CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING

Need a 501c3 “type one supporting foundation”, nice to have but not absolutely necessary.

This is way more than just raising dollars for your foundation, or getting grants to do projects, often this approach is a money in- money out type activity. What I have found can work is a different approach that will resemble a process similar to how higher education raises money, think more development vs typical chamber fundraising approaches.

What’s the problem and your plan to address it?

Connect the plan to existing Vision program (if you have one). Ideas for possible plan elements;

• Improved competitiveness- public policy changes to accelerate growth by reducing the cost of doing business

• Reducing red tape and barriers to economic growth

• Size, scope and efficiency of state government- lean government

• Data- determine which segments have best growth potential, ie manufacturing

• Show how this will help rural economic recovery and support local chambers of commerce who will need a lot of support.

• Dashboard to monitor and measure progress, competitiveness, etc.

• Forecast modeling capabilities - McKinsey

• McKinsey- additional big ideas, provided pro bono via COSC

• Coalition building, public relations, communications, advocacy to drive, lead and implement change, own the plan, be the recognized state thought leader driving the recovery and reset of your state economy.

Key elements- from McKinsey presentation:

• Relieve

• Restart

• Recover

• Reimagine

Duration of the plan/campaign: 24 months

Operating Budget: Cost/ goal to implement the plan: $1 million over two years.

• Build the $1 million campaign budget to show how dollars will be allocated to implement the plan, be specific. (Direct costs, staff, studies, polling, research, overhead, fundraising, etc)

• Ideally carve off $500k annually from chamber operations and allocate to the foundation

Develop the “Case for Support”: a marketing tool to package the plan, make the case, show impact, identity the need and urgency. Why you should care? (This is one of the most important steps in my opinion, and is not typical to chamber fundraising activities.)

A good case for support answers the following questions:

• Why? The objective

• What? The problem this campaign is intended to address

• How? The plan to address the problem- balances urgency, rationale and emotion

• Measurable goals this plan will meet

• Why the chamber

• Why now

• What’s at stake

• The impact this plan hopes to make for our state, be specific, helps to be able to show ROI: jobs, GDP growth, etc.

Test the plan: conduct a feasibility study with confidential one-on-one interviews with top donors. Ideally hire a third party to do this to provide important feedback during this phase, including these elements:

• Right plan, reactions, feedback, suggestions, etc.

• Is the timing right to do the campaign at this moment

• Does the Chamber have “asking rights”, are they the right group to do this.

• Budget and goal reaction and feedback, possible giving levels of support identified based on the plan, case for support, budget and anticipated impact what range of support would you consider?

Develop the campaign goal and establish the “chart of giving” for the campaign.

Basic rules apply:

• Lead gift will equal 25% of the total goal or $250K, most important to secure this first.

• 80% of the campaign goal will come from 10 donors

• Need to identify approximately 45 prospects to find the top 10 donors (This is another very critical step in the campaign)