Podcast: Apply Capital Campaign Principles to Your Annual Fund

Season 3, Episode 62

Join Andrea Kihlstedt, co-founder of Capital Campaign Pro, and her colleague, senior campaign advisor Richard Quinn, as they unravel the secrets behind successful capital campaigns and effective fundraising strategies.

In each episode, Andrea and Richard delve into core principles of capital campaign fundraising, offering practical insights and real-world applications. Discover how to set ambitious goals, prioritize big donations, engage key donors, and create a timeline that ensures success.

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Andrea Kihlstedt:
What are the principles of a capital campaign that makes these fantastic things work?

Welcome. I’m Andrea Kihlstedt, co-founder of Capital Campaign Pro, and I am delighted to be here today with my friend and colleague, Richard Quinn, who’s one of the senior campaign advisors at Capital Campaign Pro. Welcome, Richard.

Richard Quinn:
Great to be with you, Andrea.

5 Key Principles of Capital Campaign Fundraising

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Richard, let’s start by figuring out what are the key principles of capital campaign fundraising, and then we’ll try to apply them to something that’s not a capital campaign. That okay?

Richard Quinn:
I think that sounds like a great idea.

1. Set Stretch Goals

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Great. How about, one of the things I know is important for capital campaigns is that we set stretch goals. How do you think about that?

Richard Quinn:
Absolutely right, because capital campaigns are opportunities for you to really think big about the future of your organization, to create a wish list and to push yourself to dream towards that wish list.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
It’s so funny how hard it is for people to do that, right? They think they’re always limited by money.

Richard Quinn:
It is, but they don’t realize, or many don’t realize, that when you do that, your donors take notice and they become even more generous.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Yeah, fantastic, isn’t it?
Richard Quinn:
It is.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
What do I call that? Blue-sky thinking.

Richard Quinn:
I love that.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Instead of starting by saying:

“We have only X number of dollars, now let’s figure out what we’re going to do.”

Why don’t you figure out what you want to do, and then figure out how much is going to cost, and then figure out how you’re going to raise it?

Richard Quinn:
Right on. I love that. For sure.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
So that was principle number one. That’s setting a stretch goal.

2. Solicit the Biggest Gifts First

The second principle is solicit the big gifts first. Go to the people who can help you the most in the beginning. Why do you think that works, Richard?

Richard Quinn:
Well, I think there are two profiles of… Well, there are many profiles of donors, but in capital campaigns, I think of two that rise to the top. One is donors who like to step in first. They’re the ones who are comfortable with making, I don’t know, for lack of a better phrase, risk capital gifts, right? They believe so strongly in the project that they’re willing to stick their neck out and say:

“Man, I am going to invest in this early, not only just because I believe in it, but because I want my gift to inspire others to give too.”

And then there are folks who really want to see a bit of proof of concept before they dip their toe in the water. And you and I have just encapsulated and crystallized the distinction between quiet phase and public phase.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Yeah, that’s right. And it’s interesting because there are also some donors who want to give at the very beginning and who also want to be the heroes to close out a campaign.

Richard Quinn:
The white knight at the end. Exactly.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
They’re white knights, right? They’re the white knights in the beginning and they’re the white knights at the end.

Richard Quinn:
Yep. For sure.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
… campaigns work because of people like that.

Richard Quinn:
That’s right.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
And when you go to them early, you set yourself up for success, right?

Richard Quinn:
Truly. Yeah.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
That’s principle number two, right? Ask for the big gifts first.

3. Involve Those Who Are Likely to Become Major Donors

So principle number three is to involve people who are likely to become key donors. Don’t just think about asking for money, think about involvement. How does that work from your perspective, Richard?

Richard Quinn:
Well, there’s an old adage in our profession, if you ask people for advice, you get money. If you ask people for money, you get advice, and that advice might come in the form of, you came to me way too quickly.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Right.

Richard Quinn:
And there’s just something, really, it’s just a joyful thing to have a conversation about a big idea with a donor who can then put their stamp on it, right? They can add their input, give their perspective, and in the process, get energized by the concept. The likelihood that they’ll give even more is heightened as a result of that.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
I think it’s really easy for us to forget that donors really don’t want to be seen for their money. They want to be seen for people who can help make something happen.

Their money happens to be a way for them to do that, but that’s not the primary way they want to be seen. So asking them for advice, involving them early, again, makes them a part of the process and makes them more likely to contribute, more likely to get involved, more likely to give a big gift.

Richard Quinn:
Could not agree more.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
That was principle number three. We’ve got two more to go.

