by Glenn Vallach, Vice President for Public Relations and Communications, Ghiorsi & Sorrenti, Inc.
Campaign Readiness (Part I)
We are delighted to make available our GSI Eye on Philanthropy Blog to guest Debra Gill, Executive Vice President of Philanthropy for Bozeman Deaconess Foundation. Debra has a phenomenally successful fund raising track record in bucolic Bozeman, Montana, and is deeply engaged in the quiet phase of a major capital campaign that will support a new Emergency Department. During this three-part conversation with our own Peter Ghiorsi, together they map out the key factors in planning a capital campaign. Today, they discuss the Planning Study.
Peter Ghiorsi (PG): We are seeing some movement on the part of non-profits, gaining more confidence in the improving economy, and pushing off the capital campaign starting blocks. You weathered that storm in Bozeman, and started the campaign process in the midst of all the economic troubles. What motivated you to push forward?
Debra Gill (DG): Frankly, Peter, we were comfortable we had an urgent need, a great family of constituents who would understand the critical need, and a passion to get a campaign rolling quickly and definitively. We operated under the assumption that with a need as urgent as we all understood it to be, we couldn’t wait out a bad economy.
PG: During our 22 years in business, we’ve developed an effective road map for campaign success. As you know so well, it starts with the organizations’ strategic plan which clearly states a long-term vision. Consensus is very important, of course, at the Board and Administration level.
DG: Everyone needs to be on the same page concerning the urgency and the need. And with operating margins always under pressure and reduced debt capacity, healthcare organizations’ greatest source of new equity capital is philanthropy. So fundraising has become more important to an organization’s health, and the capital campaign is the most effective way to achieve results. In today’s economy, campaigns have become a necessity.
PG: Once this foundation is in place, you’re ready for the campaign planning study. As you experienced, there are several key steps to take as you prepare for this process. First and foremost, you need to identify and prepare volunteer leadership. They have to believe in the project and the process, and be ready to roll up their sleeves as part of a carefully constructed campaign infrastructure.
DG: Yes, and we are very fortunate at Bozeman Deaconess to have an outstanding senior leadership team and volunteer base who responded with passion and enthusiasm to this opportunity. Then, we decided on capital campaign counsel to guide us through the critical steps and help us maximize the potential.
PG: And we are grateful for the opportunity to provide that service for you. Moving forward, the campaign case abstract is of paramount importance. A powerful case is essential to a powerful campaign. If it’s compelling and urgent, it will help inspire sacrificial giving.
DG: Ultimately, the case abstract was the first formal evidence to our most important constituents of the urgency of the project
PG: With the help of counsel, then, it’s time to develop a Planning Study strategy. You’ll need a carefully developed list of interview candidates to involve in the process … a group who will provide you with valuable information in terms of resources and prospects, those who themselves may prove to be the cornerstones in terms of leadership and individual giving, and others who may serve as the eventual ambassadors of the effort.
DG: Again, we were fortunate to engage the participation of so many…Board members, administration, long-time donors, grateful patients, physicians…who helped mold our plans and strategies, and gave us a great sense of whom to approach and how to approach them.
PG: As part of the planning study process, we also developed the integrated campaign planning strategy years ago that encourages organizations to selectively approach appropriate interviewees for gifts as the study progresses, thereby creating a great sense of buy-in and momentum. While your study wasn’t, by definition, integrated, you did experience the benefit of securing a few major gifts very early in the campaign assuring that momentum.
DG: Yes, our campaign committee was very excited when we started our first meeting with an announcement that we had already secured our first $1 million gift.
PG: I know we were very impressed with the outstanding preparatory work you undertook. We interviewed 78 people, and it was a great cross-section of the BDH family and community.
DG: We knew it was important to get everyone who is critical to BDH and the campaign’s eventual success invested in the process. It showed in the planning study results, and now, during actual campaigning. The planning study report told us that a great majority of those interviewed considered the ER project vital, and a similar majority would invest in it. There were more than 80 quality leadership gift prospects to approach to help us reach the working target GSI recommended. It was at that point the Board endorsed the campaign, and we were blissfully plunged into uncharted waters at BDH.
In our next blog, we’ll continue with the “key factors” conversation and transition from the Planning Study process to the capital campaign. Hope you’ll join us then!
