10 Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Questions to Ask Before Launching
Wondering if a capital campaign is right for your nonprofit? Use these 10 capital campaign feasibility study questions to help you make your campaign goals realistic and achievable.
Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Questions
Before launching a capital campaign, you need to figure out whether or not your organization is ready to put your plan into action. But, how do you do that? How do you know if you’re ready? When conducting a feasibility study for your capital campaign, it’s important to gather info (from a third party) on the following:
1. What is your nonprofit trying to fund?
In order to assess how easy it’ll be to reach your goal, you have to define what your goal is. To determine your goal, it’s important to ask yourself:
- What does our organization need?
- What does our community need?
- How and what can we create to serve current and future needs?
By articulating your intent, you’re creating a transparent channel of communication between yourself and the groups you wish to serve. This is also an opportunity for you to introduce your pre-campaign plan, and outline your fiscal goal and desired timeline.
2. What is the fundraising history of your nonprofit?
By reviewing your fundraising history, you’re able to identify factors that may have influenced the success of your previous campaigns. So, it’s important to ask yourself: What worked? How can we improve? Reflecting on past experiences allows you to refine your existing campaign model, and account for potential obstacles.
3. What are the strengths of your nonprofit? In which ways can you change?
Apart from identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your campaign process, it’s important to evaluate how your organization functions overall. So, ask yourself: What strengths does our organization possess that can be leveraged to meet our goal? What organizational hurdles do we face that keeps us from conducting business as usual?
4. Who does the proposed campaign goal serve? What immediate and long-term goals does it satisfy?
After outlining your goal, it’s necessary to identify the groups your campaign serves. If community support is needed, you need to outline the ways in which your goal serves them. So, another crucial capital campaign feasibility study question to ask is: what do contributors get when they donate? Above all, determining this gives them, and major gift leads, the incentive to support your efforts.
5. How does the community perceive your nonprofit?
Positive perception is key in a capital campaign. If the community you’re raising funds for is in support of your efforts, they’ll want to donate and help you meet your goal. If not, even though you may gain major gifts during the quiet phase of your campaign, you’ll have no way of being able to wrap it up efficiently.
6. How can your nonprofit better serve the community?
Your capital campaign feasibility study questions should address your community’s immediate and future needs. So, it’s your responsibility to anticipate what their needs will be later on, and adapt your goal to meet those needs. By doing that, you’re showing them that your project is worth the investment because they can use the building or funded project you’ve set up at any given time.
7. Does the proposed campaign goal seem attainable? Why or why not?
The core capital campaign feasibility study question is: is your goal practical? If it is, you can begin taking actionable steps. So, you can start hiring additional resources and staff, and map out micro-goals for your campaign. But, if your goal doesn’t seem attainable, it’s important to revisit it and figure out how it can be adjusted to be achievable.
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8. Which existing board members or staff are already willing to be ambassadors for this campaign?
When attracting major gift leads, members of these major companies want to give to nonprofits they know. If you don’t have members of your board or leadership team as ambassadors, major leads may feel less inclined to give to your campaign. In other words, establishing a point of connection makes the gift collection process that much easier.
9. What additional support (resources, staff, etc.) does your nonprofit need to successfully carry out their goal?
Not only is your campaign made to satisfy your specific goal, but it also accounts for everything you’ll need in order to achieve it. This includes additional staff, materials, construction, events, and travel. So, what will you need that you don’t already have? Be sure to account for this capital campaign feasibility study question as you create your goals.
10. What potential obstacles could your nonprofit run into during the campaign?
Before you carry out your campaign, you have to account for potential risks that may hinder your success. If you jump in without doing any form of risk assessment, your campaign is more likely to fail. If your campaign does fall apart, it takes nearly a decade for your organization to regain community credibility.
Also read:
- Predictive Prospecting: Profiling Your Best Clients to Find New Prospects
- Turn Your Event Participants into Donors
WealthEngine’s consultants can guide you through other capital campaign feasibility study questions you may consider. Fill the form on the right to speak with one of our experts.
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