4. Set a Timeline for Your Campaign

The fourth principle is setting a timeline.

Richard Quinn:
Yes, indeed. Capital campaigns tend to go between three and five years. There are payment plans, the pledge periods, that donors are invited to participate in, and that timeline has several phases, right? Pre-campaign planning, to the feasibility study phase, you come back together afterwards and plan again, then a quiet phase, then you have a big party to kick off the fact that you’ve raised 70 plus percent of your goal. And then there’s the public phase, and then there’s the stewardship phase.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Yeah, so there’s a very distinct plan and timetable for all these things. Now, as Richard said, in a standard campaign that’s going to take between three and five years, but you can apply these principles in a way that is really quite short. You can do the whole thing in three months, or six months, or 12 months. You don’t have to apply these principles only to a great, big campaign. And we’re going to talk about that in a minute.

5. Ask for Gifts from Donors Face-to-Face

Let’s go to the fifth and final principle we’re going to talk about today, the final campaign principle. And in some sense, that’s the one I really want to focus on. So I’m glad it’s the last, which is, you have to be willing to ask people for gifts in person.

Richard Quinn:
For sure, and this has become, so in-person and interestingly enough, also virtually.

Asking is happening via Zoom, via Teams, and it’s also happening in person, right? It’s ultimately at the comfort level of the donor. I agree with you, Andrea, being in somebody’s presence really makes a huge difference. And also, you can have these conversations in virtual ways.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Yeah, and when I said that Richard, I think what I really meant was not necessarily that you would be in the same space, but that you would be having a face-to-face conversation. Maybe that’s the phrase I should use.

Richard Quinn:
Yeah. Yeah, so it’s not a mail, it’s not a proposal —

Richard Quinn:
E-mail, right.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
It’s not email. It’s actually, so you and I, we’re on Zoom as we do this conversation, but we are definitely face-to-face. I can see you. You can see me. And capital campaign fundraising is based on having real face-to-face conversations with the people who can give you the largest gifts.

Richard Quinn:
It’s the difference between relational and transactional fundraising.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Oh, I love that. That’s exactly right. So we’ve got five principles. I’m just going to review them really quickly, and then we’re going to talk about how we can apply them in a way that is not for a capital campaign.

So we talked about a stretch goal. We talked about asking for the big gifts first. We talked about involving key donors in the process, so you’re not just asking them for money, you’re asking them for advice. We talked about setting a timeline, a specific timeline, and we talked about asking for gifts face-to-face. Those are five principles. Now, you and I could go on and list 20 more, but those are core principles, right?

Richard Quinn:
Truly.

Using These 5 Principles in for Other Types of Fundraising

Andrea Kihlstedt:
And you and I have both played a lot with actually using these key principles in other kinds of fundraising, not just capital campaigns.

Richard Quinn:
We sure have.

Apply Them to Annual Fundraising

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Talk to me about how you would apply these principles to annual fundraising.

Richard Quinn:
Really good question, and here we are coming up against… We’re recording this in June, and a lot of organizations have July-June fiscal years, and I imagine that a lot of them are fundraising like crazy to hit their goal. What if you were able to prioritize fundraising earlier in your fiscal year, so that when April, May and June come, you will have done the vast majority of it and don’t feel that pressure to raise the funds at the end of the fiscal year?

The great thing about that is that it gives your donors a fiscal year runway, right? They’re looking towards a fiscal year full of programs that are ahead of them, not behind them. And it’s perfect time in July, in August, in September, to schedule those meetings with those donors to invite them to consider a gift, maybe larger than last year, to fund the aspirational aspects of what you’re going to do all fiscal year long. But before you do that, it’s a chance for you to sit down and describe this whole new idea with them and say, “Would you be willing to go on this journey with us?” Right? That’s kind of like the feasibility study phase of an annual campaign that goes all year long.

So as we were saying earlier, invite people into conversations so that they can give advice, is a great first step in July, August and September, at a time when you’re usually exhausted after April, May and June of fundraising. You won’t be anymore, right? Because you’ll be raising most of your money before the end of the calendar year.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Yeah. I love that, Richard. You turn the annual fundraising on its head.

Richard Quinn:
Yes.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Right? You just looked it upside down.

Richard Quinn:
Yeah.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Now, you’re also going to include, I’m sure, some of the other principles, which is asking people in person, not just —

Richard Quinn:
No doubt.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
… letters, for example.

