7 Ways to Prepare Your Board for a Major Gift Campaign

At some time in an organization’s life cycle, leaders will likely contemplate a major gift campaign to a) fund/build a facility (capital campaign); b) build sustainable funding (endowment campaign); c) fund special initiatives (project or program campaign). And it’s critical that all (or at least the vast majority) of the Board Members get on board before launching any of the aforementioned campaigns.

Therefore, EDUCATE and ENGAGE as early as possible (in the planning period) so that Board Members don’t become agitated with the lack of communication, or worse, work against the initiative. In fact, it is mission critical that Board Members ‘swim alongside’ key staff (e.g., Executive Director, CFO, Director of Development…) as the Board will be an authentic litmus test for campaign market readiness.

Major Gift Campaigns start with a strategic planning process and often involve outside resources/vendors; these may include consultants, designers and architects. Board members should be involved in project/campaign ideation, development, design, messaging (aka narrative) and approval. A campaign should certainly not be a surprise when it’s introduced to the Board.

7 Ways to Prepare Your Board for a Major Gift Campaign

There are many things you can do to help your board members understand the roles and responsibilities required for a campaign. Here are seven super ways to prepare, inspire and engage your Board in the pre-campaign phase.

1. HOST A “GAME SHOW” BOARD MEETING

At your next board meeting, re-format from the traditional setting and ‘play a game’ with your Board Members. Set up some cheap buzzers (so they can buzz in with the answer) and ask key questions to them. Questions like below will get them thinking of the overarching mission…and how an expanded donor base (and relative dollars) can a) help fulfill mission; b) fund special projects.

Sample Questions

a) What is the Vision of the Organization?

b) What is the Mission of the Organization?

c) What are the Values of the Organization?

d) What KPIs help measure advancement in Vision/Mission?

e) How many constituents are served by the Organization?

f) What statistics show progress (or opportunity) relative to annual goals/objectives?

g) What is the organization’s annual budget?

h) What top 5 categories (line items) make up the majority of the annual budget?

i) When is the last time the organization executed a major gift campaign?

j) What was the dollar amount/result from that campaign?

k) What did the campaign fund?

l) Which key (leadership) donors were involved in that campaign?

m) If a major gift campaign was launched in the next 24 months, what would be the goal? What needs would be met?

Be prepared with the answers and have fun with this engaging and fun format. Recruit staff members to play Vanna White and use Powerpoint slides to reveal the questions and specific answers. Give recognition and a small prize to the Board Member with the most correct answers.

Then…use this dynamic to transition into the discussion of a new Major Gift Campaign serving the organization. Consider having the Board Chair lead this discussion.

2. HAVE A “MYTH-BUSTING” BOARD MEETING

At your next board meeting, set aside 30 minutes to bust some popular campaign myths.

Have each of the most popular myths listed on a flipchart. Go around and ask board members if they’ve heard any of the ones on the list and why they are believable. Then, share stories and facts about why they are wrong.

COMMON CAMPAIGN MYTHS

Three of the most popular campaign myths are:

1. Garth Brooks could do a benefit concert and we could raise $5M for our organization

2. Each person will give the same amount (if you need to raise $5M, just get 50 people to each give $100K)

3. Major donors are “out there” and we simply need to find them

In this process, Board Members will begin to understand how capital campaigns actually work. Reminder: The proverbial statement “if 10,000 new donors just gave $100 each)…is not a solid plan.

This may be a good time to discuss a sample campaign GIFT TABLE, GIFT PYRAMID and CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE so Board Members can appreciate the amount of work, necessary resources, timeline, volunteerism hours, Board readiness, system readiness, staff readiness and market readiness. 3. Beautiful fundraising pages are more shareable

A fundraising page that looks interesting or beautiful is much more shareable than a boring old donation form. If your supporters enjoy the experience of giving, they're much more likely to share the page with others... and you know what that means? It's more likely that you'll reach a brand new audience.

3. COMPLETE A BOARD ASSESSMENT

The simplest way to have Board Members discuss a potential campaign is to have them complete a readiness assessment and discuss the results.

Use a simple and templated board assessment tool and ask each Board Member to complete it. It should take 5 minutes or less. Let them know you will be collecting data at the end of the meeting and sharing results with all stakeholders (answers can be anonymous).

IF YOU HAVE A LONGER THAN 30 MINUTES…

Attempt to discuss each question. For some questions, you might ask for a show of hands regarding answers and then have short discussion. For other questions, you may simply ask who was surprised by the question. Discuss comments/feedback and brainstorm ways a major gift campaign would benefit the organization through a) amplified message; b) increased donor base; c) increased funding.

4. UNDERSTAND YOU DO NOT NEED AN UNANIMOUS VOTE

Relative to major gift campaigns, it would be great to have 100% of Board Members ‘on board’ with desired outcomes, timeline, monetary goals, consultant selection and launch date. If you do have an unanimous vote of approval, GREAT.

