As a nonprofit professional, fundraising is always on your mind. After all, the fundraising dollars you receive power all of your operations throughout the year and allow you to further your mission in the community.
However, there will likely be times when your organization needs to complete—and fund—a large-scale project outside of your usual activities. This is where capital campaigns come in!
If you’re considering launching a capital campaign (especially for the first time), you likely have many questions about the process. To help you get started, we’ve created this guide that will cover all of the basics you need to know to successfully plan and execute a capital campaign for your nonprofit.
Do you need donor research support for a capital campaign?
What is a capital campaign?
A capital campaign is a targeted fundraising effort that takes place over a defined period of time. Capital campaigns are all-hands-on-deck projects, requiring ample planning and demanding that your team dedicate themselves to working toward one clear goal for their entire duration.
Capital campaigns differ from other forms of fundraising in that they are massive projects that often span multiple years and can cost millions of dollars. As such, capital campaigns’ objectives are highly specific and clearly laid out as the campaign progresses, and their end goals are usually concrete.
Purposes of Capital Campaigns
While healthcare organizations and educational institutions most commonly launch capital campaigns, any nonprofit with a major need that requires significant financial backing may choose to run one. These needs may include:
Construction or Expansion of Buildings
Acquisition of Property
Large-Scale Equipment/Supplies Purchases
New Mission-Driven Initiatives
Benefits of Capital Campaigns
Naturally, the most significant benefit of running a capital campaign is generating the revenue your organization needs to complete a large-scale project. However, there are some additional advantages your nonprofit can experience, such as:
- Increased community engagement. Capital campaigns can increase your organization’s visibility in its local community, spreading awareness of your mission and encouraging more people to get involved.
- Enhanced capacity to deliver services. Once you complete the project your capital campaign is intended to fund, you’ll be able to use your additional resources to make a larger impact on those you serve.
- Stronger donor relationships. During your capital campaign, you’ll likely acquire new high-impact donors and identify existing donors who could upgrade their support. Then, you can cultivate relationships with them that extend beyond this fundraising effort and lead to long-term support.
- Momentum for future fundraising efforts. The first capital campaign you run will probably be the most challenging, but by completing it successfully, your team will gain experience and implement systems to aid future large-scale fundraisers. Plus, you’ll build trust with stakeholders in your community who will be more likely to get on board next time since you’ve already proved that you can handle these types of campaigns.
However, to experience these benefits, your team will need to handle all of the key elements of a capital campaign strategically. Let’s look at those components in more detail.
Capital Campaign Components to Know
To successfully accomplish an ambitious capital campaign goal, you need to have several key elements in your plan, including a:
Clear Goal
Focused Team
Targeted Plan
Detailed Timeline
Capital Budget
Case for Support
Quiet Phase
Public Phase
Planning a Capital Campaign
The overarching questions you’ll need to ask to get your capital campaign off the ground are:
- What do we want to accomplish?
- How will we go about achieving it?
- Who will be responsible for getting us to our goal?
Since we’ve already covered the what—the purposes of capital campaigns—let’s dive into the how and who of these fundraising efforts.
Steps to Launch a Capital Campaign
To make these large fundraising undertakings more digestible, we’ve divided the capital campaign planning and execution process into seven steps for your nonprofit to follow.
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1. Pre-Planning
The pre-planning phase begins as soon as your organization identifies a funding need and decides that a capital campaign would be a good way to meet that need. Then, you’ll establish your goal and create the first versions of your campaign plan, timeline, budget, and case statement.
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2. Feasibility Study
Conducting a feasibility study will help you determine if your nonprofit has the resources, bandwidth, and stakeholder buy-in to complete a capital campaign. Working with a fundraising consultant can make this process easier and provide an external, objective perspective on whether your organization is ready for a capital campaign or if it would be better to wait until you have more time and money to conduct it.
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3. Planning
Once you know that a capital campaign is feasible for your nonprofit, finalize all of your planning documents and assemble your team. You might also start conducting prospect research and creating a gift range chart at this stage so you can enter the quiet phase prepared to solicit major gifts.
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4. Quiet Phase
The quiet phase takes place before you announce your campaign to the public and can last a year or longer. Major donor fundraising should be your priority, starting with existing donors and board members before identifying new prospects to fill the gaps in your gift range chart. You’ll likely raise 50-70% of your funds during this phase.
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5. Campaign Kick-Off
Once you conclude the quiet phase, you’ll launch your capital campaign publicly. Host a launch party for your community, begin a major multi-channel marketing push, and reach out to the local press to expand your reach even further.
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6. Public Phase
During this phase, you’ll collect small and mid-size donations using similar methods to other fundraising initiatives, such as events, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer campaigns. Keep an eye out for corporate philanthropy opportunities like matching gifts, sponsorships, and employee fundraising initiatives that you can leverage to achieve your capital campaign goal.
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7. Wrap-Up
Once you reach your capital campaign’s goal and deadline, take some time to evaluate what aspects of the process went well and where you have room for improvement. Additionally, thank everyone who made your campaign possible—donors at all levels, board members, corporate and media partners, volunteers, and staff members. Provide updates on your project and its impact, and emphasize that your results were only possible because of their loyal support.
Capital Campaign Key Players
Your approach to a capital campaign will only be as strong as your team. Let’s discuss all of the key individuals you’ll need on your side for your campaign to succeed.
Internal Nonprofit Team Members
Capital campaigns are an organization-wide effort, requiring support from your:
- Staff: Executive leadership, major gift officers, prospect researchers, volunteer coordinators, event planners, marketing coordinators, and various other nonprofit employees will all need to contribute their unique expertise to your campaign.
