many of the traditional ways of soliciting pledges were obsolete because we couldn’t travel, meet in person, and at times it was even difficult to send mail quickly. This challenge is where nimble nonprofits found opportunity and therefore success. 

Tips for post-campaign and fulfillment success 

Plan ahead

Conduct thorough feasibility and planning studies that listen to and understand major donors and key constituents in your community donors. Understanding who your donors will be, what types of campaigns are available and will afford success, and what goals are reasonable, is essential for properly administering a successful capital campaign. If you don’t do your research and understand what to expect then you cannot prepare and cannot set purposeful goals. A well-thought-out campaign is one that can achieve efficiency, flexibility, and of course, reach its capital goal. 

Build close relationships 

Gathering pledges through a campaign is the first step, but the tangible success of the campaign continues through into the post-campaign or fulfillment stage. Pledges don’t help until they are fulfilled, and allowing your organization to drop off the face of the earth after getting pledges, will leave donors feeling left out in the rain. Continuing to share your story and how funds help your community is key to linking pledge success with fulfillment success. Stay connected with donors and keep them in the loop on what’s going on with the campaign, your organization, and your work. Don’t just send form emails, meet in-person with donors or send personalized emails/notes to check-in. Let them know how their dollars are at work in your organization. These are the difference makers. 

Communication

It is not only essential to market your campaign effectively, but it is also key to communicate the fulfillment process clearly and consistently across platforms. Communicating to larger donors the different tax-advantageous way to fulfill their pledge is key to successfully and efficiently receiving their gifts. The same level of communication is important for smaller donors. Communicating the ways in which you can make fulfillment easy for them (electronically in most cases) is key. As noted above, communicate consistently and personally to make sure donors are in the loop and have the opportunity for a solid relationship and dialogue with your organization. 

Ease and Education of fulfillment

This tip harkens back to planning ahead. Planning ahead for fulfillment can increase the rate of the fulfillment of pledges. Planning to implement key strategies will leave your organization better equipped to fulfill gifts consistently. Ease is crucial to the long-term fulfillment of smaller gifts. Allowing for electronic fulfillment is a massive benefit for campaigns today. So many of us are already used to monthly bill pay through an electronic form. Additionally, it is an instant and secure way to transfer gifts when many people are uneasy about sending checks in the mail. Similarly for larger gifts, facilitating tax-advantaged means of giving is substantially beneficial. In particular, Qualified Charitable Distributions are an incredibly tax-advantageous way for donors over 70 years of age to make their payments. Facilitating gifts of stocks is also a great way to offer tax-advantageous giving. Just as we explained above, it is essential that you educate donors by communicating these methods of fulfillment to donors in the post-campaign/fulfillment period in order to maximize the success of your campaign. A donor who may not know of an easy or tax-advantageous method of giving could be engaged in a tremendous way by learning about these opportunities. 

Even when the world presents challenges, your organization does not have to close up shop and hide until the storm passes. With the right preparation, nonprofits can use nimble strategies to stay on top of fundraising, programming, and maintain basic functions. Remember these trends and utilize these tips when taking on a capital campaign whether times are hard or not. 

We recently gave a talk on Capital Campaigns During Times of Stress for the Massachusetts Cultural Council that inspired this blog. Find this blog useful? We would love to hear from you and answer your questions. You can also learn more about our work with the Massachusetts Cultural Council here.