If your nonprofit wants to raise money for major expenses such as launching a new program or renovating your headquarters, you may consider launching a capital campaign. However, a capital campaign doesn’t happen on a whim. Some capital campaigns can take years to plan in order to be successful.
Capital campaigns require a high investment of time and resources, meaning no part of planning should be overlooked, especially not the donors who decide whether or not your campaign succeeds. Capital campaigns are not ordinary fundraisers, so you shouldn’t treat your capital campaign donors like ordinary donors.
While donor outreach, marketing, and event planning determine your capital campaign’s immediate impact, recognizing your donors affects the long-term financial health of your nonprofit. In addition to initial donations, capital campaigns give your nonprofit the opportunity to build relationships with major donors. Showing your appreciation can be the difference between one-time donations and long-term recurring gift-giving relationships.
As you plan your nonprofit’s donor retention strategy for your next capital campaign, consider these steps to make your major donors feel appreciated:
Involve Your Donors in Your Capital Campaign
Say Thank You and Quickly
Create a Donor Wall
Continue Following Up
After they’ve donated, your donors want to know their contributions are going to a good cause. Regularly communicating your donors’ impact and saying thanks will inspire donor loyalty and keep your nonprofit on their minds for the long-term.
Involve Your Donors in Your Capital Campaign
Before you launch your capital campaign, you’ll need to identify your major prospects by conducting prospect research, starting with the data in your database. Those who have the highest engagement rate and the highest capacity to donate are the most likely to give substantial amounts during your capital campaign.
Before asking them for funding though, you’ll need to involve these prospects in your feasibility study, asking them if they’d be willing to support the campaign if you move forward with it. This will give them insight early, before you even ask for their donations during the quiet phase of the campaign.
You’ll be asking a lot of your major donors. Bloomerang estimates that donations during the quiet phase of capital campaigns account for between 50-70% of your campaign’s total donations. For many nonprofits, the smallest gifts acquired from their major donors can be over $1,000. These donors make an investment in your nonprofit, and you can say thanks by offering them the chance to get even more involved.
Some donors will be content to donate and move on, but others may jump at the chance to play a more active role in your campaign. Here are a few ways to engage donors while your capital campaign is still in the quiet phase:
Ask for feedback. Your major donors are partners in the project your capital campaign is funding. Asking them to review proposals your nonprofit is working on shows you care about your project’s success and putting their donations to good use. Donors such as grant makers and foundations likely won’t be interested in active participation. However, checking in with your program officers and asking advice before submitting proposals is a form of engagement and shows your nonprofit cares about building that relationship.
Invite them to help with solicitations. Your donors likely know other donors. While you should have an outreach strategy before soliciting your first donation, some of your donors may be happy to do additional outreach for you such as calling their family, friends, and co-workers to connect them with your nonprofit during the public phase.
Whether your donors choose to help or not, be sure to thank them for whatever contribution they do make. Prepare a speech thanking your major donors during your kick-off event, provide updates on your campaign’s progress, and let them know you appreciate speaking with them even if they decide not to donate. Donor recognition should be a long-term process that begins at your capital campaign’s earliest stages and continues past its finale.
say thank you, and say it quickly
A timely, personal thank you goes a long way. Donor retention research shows that thanking is a big part of keeping donors loyal, particularly if you thank them quickly. While you should also invest in a long-term plan to thank your donors, ensuring a quick first thank you right after their capital campaign contribution will make your donor feel seen by your nonprofit.
Here are a few ways to start off on the right foot with a thank you that is fast and meaningful:
A personal phone call. Personal phone calls may seem old fashioned, but that also means they can be special and show donors that your nonprofit takes the support you receive seriously. A team of volunteers or a dedicated staff member can handle most phone calls, but for your major donors, consider enlisting your board members.
A shoutout on social media. Spotlighting your donors on social media provides public appreciation and recognition while building your social media presence and attracting the attention of your donor’s friends and followers. You might try starting a “donor of the week” program and featuring a new supporter each week on your social sites. Be sure to get their permission first!
A personalized email. Your donation page should have an automatic thank you message on the receipt that the donor gets along with their donation confirmation. For capital campaign donors, follow-up with a personal email that references their specific donation, the impact that gift will have, and any previous engagement they’ve had with your nonprofit.
A handwritten card. Sending thank you cards after receiving a gift provides a personal way to reach them. With the prevalence and convenience of digital communication, physical tokens of appreciation show your donors that your nonprofit goes the extra mile. However, mail is not always the most timely system, so be sure to pair this strategy with another method to ensure your thank you is delivered within 48 hours.
Some donors may feel buyer’s remorse if you leave them unanswered for too long. Use a donor management system or a CRM to track your donor’s engagement history and make sure no thank you is missed or forgotten. Additionally, make use of your donor’s information to help with the personalization of each and every thank you. No matter how big or small the donation, never forget to address your donors by name!
Create a donor wall
Your capital campaign donors have made an investment in your nonprofit. While smaller donors may be content with the previous quick thank yous, major contributors expect a bit more than an automated email.
Donor walls are a classy, eye-catching, and permanent way to let your donors know how much their support means to your nonprofit. Donor walls come in all shapes and sizes, so do your research before calling in a construction crew. A few aspects to consider are:
Budget. Donor walls cost money to design, construct, and maintain as you add more supporters over the years. Consider the scale of your wall and the cost of materials before finalizing a design. While you want to avoid spending all your hard-earned donations on creating the wall, a donor wall is an investment for donor retention and deserves some expense.
Who to thank. Few walls have the space to thank all of your nonprofit’s donors. Set thresholds based on gift amount, gift type, or campaign donated to. For example, during your capital campaign, the donors solicited during the quiet phase likely deserve a place on your wall while the smaller public donations can receive a different (but still personal!) thank you.
Style. Your donor wall should reflect your nonprofit. While there are a few components that every donor wall has (specifically, donor names), be creative with your design and ensure your nonprofit’s brand is front and center.
Physical and virtual. It’s not as easy to invite donors to see a physical wall right now as it once was. Thankfully, you can also roll out a virtual donor wall on your website or using livestream software to show your donors your appreciation even if you can’t be face-to-face.
A construction project on top of your nonprofit’s capital campaign may be overwhelming. However, it’s worth it if you can retain those major donors for the long-run.
If you’re still unsure how to go about building your donor wall, consider hiring a consultant and researching ideas online. There are many resources and nonprofits to get inspired by because many nonprofits know that well-maintained donor walls are an effective investment for your cause.
continue following up
Your relationship with your donors should continue long past your capital campaign. Send regular updates, newsletters, and thank yous to keep your donors in the loop and let them know they’re still a valued part of your nonprofit.
Donorly’s guide to capital campaigns advises thanking your donors immediately after your campaign and for several months following the conclusion of the campaign. Invite your donors to the grand finale celebration to end your campaign as well as the opening of any new buildings or programs your capital campaign funded.
In addition to physical and virtual meet-ups, be sure to thank your capital campaign donors in your annual report. Highlight them as heroes who have made your nonprofit’s goals possible by emphasizing their impact and letting them know what their dollars are creating.
conclusion
Your capital campaign donors aren’t complicated, but they are special. Saying thank you regularly throughout your entire campaign will let your donors know they made the right decision to give and inspire them to stick around for your nonprofit’s next project.
This post was contributed by Jay Love, Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang. He has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly. Prior to Bloomerang, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to more than 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.
He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.