Low-lift fundraisers and recurring gifts aren’t always enough to take your nonprofit’s mission to the next level. During those times, major fundraising initiatives like capital campaigns help your organization scale up. However, launching a capital campaign is one of the most significant undertakings a nonprofit can pursue; the stakes are high, with million-dollar goals and the reputation of your organization on the line.
A campaign feasibility study gives you the insights you need to lay the groundwork for a successful campaign. It’s a strategic tool that determines whether your community is ready to support your vision and if your organization is ready to ask for it. A strong feasibility study saves you months of wasted effort and directs your energy in a productive direction.
In itself, a feasibility study is also an important process that deserves your nonprofit’s full attention and effort. To increase the value of your campaign feasibility study, let’s look at four tips your nonprofit should implement for your next study.
1. Carefully Choose the Framing for Your Case for Support
Usually, your nonprofit will present a preliminary case for support to key stakeholders during feasibility study interviews and meetings. This essentially allows you to test your messaging with your most important supporters and get their feedback on how it could be better. However, that’s not a reason to present unpolished messaging.
A common mistake nonprofits make is drafting a case statement that focuses exclusively on the organization’s needs. While it’s valid to mention your current operational pain points, you need an inspiring reason for a major funder to provide support. Frame your case for support through the lens of the impact your supporters are funding.
For example, compare these statements:
- We need $5 million because our roof is leaking, our lobby is outdated, and our staff is working in cramped conditions.
- This $5 million expansion will allow us to double our intake capacity, effectively reducing the waiting list for our services to zero within three years.
While the former statement explains why the campaign is important, the latter translates that need into an impact for your nonprofit’s beneficiaries. This framing is much more interesting and compelling to your funders. And, you can take it a step further by supporting your case for support with data like key mission metrics to demonstrate exactly why your campaign is necessary.
There’s no one message that will appeal to all supporters, which means you must carefully think through what framing would most appeal to your unique supporter base. Take a look at your nonprofit’s marketing and donor data to see what types of communications have previously resonated with your supporters.
2. Choose the Right Supporters to Reach Out To
Capital campaigns succeed or fail based on whether nonprofits have enough supporters willing to fund their initiatives. This means that reaching out to high-value supporters is a crucial part of the feasibility study, as you want to understand who is willing to support your campaign and why your mission appeals to them.
Start with the following groups of supporters:
- Major funders
- Board members
- Longtime volunteers
- Community stakeholders
- Business owners
It’s important to get a good mix of opinions from various types of supporters during your feasibility study to gain a holistic understanding of how they’ll respond to your new campaign. You can also take this time to conduct prospect research and reach out to new potential funders to get their feedback.
3. Thoughtfully Prepare Your Interview Questions
According to Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, “The perfect feasibility study gives you a clear picture of the perceptions around your organization and its proposed project. When analyzed carefully, these perceptions answer the most critical feasibility study question: Does your organization have the credibility needed to reach your campaign goal successfully?”
Your interviews should help you gather valuable data that answers this core question. However, if your interview questions are vague or unfocused, you’ll get generic answers that won’t help you build your strategy.
Prepare questions that dig deeper than just general support. For example, rather than just asking if they like the campaign, ask for their advice on your plan. Or, you can ask your interviewees how effective they think your board members are to determine the public perception of your organization and if they see any red flags that would prevent them from funding your campaign. You might also test specific gift levels using a gift range chart. Asking a prospect, “Where do you see yourself on this chart?” provides far more concrete data than asking, “Will you support us?”
4. Partner with an Unbiased Third Party
Many nonprofits conduct feasibility studies in-house to save money, but this can be a detriment for many organizations. The main value in a feasibility study is the honest, unvarnished feedback from your key stakeholders. However, your supporters may be hesitant to be candid with your nonprofit’s executive director or board members because they don’t want to offend them.
A nonprofit fundraising consultant acts as a neutral party that allows your interviewees to share their true concerns. Their honest feedback about your campaign, leadership members, or the economy will save you from launching a campaign that is destined to stall.
Beyond facilitating honest interviews, a campaign consultant can also assist with other responsibilities during your feasibility study. For instance, they might:
- Serve as your expert guide during your feasibility study
- Facilitate the evaluation of new funder prospects
- Train your fundraising team to maximize the focus of efforts during the campaign
- Advise the strategic messaging your nonprofit puts forward
They can also objectively assess your nonprofit’s internal functions to determine whether your organization itself is ready for a capital campaign. This will bring to light any internal gaps that may stymie your campaign, such as a lack of robust nonprofit software, disengaged board members, and under-resourced funder stewardship teams. With these insights, you can pivot your campaign as necessary or even choose to delay it until your organization and its funders are ready.
A campaign feasibility study is the ultimate risk management tool for your nonprofit. Don’t view it as a hurdle to jump over, but rather as the foundation of your campaign’s success. With the right preparation and a willingness to adapt, your feasibility study will provide the confidence and the roadmap you need to secure transformational funding.
