From Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr, LLP, Bulletin on Public Relations and Development for Independent Schools, February 2006. Reprinted by permission.
When [we use] the term advancement, we are not talking just about fundraising. We are talking about a concept that includes not only the mechanics of fundraising, but the mission, aims, programs, and services of the institution seeking support.
[Our] overall concept of advancement holds that the “highest destiny of an institution can be realized only by its total effort to analyze its philosophy and activities; crystallize its objectives and project them into the future; then take the necessary steps to realize them.”
Advancement is an institution-wide concept. An effective advancement program involves the entire institution and all of its related publics. An effective advancement program is coordinated and integrated across the institution and throughout its publics.
Advancement is not just raising money, but raising money to promote and extend institution objectives. For advancement to be effective, the institution’s objectives must be
Current—relevant to today, up-to-date
Believable—true or authentic
Compelling—motivating action
Serious prospects choose to make charitable gifts because they believe in the mission of your school. They see the mission as relevant for today, they believe the mission to be authentic, and they are compelled to take action by making a gift to reinforce what they believe. Advancement, then, is the process designed to build commitment to the mission, vision, and purpose of your institution.
The primary objectives of advancement are
• To obtain greater awareness, understanding, acceptance, and appreciation for the institution from its major publics.
• To secure sufficient voluntary financial support for current operations, special projects, capital growth, endowment, and long-term financial viability.
• To acquire more students of the quality and quantity that the institution desires.
As Tom Gonser, our founder, put it, friends, funds, and students are the essential resources required to be a successful school.
The Campaign Process
A campaign is the planned mobilization of the friends of your school, for a voluntary solicitation of proportionate gifts from an informed constituency, always toward specific goals or objectives, and within a specific period of time.
The campaign is a process to close gift commitments. The campaign focuses on major gifts. There is a basic assumption that a campaign will identify, research, and cultivate major donors and that major gift prospects are ready to make a serious commitment.
There are 10 key elements that, when well executed, will provide the foundation for a successful campaign. These elements will facilitate engagement, and through them you and your school will be transformed.
1. A clear and compelling mission and case for support.
For the campaign to be effective it must have a clear and compelling “case statement.” Such a case emanates from the institution’s strategic plan.
The strategic plan is essential to the campaign; it defines your mission and the steps required to keep advancing the mission. The strategic plan enables your institution to know where it stands, where it is going, and what it will take to get there. It provides the basis for a campaign because, through the strategic planning process, programs and facilities important to carrying out the mission are identified and prioritized.
The strategic planning process brings the institution’s internal family and external publics to the true meaning of the institution. It builds “ownership” on the part of the major prospects and stakeholders. The strategic planning process educates staff and other key stakeholders while involving them. Through this process, individuals are engaged and commitment is built.
When the strategic planning process has been completed, the case statement is an important next step. The case statement must be based on the institution’s identified strategic priorities. The case statement articulates the institution’s mission, character, successes, and vision. It invites alumni and friends to participate in advancing the institution’s mission.
2. An effective program of communications.
It is important to have an effective program of communicating your institution to its publics. An effective communications program is one that is ongoing—before, during, and after a campaign. In an effective communications program, three elements should be present:
A. Knowing and understanding your key publics.
B. Targeting your messages to those key publics.
C. A planned and sustained effort of targeted messages that each department accepts and uses.
Knowing and understanding your key publics is critical to building awareness, understanding, goodwill, and commitment. The communications program must have a planned and sustained effort to build understanding, image, and trust.
3. A successful ongoing fundraising program.
Before launching a campaign, examine how effectively you have been raising money in the past. Carefully review what has happened and what is happening in the annual fund, continuing major gifts efforts, previous capital campaigns, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, and government relations. Remember, the campaign is a comprehensive effort not only to successfully close major gifts, but to enhance all aspects of the program. Your ongoing efforts should be augmented by a successful campaign effort.
4. A marketing effort that effectively recruits students to the institution.
An ongoing program to promote your institution to prospective students should be a primary focus of the communications effort.
The success of the campaign rests on a strong enrollment. Donors want to be assured that they are investing in a successful institution. One of the most important key indicators of a healthy school is expanding or full enrollment.
5. The ongoing involvement of volunteers.
Engaging individuals in the life of the institution as volunteers is a proven way to create commitment. The impact of engaging volunteers can result in institutional transformation. When involving individuals as volunteers, it is very important to understand how to make the best use of their time and talents. Be specific in what you ask them to do. Volunteers will respond best if asked to accomplish specific, time-limited actions such as setting up a meeting with a key donor or going on a call.
6. Internal systems that work.
Policies and procedures about what constitutes a gift and how gifts are to be counted should be reviewed and approved by the board and the advancement committee, with assistance from the chief advancement officer. Once a definition of what constitutes a gift and how gifts should be counted is established, the following functions should be clearly understood and defined:
• Prospect research—electronic database screening should be done periodically, while peer screening and individualized detailed research on prospects should be ongoing.
