When Heather Hurst started her new job as president and CEO of Humber River Regional Hospital Foundation, she had to hit the ground running, given her new employer was one year into the throes of a major capital campaign.
In the early stage of a $250 million fundraising effort to build the first new hospital in Toronto in 35 years, they’re hoping the first shovel will hit the ground this November.
They also plan to turn one of the existing hospitals into an ambulatory site, making family healthcare teams more accessible in an economically challenged neighbourhood, tackling the shortage of family doctors head-on. It’s a huge project, even for Hurst, a capital campaign veteran who has worn her fair share of hard hats. “This is one of the biggest,” she affirms.
With the economy still struggling, donor fatigue prevalent, and the competition for campaign dollars more intense than ever, what should be top of mind as you gear up for your own capital campaign?
Are you really ready?
A recent KCI survey demonstrated that the programs showing the greatest growth in the past five years were major gifts and planned giving. “Capital campaigns are on the rise,” confirms Karen Willson, senior vice president of KCI Philanthropy. Despite what seems like a challenging time to ask for money, the consensus among those running campaigns is that there’s no time like the present. So long as there’s a need, it must be addressed. For Hurst the need is providing 850,000 residents in her catchment area with quality healthcare.
For Jory Pritchard-Kerr, executive director of Collingwood General & Marine Hospital Foundation, a $10 million equipment campaign in Collingwood, Ontario was inspired by a need to bridge electronic medical records and update their digital imaging and diagnostic imaging technology. “We have to bring our whole diagnostic imaging department into the 21st century,” she explains, adding, “We’re in the quiet phase, we’re still doing major proposals and one-to-one asks.”
On a completely different tack, Carolyn Basha is directing a campaign for the Winnipeg Folk Festival. An outdoor event that’s been held in a provincial park for the last 38 years, the project is unique in that its success is primarily defined by an improved visceral experience, rather than something tangible. Wanting to stay true to the nature of the outdoor park, the type of improvements they are considering including an enhanced electricity plan — one that more effectively powers up their stages and pathways for better site navigation. “We’re halfway there,” Basha says, about their three-phase plan, adding they’re now venturing into raising private dollars. As for knowing when to pursue a campaign, she asks rhetorically, “When isn’t it a good time?”
Needs are one thing, but to ensure readiness, a feasibility plan is imperative. “We hadn’t done a capital campaign in 10 years, so we did not have a good pulse on our community as to where the gifts would be and the tolerance of a community toward a $10-million campaign,” says Pritchard-Kerr. The plan was a particularly good idea, considering their concern over introducing electronic medical records not long after e-health was lambasted in the news. “It gave us some feedback as to what donors would be saying,” she explains, adding they were then able to go back to the case to tighten it up, making it more understandable. The feasibility plan also helped identify people willing to work on the campaign.
Telling your story
A strong need is the foundation of every campaign, so it may come down to how well you present it. “We would be remiss in thinking it’s not a competitive time for capital campaigns,” says Basha, “so the trigger point is really to have a powerful case for support.” The question is whether you have a compelling case you can bring to your community that will allow your campaign to be successful. One thing’s clear for Basha: “We’re going out there to tell the story now to get the support.”
One’s brand and one’s image is vital at this time. It infuses your message with a sense of veracity and strength, says Willson, cautioning campaigners to keep in mind how giving has evolved over the years. In the 90s people gave to institutions, in the early 2000s, they gave to projects.
Today, it’s about impact. So when positioning your story, make sure you indicate how your project will make a difference in the community it’s meant to serve. “Your case for support has to have a sense of urgency,” adds Hurst. “It has to be so compelling that it?s really going to get through the clutter and appeal to the hearts and minds of people.”
Of course, the case for support, much like the story it represents, is not always easy to transmit. Sometimes there are inherent challenges. Pritchard-Kerr admits her board was particularly concerned about introducing electronic medical records after the e-health scandal. “But we recognized we didn’t have a choice,” she says. “It was the right way to go for patient care and so we were going to have to find a way to make that work.”
They overcame the obstacle by getting physicians to be the face of the hospital’s case for support, demonstrating how the new technology works and its impact on patient care. “We wouldn’t be able to do this campaign if we didn’t partner with physicians,” Pritchard-Kerr states matter-of-factly. They’re able to illustrate firsthand, for example, how the new system will provide emergency doctors with a secure link to patients’ family doctor records. “When they demonstrate how that impacts our ability to diagnose patients quickly and accurately, then the donors are saying okay this is a good thing, what more can you do?”
Get your board onside
Among other potential challenges is getting board approval, and involvement. It typically takes a long time for boards to come around, says Willson but, “If they’re not 100% behind the campaign, you didn’t do your job as fundraiser.” Getting the rest of the organizational family onboard is important too. Everyone, from senior management down to volunteers, has to put their hearts and minds into it, says Hurst. “Because if your internal house supports it, it lends credibility when you go out there.”
Indeed, when it comes to support, everyone seems to agree the biggest obstacle is leadership, and Willson says community ambassadors are essential to a project’s success. You need people with passion who have made your organization a priority. Part of that priority should involve some giving of their own before soliciting others. “Once people have made that decision, they’re so much more effective as a canvasser,” Willson explains.
But getting committed volunteers, whether monetarily or physically, is not easy. Pritchard-Kerr decided to adopt a non-traditional model in response to her time-restricted ambassadors. They broke the campaign into territories with each geographic region represented by its own campaign chair.
It’s also good to think ahead and try and get the next generation of leaders to the table early. If you build in a strategy today to attract young leaders tomorrow, you avoid depending on the same faces and gain an infusion of much-needed energy and enthusiasm.
Working with donors
A similar strategy exists when it comes to your donors. Make sure to start by looking to those most loyal to you, and also continuously try to expand your donor base. Otherwise you may be encouraging donor fatigue to set in. Network through your current donors, though, by asking for referrals to similarly minded prospects.
And don’t make the mistake made by a growing number of fundraisers, overcome by a sense of desperation: asking for money too quickly. Fundraising and capital campaigns are about relationship building, says Willson. “Gauge them before you ask them for a significant gift.”
Equally important is ensuring you find the appropriate time to cultivate and steward your donors, says Hurst. You may feel pressured by your board to get money — now. But always keep in mind your donors have their own timelines, which may differ from your own.
Building positive relationships now — respecting donor needs and limitations — will bode well for when the economy improves, says Hurst. The situation is already improving but it’s still taking them longer to secure transformational gifts. So, for now, she adds, “we continue to build momentum to ensure success.”
Tips for a Successful Capital Campaign
- Spend time building your brand, your image, as it will give you an edge, and ensure you have a good communications plan in place.
- Make sure to select the right people for interviews for the feasibility study; otherwise you won’t capture the information you need which lends to the credibility of the project.
- Understand your communities, their diversity, their unique forms of philanthropy; some unique constituents may need specific attention.
- A campaign takes longer than you think. It’s a long-term commitment. So pace yourself, slow and steady.
- Donor recognition remains key; demonstrating how special they are is important.
- Initially stay focused on top prospects — the top 10 donors represent 45-65% of gifts.
- Ask donors for specific amounts.
- Keep in mind individual giving dominates over 75% of funds received in a campaign.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.
