What does a Campaign cost?

From decades of data, we know Campaign Consultants can drastically reduce the learning curve of a Board/Committee/Staff when it comes to designing a campaign and raising relative monies.

Whether monetary goals are to be earmarked for facilities, projects, programs and/or endowments, a good consultant will save an organization in time, headaches, wrong turns and unnecessary expenses. The consultant will likely perform an internal and external assessment, design/develop campaign, produce collateral, train/coach stakeholders and help monitor progress through the execution phase. See blog article on ‘8 DELIVERABLES of the CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT’. Benchmarking the US marketplace, we know professional Campaign Consultants often work for a percentage of the overall campaign goal: the national average of a major gift campaign is 5% to 10%. See below.

Both Financial Planning Ministry as well as the Association of Fundraising Professionals site similar numbers relative to 'average cost to raise one dollar'. The below image illustrate respective variables.

Example: If your organization seeks to build a new facility at a cost of $10,000,000, expect to secure a professional development consultant in the $500,000+ range. This expense, of course, comes with all of the consultant’s SME human resources (i.e., teams of designers, storytellers, grant writers, web builders, digital asset managers and more), best-practice fundraising techniques, communication tools, shared files, coaching/training dynamics and the expertise to monitor progress during campaign execution. A good consultant will help co-plan campaign events to include Kick-Off, Groundbreaking, Ribbon Cutting and Campaign Celebration.

Budgeting for a capital campaign can be a challenge, but Clemons-Associates is here to help. The budgets and costs outlined in this article should be a guide only and careful thought should go into developing one for your specific situation. Nonprofit CFOs (or Treasurers) generally assign two costs for a capital campaign – direct costs (fees, campaign name domain purchase, video fly-thru, system software upgrade) and the indirect costs of a campaign (printed collateral, special event preparation, invitation postage). Some organizations budget staff time as a way of getting a true cost of the capital campaign. The challenge with doing this, especially on smaller capital campaigns, is that the total cost as a percentage of the goal, may get to be outside acceptable limits. As a general rule, total campaign costs of 15% or less of the campaign goal will be considered acceptable to most Boards and donors (less than 10% is considered very efficient). Organizations can also include the cost to conduct the campaign in their goals. For example, if you are raising $5,000,000 for a new facility/building, you can make the goal $5,500,000 so that funds raised can pay for the cost of your consultant and relative campaign expenses. Larger campaigns can have a smaller percentage. For example, if your goal is $100,000,000 the cost of your campaign will likely be in the 3-6% range.

DIRECT COSTS OF A CAMPAIGN

What are the Direct Costs of a nonprofit campaign?

Consulting fees can represent $30,000 or more per month for full-service campaign design, development and campaign management (complemented by training/coaching with stakeholders). Smaller campaigns ($2-5 million) generally take 12-16 months to conduct. Larger campaigns ($10 million plus) are often 2-3-year investments.

If the consultant is traveling from another city, add $1,000 per month to the direct costs.

Other Direct Costs of a Campaign might include a dedicated new hire (talent) to facilitate campaign execution, assist with stakeholder communications and/or solicit donors as a Director of Development (DoD).

INDIRECT COSTS OF A CAMPAIGN

Variable costs (aka Indirect Costs) are the costs that can vary depending on your fundraising volume, length of campaign, resources/overhead, campaign collateral, events, et. al. These could include:

Rent
Utilities
Insurance
Design and Development
Printing fees
Administrative expenses
Office supplies
Marketing; PR
CRM; Systems

Below is a sample budget for a campaign’s indirect costs. These numbers can vary considerably based upon the city and the nonprofit’s desires. For example, a professionally-branded brochure with specialized graphics, tiered inserts and die cuts will be more expensive than a simple tri-fold pamphlet. Be aware that some of these expenses can be donated to the project via in-kind contributions.

Chart of Accounts Estimate Printing Campaign Folders and Prospectuses $6,000 Promotional Campaign Fly-Thru Video $15,000* Public Relations Expense $3,000 Systems upgrade to handle increased gift processing $2,000 Data Processing and cloud-based storage $2,000 Events/Receptions/Meals/House Parties $4,000 Postage In Addition to Current Budget $2,000 Contingency $2,000 $2,000

*If your campaign is capital campaign, explore options whereby your Architect/Design/Construction firm can absorb some or all of the cost of the Fly-Thru video using CADD software and visual renderings. Your organization can apply a Gift-in-Kind (or GIK) for these types of services.

IMPERATIVES:

Seek proven, experienced Campaign Consultants
Ensure your organization prepares for Direct and Indirect campaign costs
Ensure campaign budget includes key storytelling elements (e.g., Fly-Thru video)
Know campaign costs of 15% or less of the campaign goal is the acceptable rule
Ensure your stakeholders (Board) are involved in the Budget/Cost exercises
Ensure your organization is tracking/sharing Expenses against the Budget
Ensure campaign has properly budgeted for events (e.g., Kick-Off, Ground Breaking, Ribbon Cutting, Celebration)

Bottom line: A Clemons-Associates team member is available to help you/your organization is this important exercise. Upon request – and without charge – one of our associates can present to the Board/Executive Staff: a) Elements of a Successful Campaign; b) Gift Table and Gift Pyramid examples; c) Sample exercises in Donor Profiling/TOP 100 list building; d) Training/Coaching tactics which prepare volunteers for the marketplace (campaign execution); e) campaign budget/cost campaign considerations.

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, staff/volunteer training and programs/projects.