• Gift acknowledgement—it is imperative that gifts be acknowledged accurately, promptly, and appropriately.
• Donor recognition—appropriate recognition of donors through the annual report, special events with a donor recognition focus, and strategic personal contact (letters, notes, phone calls, and personal visits) should be a consistent practice.
• Clear and effective reporting—done regularly and precisely. Accuracy in recordkeeping and in reporting is paramount.
7. A dedicated and involved board.
The board approves the campaign. The board sets the tone and to a large degree establishes the giving levels for the campaign. Expectations for giving by the board are high—they should give 20 percent to 50 percent of the goal. Not only does the board set the pace in giving to the campaign, but they also are most often the primary volunteers for the effort.
Board members open doors to prospective major donors for the institution. No matter what a board member may say, everyone knows a few individuals who can positively impact your mission through philanthropy.
Board members should be involved with ongoing cultivation and solicitation of a minimum of two prospects for major gifts. Many board members will be capable and willing to take responsibility for three to five prospects for major gifts.
8. An engaged head of school.
The head of school is the principal spokesperson for the institution and a campaign effort, and provides vision and motivation. The head plays a lead role in cultivating and soliciting the top gifts in a campaign. He/she will be the primary contact for the top prospects and donors.
Because of the head’s other important responsibilities that must be attended to, it is important to use the time of the head wisely—do not dilute his/her efforts with prospects for small gifts. At the same time the head of school must commit the necessary time to these responsibilities, which is frequently as much as 30 percent to 50 percent of his/her time. More than anyone else, the head will be transformed through the campaign.
9. A capable advancement staff.
A primary task and important responsibility of the advancement staff is engaging the right people in the campaign process. Engaging the right workforce for the campaign is crucial. A campaign must have adequate and capable human resources provided by both staff and volunteers.
The advancement staff has four primary tasks during a campaign:
A. Managing the day-to-day work of the office. This is central to insure that regular programming continues in an effective manner. When schools are in “campaign mode,” it is easy to become less disciplined to attending to ongoing details of the annual fund, continual stewardship activities, and the broad-based marketing of planned giving opportunities. Much excitement is generated by the focus on major gifts during a campaign. During a campaign it is more important than ever to have consistent, effective efforts from those programs that help “balance the operating budget” and account for your ongoing success.
B. The task of creating and managing a well-coordinated effort will help insure success. Campaign management must be integrated with management of the larger advancement program. Effective, regular internal communications are paramount to help insure successful coordination.
C. A program of personal calls must be maintained to keep prospective donors informed, excited, and engaged. Resist the temptation to lessen the number of personal visits with donors and prospects “because they are to be visited later for the campaign.” Your alumni and friends want to see you; they want to know what is going on with the institution and mission in which they have made an investment.
D. Always follow through. Consistent follow-through will ultimately determine whether or not campaign objectives are achieved. Develop the discipline to pay strict attention to details.
10. A fundraising market capable and willing to provide major gifts.
The importance of major gifts in a successful campaign effort cannot be overstated. Major gifts are the key, the single most important characteristic of a successful campaign. The 80/20 rule was once the norm. Today, in many campaigns, at least 90 percent of the money is coming from 10 percent of the donors, or even +95 percent of the money is coming from 5 percent or less of the donors.
Focus on the 1/3 rule, which says that the top 10 gifts will produce 1/3 of the goal. The next 100 gifts will produce the next 1/3. All the remaining gifts to the campaign will produce the final 1/3 of the goal.
Summary
Each of the following elements is important in building engagement by targeted constituencies and plays an important role in transforming your school through the campaign process:
• A clear and compelling mission and case for support.
• An effective program of communications.
• A successful ongoing fundraising program.
• A marketing effort that effectively recruits students to the institution.
• The ongoing involvement of volunteers.
• Internal systems that work.
• A dedicated and involved board.
• An engaged head of school.
• A capable advancement staff.
• A fundraising market capable and willing to provide major gifts.
When your campaign reaches a successful conclusion, your institution and all those who participate in the effort will be united in support of your mission and engaged to a greater degree than ever before. If the campaign process is well planned and the campaign is effectively executed, your institution will be transformed. The momentum established by the campaign can be perpetuated after the campaign officially concludes.
Once all commitments are in place, make every effort to insure that those committed to the campaign have a positive and satisfying giving experience. Doing so will help enhance the pool of prospective future campaign volunteers and will help assure your next successful campaign effort.
Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr, LLP, is a consulting firm dedicated to helping educational organizations clarify their aims, build their leadership, and attract the human and financial resources they need to achieve their highest destiny. www.ggts.com.
Mission Advancement