Richard Quinn:
No doubt. I would take a look at your donor list, organize them by most generous, all the way down, and really schedule meetings with those top insiders, those who really believe strongly in your mission and say, “I’d like to let you in on an idea that we have and get your thoughts.” Schedule 10, 15, 20 meetings, whatever makes most sense to you, and tell them what your plan is for the fiscal year.

Be ready to tell them what this new plan is going to fund, enhanced programming, perhaps additional capital needs, perhaps reserve fundraising so that the organization can handle the ebbs and flows of economies and things like that. Write that out, create that case, share it with them and say, “Would you be willing to go on this journey with us?”

Andrea Kihlstedt:
I love it. Richard, our first principle was about setting a stretch goal.

Richard Quinn:
Yeah.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
And I think most of the time the way people set a goal for their annual fundraising is that they look at what they did last year, they raise it by a certain percentage and then off they go on the hamster wheel again.

Richard Quinn:
That’s right.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
So I love the idea of sitting down every year and saying, “Well, what might we do next year that would really move this organization forward?” Rather than saying, “Okay, let’s do another 5% or another 10%”

Richard Quinn:
From the get-go, exactly.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
If instead, you begin every year by taking the time to do some blue-sky thinking, and as you said, you involve some of your key donors in that process.

Richard Quinn:
It’s also that, let’s raise it by 5%, it’s also blind to the reality that we exist in dynamic times. This year is going to be different from last year in a whole variety of ways for all kinds of reasons. Be truthful about what that difference is, because that difference leads to case-making, right?

So it’s not just, oh, we do the same thing year in and year out. It might feel that way when you’re in it, but it’s not the case. If you were to look over the last five years and compared what you did each of those years, you will see very important strategic changes that occurred along the way. Make that part of your case, early on, and invite folks into conversation about it.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
It’s amazing what just that change would enable.

Richard Quinn:
Truly.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
To be thinking about the specific of this year, what’s different, what we want to accomplish, not feel burdened by, oh, we can’t raise all this money, here we go again. But really breathing some excitement and some fresh air into that whole process.

Richard Quinn:
A number of years ago, I worked with a performing arts organization and they had their big performance season in the summertime, therefore, they did an awful lot of fundraising just in advance of that performance season. And right at the end of the summer, they began a new fiscal year and I said to the artistic director:

“It’s time to start fundraising.”

And he said to me, “Are you kidding? We just ask all these folks for gifts.” And I said:

“I understand that. They may choose to pledge this and pay it at the time that makes most sense, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that these gifts are pledged so that everybody who works at your organization can focus on what they do and do best without outsize concerns of whether the funds are going to be there?”

“Well, let’s give it a shot.” And we did, and we actually wound up doubling revenue from individual giving in a year and a half with that strategy.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Amazing.

Richard Quinn:
Yeah, it’s exciting.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Really amazing and exciting.

All right, Richard, my friend, this has been fun and exciting to talk about what really are the principles of capital campaign fundraising, and how we might apply them to annual fund, how you might turn your annual fundraising on its end, how you might stop feeling like you’re on a darn hamster wheel, right? It just starts again. How you might breathe some life and energy into that and how you might use these principles to raise more money for your annual fundraising than you ever imagined.

Quick Review and Final Thoughts

Let’s close it out really just by reviewing once again, these five principles and if you’re listening and driving, so you can pull over and get an index card or make a note of these five things and think about how you might use them for another kind of fundraising, for your annual fundraising.

1. So the first is, setting a stretch goal.
2. The second is, big gifts first. Ask people who have the capacity to give the biggest gifts early on because it’s going to build confidence.
3. The third is, involve your key donors in the process of planning so that they feel invested in what it is you’re doing and that’s going to make them want to give first. All these things are interrelated.
4. The fourth is, be sure you set a timeline, right? In your annual fundraising, a timeline is given to you. That large timeline is given to you, but you can set up the process however you want.
5. And five, and this is, as we said, most important — meet folks in person. Face-to-face, whether person is virtual or —

Richard Quinn:
Correct. Face-to-face.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
I think that’s exactly right. Richard, thank you so much. It’s been such a pleasure to talk to you about all of this. I know you raised a ton of money for a lot of organizations, over many years, and we’re just going to have to get you back and mine some other stuff with you soon.

Richard Quinn:
It’d be my pleasure to do it, Andrea. Thank you so much.

Andrea Kihlstedt:
Okay. Join us at CapitalCampaignPro.com. Sign up for a strategy session with me or my partner, Amy Eisenstein, if you’re thinking about a capital campaign, and we look forward to seeing you soon.