Turning Feasibility Data into Bulletproof Campaign Strategy

Capital campaigns require intensive planning for good reason. Your feasibility study does not provide just a yes or no answer about whether you should launch a campaign. Instead, it should lay the groundwork for your campaign by helping you set achievable goals, workshop your case for support, and identify key investors. This means that nonprofits should be active participants in shaping their study and mobilizing a strategy based on its results.

In this guide, we'll walk through how to conduct an effective feasibility study and use its data to build a successful campaign foundation.

Collect data that matters.

A feasibility study is an overall assessment of your nonprofit's campaign readiness. During it, you'll collect a lot of data over the course of many conversations across your community. Ensure these interviews are useful by focusing on the questions that matter most to your nonprofit and campaign.

Convergent's guide to capital campaign feasibility studies provides the following advice for prepping investor interview questions:

• Prepare between 20 and 30 questions. Feasibility study interviews should be conversations that give investors the space to share their whole perspective on your nonprofit, your campaign plan, your board, and anything else related to your campaign.
• Determine your organization's credibility. Capital campaigns are built on funder trust and dedication. During the feasibility study, gauge how stakeholders view your organization by asking questions related to their thoughts on your nonprofit's effectiveness, past accomplishments, and ability to meet current community needs.
• Consider what is not said. Record both responses and take note of what questions interviewees don't have answers for. For example, if multiple investors sidestep a question about whether they think your proposed project meets pressing community needs, that's a sign that your case for support might not be clear enough or even misaimed.

Additionally, ensure you're interviewing supporters who can provide valuable insights. Use your CRM or mobilization platform to identify investors, community members, and other influential stakeholders. For example, you might interview your top twenty investors, a few points of contact at businesses that have sponsored your nonprofit, and several community leaders whom your nonprofit has helped in the past.

Analyze your feasibility study results.

With your interviews completed, it's time for your nonprofit to work alongside your campaign consultant to identify targeted strategy recommendations. Again, this should be more than a statement about whether you should proceed with the campaign.

Instead, use your feasibility study results to refine the following:

Case for Support

During your feasibility study, practice pitching your working case for support to stakeholders. This early version of it should include:

• Your nonprofit's mission
• Your campaign's intended outcome and potential impact
• Project costs and timeline
• Why funders should support your mission

The feasibility study is an opportunity to be transparent with stakeholders about your nonprofit's goals and future. Ask frankly about whether your case for support is compelling and whether it would motivate them to give to your campaign. Whether the response is positive or negative, take their feedback into account to create the strongest pitch possible before you start mobilizing gifts in earnest.

Fundraising Goals

The feasibility study is an optimal time to assess what fundraising amount both fits your project and is achievable. This is also the time to start estimating how much to request from each investor. It's a common mistake for nonprofits to approach their top investors with too small a request, then struggle to make up the shortfall elsewhere.

Create a gift range chart to roughly map how much you need to raise and how many investors you think can provide the needed funding.

DonorSearch's gift range chart guide recommends including the following information in this planning document:

• Gift amount tiers
• Number of gifts needed for each tier
• Number of prospects needed for each tier
• The cumulative fundraising total

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For example, if you need to raise $1 million, your chart might look like this:

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Investor Participation Strategy

Support from your investors will make or break your campaign. While financial support is essential, pay attention to the other ways they may want to mobilize around your campaign. For example, top funders may be interested in:

• Volunteering. Capital campaign committee volunteers perform essential work related to steering the direction of your campaign. Major investors may want to help personally oversee your campaign by joining your various planning and operational committees, which provides you with additional staff and may lead to future financial support.
• Setting up introductions. Investors can introduce your nonprofit to friends, family, and colleagues who may also be interested in giving, growing your base of support in the process. In addition to connecting you with prospective individual supporters, they may also help connect you with corporate sponsorship or grant opportunities.
• Advocating for your campaign. During the public phase of your capital campaign, investors can help get your fundraising goal across the finish line by speaking at events, posting about your campaign on social media, and mobilizing their own networks on your behalf.

When assessing your feasibility study data, note investors who seem particularly excited about your campaign; they are strong candidates to reach out to for further support. You might even test the waters by asking early on whether they have any advice for your campaign, giving them an opportunity to get involved while showing you care about their input.

From investor interest to how to make a compelling case for support, feasibility studies provide all the information your nonprofit needs to mobilize a successful capital campaign. Ahead of your study, start preparing your questions, identifying stakeholders, and seeking out experts such as campaign consultants to ensure you gather the data you need.