NOW is the Best Time for a Campaign Feasibility Study. Here’s Why.
Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash
Turn the Recession into a Fundraising Success
The pandemic and the corresponding economic freeze are both frightening and disorienting. Most robust development operations flourish with face-to-face interactions and cash flush, generous donors. These two success factors are threatened by the current conditions. But that shouldn’t bring your development operation to a standstill – just the opposite.
Donor cultivation is a long-term proposition, and short-term thinking can defeat even the best development presidents. Remember the core of our business rests on relationships and strategy, not the exchange of money and the meeting of annual goals. While we may be experiencing a tactical paradigm shift, the essentials of our vocation and mission remain unchanged.
Now is the time to check in on unusually isolated donors;
Now is the time to be upskilling and reskilling your alumni, and
Now is the time to plan your next campaign.
If you are nearing the end of a campaign, I might be tempted to start work on the campaign celebration and declare victory after social distancing measures are relaxed. If you are in the middle of the campaign, I can certainly understand why you might want to suspend. However, if you find yourself putting campaign planning on hold, don’t!
Go ahead and put the finishing touches on your flagship project and funding priorities, draft a case statement and begin testing that case with donors. Here’s why.:
Feasibility studies are designed to temper ambition with reality.
Successful campaigns always exceed their goals.
During a recession, donors will not overestimate what they will give.
In the early 2000s, the globe was battling a recession in the wake of 9/11. We, nevertheless, conducted a feasibility study. The disappointing feedback caused us to scale back our ambition and value engineer our capital projects before making the case to our donors. By the time we were asking for gifts, the economy had rebounded. We finished with the campaign with 150% of the initial goal achieved which helped take the institution to the next level.
By contrast, I inherited a campaign whose feasibility study was conducted in the recovery of the mid 2000s. “Irrational exuberance” was back until donor portfolios crashed in 2008 just before we were ready to start making asks. We were left with boxes full of glossy case statements touting what had become unrealistic goals. They and the campaign were shelved.
Those recessions were about a decade apart. Here we are 10 years later. Now it is time to use the sobering effect of an economic downturn to your advantage. Test your campaign goals in the coming months with loyal donors.
Use your campaign counsel’s feedback to right size your goals and get ready. When the economy begins to rebound you won’t be spinning up a campaign, you’ll be rolling it out. Your leadership will be in place, and your early donors - buoyed by the recovery - will come in for goal-topping gifts at the end.
It may seem like the absolute worst time to think about campaign planning.
It’s actually the ideal time.
When you’re ready for a referral to the right campaign counsel for your institution, call me.
In the meantime, Download: 3 Things Every College President Should Know About Fundraising.
With over 25 years of senior-level education leadership experience, including as president and vice president for advancement, David Rowe is a senior consultant with AGB: Association of Governing Boards, executive coaching and mentoring practice lead for Registry Advisory Services and the CEO of The Development President.