Fundraising for Social Change, 7th Edition

chapter 25 What All Large Campaigns Have in Common

Capital and endowment campaigns operate from the same fundamentals as any well-done fundraising campaign: they have financial goals for which a gift range chart and a timeline have been developed to ensure that the organization meets the goal, and they have a committee of volunteer solicitors, a list of qualified prospects, and creative materials that describe the campaign and its benefits. Because of the size of capital and endowment campaigns, some organizations seek further assurance by commissioning a feasibility study that helps determine what the goal of the campaign should reasonably be, whether your donors have the ability and willingness to access assets, and sometimes even indicates whether to commit to the campaign at all (see Chapter Twenty-Eight for a discussion of feasibility studies).

The difference between a campaign and an ongoing program is simply that a campaign begins and ends. A major gifts program goes on all year long; but during the year, you may focus attention on major gifts using the vehicle of a time-limited campaign. A capital campaign for a building or some other large cost will not be an ongoing need, so it is always done in a campaign format. An endowment can simply be opened and you can focus attention on it all year round, or it can be started or expanded by a campaign. Unlike a capital campaign, major gifts and endowment programs never really end, although campaigns relating to them will. ...