If you do not have 100% consensus, do throw out the upsided pros of a major gift campaign serving the future of your organization.. Sometimes, an educator, curator, docent, parent or volunteer who devotedly serves on the Board is completely intimidated by the process and the dollar figure. In this case, work with the Board Chair to professionally, empathetically and diplomatically ‘bring them along’ for the journey and pay special attention to them in preparation, engagement and communication.

Data management, event management and/or donor stewardship represents meaningful areas of contribution for those types of individuals if prospective donor networking and major gift solicitation is ‘not their thing’.

This stated, ALL Board Members will be encouraged to make a gift to the ensuing campaign (independent of the amount). Most grant applications now ask the question ‘What is the percentage of Board Giving relative to the campaign?’.

5. SCHEDULE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS

Schedule independent one-on-one meetings with each board member to discuss a potential campaign and their roles/responsibility. Encourage questions. Give each board member a chance to make inquiries, express concerns and alleviate their fears. If possible, have your professional campaign consultant present to help shape responses and share national trends, proven strategies and successful campaign tactics. This initiative will help staff understand any important (or relative) project/campaign concerns and assist in preparing strategic responses to associated challenges which may come up down the road.

Bonus Idea: It’s a good idea to bring along a Board Member who has campaign experience and comprehensive understanding of campaign dynamics. They can augment talking points of the Executive Director and/or Development Director.

COMMON CAMPAIGN CONCERNS

Frequent campaign concerns among board members include things like:

· What if the campaign does not raise $X dollars?

· Will I need to ask my friends for money?

· How much will I be expected to give?

· How many hours/month will I be committed to?

· What is the chance that we will succeed?

These are all valid and important questions. If they don’t bring them up, proactively do so.

6. INVITE A SPECIALIST TO YOUR BOARD MEETING

Ask a professional who is very knowledgeable and comfortable with major gift campaigns to attend a Board Meeting and help answer questions and shares their experiences. If they have recently gone through successful campaign in your community, this is a huge bonus.

Topics to cover might include donor identification/qualification, solicitation tactics, special events, campaign design, outside consultation, ground breaking, milestones, ribbon cutting, digital assets, branding and marketing, communication and stewardship.

Do not leave this up to chance. You should screen them carefully and have a sense of how they will answer questions. Sample screening questions:

· What were your concerns before heading into a campaign?

· Did your organization hire a consultant? What was the process/experience?

· What were Board concerns pre-Campaign?

· What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?

· What surprised you about the campaign?

· How did you find new donors?

Allow 30-45 minutes for your guest(s) to answer questions. You could even outline FAQs on a Powerpoint presentation to proactively ‘tee up’ discussion points. Be sure to thank them for their time and for sharing points with your group.

Bonus Idea: Look for a top elected official which is well liked, well respected and has been through dozens of major gift campaigns. In our state, a former first lady (spouse of former Governor) has been in many multi-million dollar campaigns ranging from Allied Arts to United Way to hospital expansions to agribusiness campaigns to the re-purposing of major museums and arts institutions.

7. INTERVIEW several types of CONSULTANTS

Rather than use a RFP (not recommended), ask around the community and determine which 3-6 campaign consultants can best help you deliver a successful campaign procuring major gift dollars to fund your project/need. Once prospective consultants are identified, have your Board of Directors commit to a full day of in-person and on-site interviews to see which consultant best matches your organizational culture, project needs and timeline. Consultants should be measured by a variety of factors including years in business, client list, typical campaign size, typical nonprofit industries/channels, staff expertise, availability and costs. Feel free to ask for their referrals/former client testimonies and make sure their deliverables ‘scratches the itch’ of organizational needs on all fronts. You can even ask for a sample PROPOSAL without committing to a formal contract. You can narrow your search to:

· Small shop or solopreneur (local or regional; knows likely major gift donors,

foundations, benevolent corporations)

· Large shop or national firm (may be more expensive if consultants must fly in with

travel, per diem expenses)

· Possibly one or two more

Bonus Idea: If this is a capital campaign, the selected Designer/Architect can provide MANY resources (usually including in the overall price to their firm) that the campaign consultant will be asking for. This can include fly-thru videos, visual renderings, floor plans, statistics (percentage of increase in sq. ft. space and working environments), and more. Today, Designers/Architects have CAD software which can a) aid staff/consultant on proper storytelling relative to campaign outcomes; b) help the prospective donor visually understand how new/reconditions spaces will help the organization advance mission and dramatically improve/increase services and/or community impact.

Bottom line: There are many things you can do to help prepare Board Members for a major gift campaign. Have fun, be engaging and focus on education and preparedness. Help your stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities with regards to a difference-making campaign.

Craig Clemons with Friend, Philanthropist and President/Founder/Board Chairman of Express Employment Professionals, Bob Funk, Sr.

Seeking expert assistance from seasoned professionals?

Contact Craig Clemons at craig@clemons-associates.com or one of our rock star associates for more details. Clemons & Associates is on standby to help you with brand identity, strategic messaging, campaigns, digital assets and programs/projects.