A capital campaign is a strategic and comprehensive fundraising effort by nonprofit organizations to raise significant sums of money for a specific project or purpose.

Find our articles about capital campaign best practices below.

What Will Trigger Mega Donors to Unlock Early Capital Campaign Gifts?

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What Will Trigger Mega Donors to Unlock Early Capital Campaign Gifts? This is the question that many nonprofit leaders ask – over and over. For every capital campaign that we advise – this is often a huge question hanging in the…

Nonprofit Capital Campaigns: Five Secrets of Success

What does it really take for a successful nonprofit capital campaign? Many institutions are raising millions, hundreds of millions and even billions for major institutions like universities. All this funding seems to just like flow into…
How to Host a Successful Porch Party

How to Host a Porch Party, a Fun Donor Cultivation Event

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A casual, small social event like a Porch Party is a terrific donor engagement and cultivation tool. Porch parties and small socials can be wonderful for building community support, engaging people, and generating momentum about your…
Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Questions Revealed

Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Questions Revealed

Our Capital Campaign Feasibility Studies always have multiple goals. Of course, we can all agree that the #1 goal of a feasibility study is to research your gift potential for your pending capital campaign. But you also want your study…
How to Craft a Compelling, Powerful Vision Statement

How to Craft a Compelling, Powerful Vision Statement

Your Vision Statement is a marketing document that describes your organization’s vision for change in the world. It's a short version of your capital campaign case for support. Most importantly, a Vision Statement is your chance to sell others…
The Donor Teared Up. Then He Offered a Campaign Gift, Unasked.

The Donor Teared Up. Then He Offered a Campaign Gift, Unasked.

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Here’s a wonderful Major Gifts Intensive success story from one of our smart participants. Chris Cook, Executive Director of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, said he really enjoyed practicing his new advanced…
Capital Campaign Pre-Planning Do This Before Hiring a Consulting Firm for Your Feasibility Study (2)

Capital Campaign Pre-Planning: What to do Before Hiring a Consultant

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How important is capital campaign pre-planning? We see many organizations that want to move forward quickly to launch a capital campaign. They are excited about their vision and are ready to dive straight away into a feasibility study. It's…
nonprofit fundraising best practices

What is Your Donor’s Emotional Connection?

Most of your donors are probably giving because they have an emotional connection with your organization’s work. Finding those connections is a key step in developing a happy relationship with the donor. Here’s an example: We…

High Net-Worth Donors: Is Now the Time to Raise Big Money?

There are more high net-worth donors in the U.S. than ever – over the last three years the stock market was on a long bull run, increasing the wealth of many. Nearly 9% of the U.S. population now have wealth of $1 million or more…

Ditch the Capital Campaign Public Phase?

Should you cancel your capital campaign public phase?  Yes, we think this is something worth considering. Would it be possible to skip the Public Phase of your campaign without any consequence?   Here’s the challenge we…

What is a Capital Campaign in Fundraising

Many people ask us about the traditional three phases of a capital campaign - Campaign Planning Phase, Silent Phase, and Public Phase. It's interesting to consider that this model, which is the standard for capital campaigns…

Our Top Takeaways from ICON ‘22

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3 Ways to Engage Your Major Donors Early in Capital Campaign Planning

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There are so many benefits to engaging major donors early in capital campaign plans.  We like to organize discussions with key donors while the potential campaign is only a Big Idea. It’s our favorite way to cultivate and engage…

Planning a Capital Campaign? Why You Should Engage Your Major Donors Early On

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Is your organization planning a capital campaign or a major new funding initiative? We hear many questions about how to prepare properly for a capital campaign. As far as we are concerned, it’s what you do ahead of the campaign that can…