Major campaigns, like capital or comprehensive campaigns, are no small feat. Before you can successfully engage your community and guide your organization to new fundraising heights, you must ensure your stakeholders are ready for such a monumental undertaking.
That’s where feasibility studies, also known as campaign planning studies, come into play. In this guide, we’ll walk through five fundamental steps your nonprofit must take to plan and carry out a successful feasibility study.
1. Establish Your Goals
Start the campaign planning process by determining what exactly you’re hoping to accomplish with your feasibility study. Setting clear goals will help keep you on track and ensure you can accomplish the most essential priorities before launching a major campaign.
Your feasibility study process might have a few different goals, including helping you:
- Determine whether it’s the right time to launch a major campaign.
- Generate support for a potential campaign.
- Get stakeholders’ input on your campaign.
- Set a reasonable campaign goal.
- Strengthen your internal systems and structures ahead of a campaign.
Once you’ve chosen some of these general objectives, set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your mission, and time-based) goals for each one.
For example, let’s say one of your goals is to gather stakeholder input about your potential campaign. You could set a SMART goal of interviewing at least 50 donors, volunteers, board members, and other stakeholders within a week and a half time frame.
The beginning of the feasibility study process is also an effective time to consider working with a campaign planning consultant. These experts can help you get organized and set useful goals ahead of time. They can also provide reliable, ongoing support throughout the rest of the campaign process, learning about your organization’s mission and goals on a deeper level and providing customized support.
2. Evaluate Your Internal Readiness
An internal readiness assessment is a hugely important step of the campaign planning process that many organizations overlook. Planning for a major campaign isn’t just about determining whether your community is excited about and invested in your goals. You must also evaluate if your internal staff members and organizational structures are prepared to support a significant undertaking.
Ask yourself the following questions to assess internal readiness ahead of a major campaign:
- Finances: Is your financial management in a good place? Does your nonprofit have diversified revenue streams? Will you need to hire a financial or investment advisor to better meet your financial needs?
- Staff: Are your employees engaged in their roles? Does your workplace have a high retention rate? Are your staff members aligned on what their responsibilities are? Is there a clear accountability chain?
- Data analysis: Is your organization’s internal supporter database organized and updated? Are your predictive models functioning smoothly? Have you segmented your donor database to facilitate personalized engagement?
- Goal tracking: Is your reporting process for tracking goal progress streamlined and user-friendly? Do you have procedures in place for reviewing metrics with your fundraising team?
Getting your nonprofit’s ducks in a row before starting a campaign is essential. If you run into multiple issues while asking yourself any of these questions, that’s a sign you may not be quite ready for a major fundraising initiative at this time and need to look at some solutions before moving forward.
3. Draft Your Case for Support
A nonprofit case for support is your organization’s core message to your audience about what your campaign is all about and why they should support it. A compelling case for support includes these necessary components:
- The campaign’s purpose, including the programs or projects the campaign will fund
- Your overall fundraising goal and timeline
- The positive impact supporters will be able to make by getting involved
- Ways to support your campaign, whether through donating or volunteering
You’ll need an easy way to share your case for support with stakeholders, so create an easy-to-read document or engaging slideshow or video. You can even make printed packets to share with supporters who prefer tangible reading materials.
Remember, at this point, your case for support isn’t set in stone—consider it a living document that you can adjust at any point leading up to your campaign’s launch.
4. Interview Stakeholders
The crux of campaign planning studies is gathering input from stakeholders. Your campaign’s success hinges on the hard work and dedication of your organization’s staff and supporters. That’s why you must consider their thoughts and concerns carefully before diving into a new campaign.
We recommend interviewing stakeholders who have an established relationship with your nonprofit and an investment in your future success.
These individuals may include:
- Major donors
- Long-time donors
- Board members
- Volunteers
- Nonprofit staff
- Beneficiaries
- Corporate partners
- Other community partners
Ask these stakeholders to provide their input on:
- Your case for support and fundraising goal.
- Your campaign’s proposed timeline.
- Ways they’d like to be involved in the campaign.
Ensure your stakeholder communications remain positive, thoughtful, and personalized to show appreciation for supporters and to continue stewarding them effectively. Show stakeholders that their involvement is essential to your campaign’s success by keeping them in the loop with next steps. Let them know whether you’re moving forward with the campaign, when the launch date will be, and how they can get involved.
5. Assess Your Results
After conducting stakeholder interviews, review the information you’ve learned.
Do stakeholders seem enthusiastic about your campaign’s purpose and goals, confident about your timeline, and ready to jump in to support the campaign?
If so, you may be ready to launch your fundraising campaign! If not, that’s okay too—it’s important to be open to all outcomes so you don’t rush into anything your organization isn’t ready for.
BWF’s guide to fundraising feasibility studies offers this clear-cut chart to help determine your campaign’s timeline based on your results:
The last step of the campaign planning study process is to finalize your plans if you decide to move forward with the campaign. Confirm your fundraising goal, set your campaign timeline, and start mobilizing your staff and volunteers to drive your campaign to success.
Get the Most from Your Feasibility Study
Throughout the feasibility study process, it’s just as important to create a positive donor experience as it is to gather as much information as possible. When stakeholders feel supported and listened to throughout the study, they’ll be much more willing to become donors or volunteers when your campaign kicks off.
With a clear-cut stakeholder stewardship strategy and open communication across your organization’s fundraising team, you’ll be able to achieve your feasibility study goals and give your upcoming campaign a solid foundation.
Disclaimer:
This blog is for informational purposes only and is not meant as financial, legal, or tax advice. Please seek professional advice from qualified tax, legal, and/or financial professionals before making any financial decisions.
Carnegie Investment Counsel (“Carnegie”) is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. For a more detailed discussion about Carnegie’s investment advisory services and fees, please view our Form ADV and Form CRS by visiting: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/150488.
