5 things to consider "Before You Build"

On July 22, Paul J. Strawhecker Inc’s Ryan and Patrick presented “Before you Build a Capital Campaign., How to Plan Objectives for Board Approval” for our partner, qGiv. Here are some things we learned from the presentation.

            1. Project planning

“What’s the board going to ask, what are funders going to ask and how do you find those solutions?” There’s no such thing as overplanning for a capital campaign.

            2. Budgeting

Most budgets don’t cover everything. What you think could be a $1M project, could actually be $1.2-$1.4M. Mental exercises of the project help to realize additional budget concerns.

            3.Project Feasibility

What type of building is feasible for your organization? Make sure the scale matches your need.

           4.Fundraising Feasibility

How much can your organization actually raise? Most people see Feasibility Studies as an added unnecessary expense, but they can tell you what key stakeholders think of the project, and how much they think you can raise. Feasibility studies can also help refine messaging about the campaign. Kent Dove’s 7 prerequisites to success supports feasibility studies.

          5.Board Considerations

Boards need to consider many things, such as the value of the project, a timeline, leadership structure, understanding the cashflow during.  Boards must be confident that money will be raised, the impact is worth the effort, and that there’s a good sustainability plan post-campaign.

To watch Before You Build, click here.