Capital, Capacity, and Comprehensive Campaigns – What’s the Difference?

Even if you’ve spent years in the nonprofit world, you might still find the specialized language around campaigns confusing.

If you’re wondering whether there’s a difference between a capital campaign and a comprehensive campaign, you’re not alone. Many factors — including the case for support, nature of gifts sought, and counting policies — help define campaign types.

3 Types of Campaigns: Capital, Capacity, and Comprehensive

Before we get into the weeds, we should note that sometimes fundraisers refer to all campaigns as “capital campaigns.” This is shorthand and reduces the likelihood of philanthropic campaigns being confused with political or advocacy campaigns.

However, once you acknowledge that you’re talking about nonprofit fundraising, you can use terms like “capital,” “capacity,” and “comprehensive” to more precisely describe a fundraising campaign. Let’s examine the differences between these.

1. Capital Campaigns

The term “capital campaign” often refers to any multi-year effort to raise funds for transformational purposes for your organization. It denotes a fundraising effort over and above annual revenue programs, like direct response and events.

In the most traditional sense, the goal of a capital campaign is to build a facility, purchase equipment, or secure a long-term asset.

Gifts to this type of campaign are most often restricted to the specific asset at the heart of the effort.

An Example of a Capital Campaign

For example, one of my early projects was a capital campaign for a new building at a private school that would house the middle grades and allow the school to expand enrollment. The case for support featured the building, its design, and how it would contribute to the quality of education and future of the school.

This campaign did not include other ongoing projects, like efforts to recruit a more diverse teaching staff or incorporate local produce into cafeteria lunches. Every gift we requested was restricted to the construction or furnishing of the new building. Our campaign reports recorded only gifts dedicated to the building, and the school’s annual report covered all other fundraising activity.

2. Capacity Campaigns

Capital campaigns sometimes include more than just an organization’s capital needs. Campaigns that blend capital needs (as described above) along with endowment and programmatic needs have become popular over the past couple of decades and while these can still be called “capital campaigns,” they can also be referred to as capacity campaigns.

Similar to a capital campaign, the goal and reporting structure of a capacity campaign is typically separate from an organization’s annual fundraising.

Occasionally organizations build a case for support around a focal area that includes elements of capital, endowment, and programming work intentionally separated from annual operations.

An Example of a Capacity Campaign

For example, imagine a group that wanted to build a new afterschool center, create an endowment for its upkeep, and secure funding for the first two years of programming in the new space. They would count funds for the new center separate from other priorities, like programs at existing centers and overhead.

Like a capital campaign, gifts to an effort like this are restricted and counted separately from annual operations, although the case includes a mix of capital, endowment, and programmatic elements. For shorthand, one might call this a capacity campaign.

3. Comprehensive Campaigns

What about special fundraising efforts designed to increase the overall size and scope of an organization?

A multifaceted case that includes programs, endowment, capacity building, and/or achieving new annual fundraising benchmarks is generally called a comprehensive campaign.

In a typical comprehensive campaign, every dollar the organization raises over a set period of time is part of the campaign. It can feel like “everything and the kitchen sink,” but this type of effort is often deliberately tied to a strategic plan and designed to expand the organization’s impact over time.

An Example of a Comprehensive Campaign

One of the largest campaigns I’ve been involved with was a comprehensive campaign. The planning phase included a careful analysis of ways to grow the organization’s direct response programs as well as talking with major donors about their interest in specific case elements.

It was such a big campaign that the case encompassed four pillars that each included several programs. The fundraising team had the option of asking donors to support specific projects, make loosely restricted gifts to one or more of the pillars, or request unrestricted investments to benefit the organization as a whole. All of the gifts received rolled up into the campaign total.

Like most comprehensive campaigns, ours included both restricted and unrestricted gifts. When the campaign went public, the annual report didn’t list separate campaign and annual fund totals. There was just one goal and one number that encompassed funds raised to-date over the campaign’s seven-year timetable.

One important result, in addition to specific investments in each of the pillars, was seeing the organization increase annual funds raised from $100 million to $150 million. That steady expansion, projected to continue after the campaign, enabled the group to grow into its ambitious strategic plan.

Table: Different Campaign Types

Conclusion: Use the Right Type of Campaign for Your Funding Goal

No one type of campaign is better than any other. Understanding the options can be helpful in making the right decision for your organization.

For example, is your priority securing specific new assets, like a building or endowment fund, or growing your organization to take on bigger challenges in the future?

Achieving clarity around these goals will point you toward the right type of campaign and the appropriate case for support, goal, and counting policies for your organization.