- Board members: Your board of directors will be involved in the day-to-day planning and execution of your capital campaign in addition to providing strategic oversight. They’ll also need to approve campaign-related expenditures and should help your team secure major gifts.
- Volunteers: Fill any campaign staffing gaps with the talents of your most loyal volunteers. Whether they’re sharing their personalized peer-to-peer fundraising pages or setting up for your launch party, volunteers will provide your team with additional bandwidth and help you reach more supporters than you could on your own.
From your internal team members, select one board member or leader to serve as the campaign chair. This person will oversee your planning committee (who will, of course, plan the campaign) and your steering committee (who will be in charge of ongoing campaign maintenance), as well as promoting your campaign in the community. You’ll likely also form ad hoc committees for activities like budgeting, event planning, and marketing.
External Capital Campaign Consultants
Most nonprofits that conduct capital campaigns hire external consultants to help with some aspects of their efforts. While some consultants will chair the campaign themselves, others will provide advisory services and resources to help your team do most of the hands-on work.
Before you hire a consultant, make sure you know what you’re looking to get out of the partnership. Some other questions to ask yourself as you start considering candidates include:
- Are your nonprofit’s leaders on board, and do you have a budget for working with a consultant? Partnering with a consultant can be a big commitment and investment. Make sure your board members and other leaders approve of the idea, and work together to identify the kind of budget that you have to work with for consulting services.
- What kind of access do you need to your consultant? You may want your consultant to be a full-time, in-office team member, or it might work better to have intermittent meetings with a remote consultant. Finding a consultant who can offer the level of access you need is critical to a productive working relationship, so make sure your expectations regarding access are clear from the get-go.
- Do they have samples of their work? Before you make any hiring decisions, you need a good sense of a consultant’s track record and the quality you can expect them to bring to your campaign. Work samples will give you an idea of what services and tasks you can request help with. Also, read reviews from past clients to get a firsthand perspective of what working with that consultant is like.
Your consultant should be committed to bringing your nonprofit’s vision for a capital campaign to life. Look for one who can serve as a true partner and is invested in your organization’s success.
Essential Tools for Running a Capital Campaign
Once you’ve mapped out your capital campaign and assembled your team, you also need to ensure you have the right software in your toolkit to help you succeed. If your nonprofit hasn’t already invested in the following solutions, make sure to do so:
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Nonprofit CRM
A robust constituent relationship management (CRM) system is essential for identifying potential capital campaign donors among your existing supporter base and tracking data throughout the campaign. Make sure your CRM integrates with your other research and fundraising tools for seamless data transfer (DonorSearch integrates with 40+ providers).
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Prospect research database
A comprehensive database allows your organization to find potential donors who have the capacity, affinity, and propensity to contribute to your capital campaign. DonorSearch offers the largest prospect research database on the market, consisting of more than one billion data points and boasting an accuracy rate above 90%.
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Prospect generator platform
Tools like DonorSearch’s ProspectView Online 2 (PVO2) summarize prospect research data into customizable, generative AI-powered reports so you can understand current and potential capital campaign donors at a glance.
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Predictive modeling solution
These AI solutions prioritize your prospect lists and suggest which capital campaign donors to reach out to first, allowing you to drive results while saving time and resources. DonorSearch Ai and Enhanced CORE are the most advanced predictive modeling solutions in the nonprofit sector, both of which rate prospects based on a variety of giving likelihood factors.
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Generative AI communication tool
AI is also useful for streamlining the creation of capital campaign outreach materials, donation requests, and thank-you messages. DonorSearch Ai + Momentum uses predictive modeling insights to inform content generation while ensuring consistency in tone and branding.
Discover how our wealth and philanthropic screening tools, PVO2, DonorSearch Ai, Enhanced CORE, and our partnership with Momentum can help your nonprofit kickstart its capital campaign!
Nonprofit Capital Campaign Examples
If your nonprofit wants to launch its own capital campaign, draw inspiration from these examples from real DonorSearch clients!
The Dynamic Catholic Institute
The Dynamic Catholic Institute leveraged DonorSearch’s prospect research tools during a capital campaign to launch its Catholic Moments program, which involved the creation and distribution of short films to help Catholic Church members celebrate key moments in their religious lives. With accurate donor insights on their side, they achieved their $25 million fundraising goal!
DuBois Central Catholic School
DuBois Central Catholic School partnered with DonorSearch shortly after launching a three-year capital campaign to enhance future educational opportunities for its students. Their screenings and analyses allowed them to engage their widespread alumni network in the campaign and find viable major donor prospects even on a limited budget.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation
The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation completed a $1 billion capital campaign to build a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility for pediatric medical care—the Arthur M. Blank Hospital, opening in September 2024. As they assessed the results of this campaign, they made a proactive investment in DonorSearch Ai to help streamline their major gift solicitation processes and set themselves up for even more success with future campaigns.
Final Thoughts
Planning, launching, running, and completing a capital campaign is a major feat for any nonprofit. But by having a comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of a capital campaign and knowing where you can turn for assistance and advice, you can set your organization up for success in funding its most critical projects and initiatives.
For more information on the various elements of capital campaigns, check out these resources:
- Major Gifts: A Guide to Securing Large Donations. Discover our top strategies for securing the high-impact donations that will fuel the quiet phase of your organization’s capital campaign.
- 16+ Prospect Research Tools to Find More Donors for Your Org. Explore the best solutions available to help your nonprofit dig deeper into its potential capital campaign donors’ wealth and philanthropic histories.
- Nonprofit Donor Retention: How to Secure Long-Term Support. Learn how to keep the donors you acquire during your capital campaign engaged with your organization for the long haul.
Prospect research is essential for a successful capital campaign. DonorSearch can help you identify more donors.
