Campaign Fundraising in Difficult Economic Times

These are challenging economic times for all non-profit organizations. Recently, our firm’s president, Gene Brandt, prepared the following document for one of our clients that is in the midst of the largest fundraising campaign in its history.

Gene’s advice to this client is applicable to other organizations currently in campaigns, or planning future major fundraising efforts.

These are the fourteen steps (perhaps you may think of others) that Gene recommended to our client’s advancement staff and campaign committee:

Concentrate on Annual Giving. While major gifts from capital may slow down for a while, individuals will still be making end-of-year annual gifts. Work to bring in as much in end-of-year contributions as possible.

Repeat the campaign messages at every opportunity. Remind people why the campaign objectives are so important. Use this opportunity to reinforce the case for support.

Utilize available staff and volunteer time to identify, rate and screen major gift prospects. Build the campaign’s prospect list for future fundraising.

Put extra emphasis on cultivation activities. We must continue to communicate and educate our donors and prospects about the importance of our case for support. Use this moment to cultivate even more.

Review and evaluate acknowledgement plans at every level of giving. This is a time to be especially thankful for the support of every one of our donors.

Promote special giving opportunities, like the IRA extension and planned giving opportunities. Keep donors well informed about methods they can utilize to support the campaign.

Don’t overspend on special events, cultivation activities or upcoming publications. This is a time to present the organization as lean, well managed and sensitive to the financial challenges faced by all. We want our donors and prospects to think of our organization as one that uses charitable funds wisely.

Continue to publicize and promote important campaign gifts. We have many stories to tell of generous, even sacrificial contributions to the campaign. Let’s tell those stories.

Take a few flyers! Use this time to explore opportunities with prospects who might be considered “projects.” Perhaps we can build a relationship or two that will benefit the organization in the future.

Pursue opportunities for foundation gifts and government funding. Keep working on these areas, particularly important government funding, even if things look bleak for this year.

Be nimble enough to pursue major prospects who are ready to be solicited. There are still major prospects out there.

Continue to communicate with those who have been solicited—our pending campaign prospects. They may not be ready to make a decision regarding a campaign commitment, but we should continue to follow-up with them. Let’s use this time to build an even closer relationship.

Be realistic in campaign expectations. This is going to be a slow time for new commitments. But work that is accomplished now will yield results when the economy gets rolling again.

Be prepared for the economic upturn!