The Ritter Group

A few years ago I had the opportunity to address the American Library Association at their annual meeting in Chicago at the Palmer House. They were interested in endowment fundraising, and because I knew the room would be full of English majors I titled my remarks “Is Your Endowment To Be or Not To Be?” I concentrated on the importance of the feasibility study in answering that question. The audience showed great interest. Later, when they published my presentation in their journal, they used a sketch of a crystal ball to illustrate my theme.

Is your campaign to be or not to be? I guess a good feasibility study is the closest thing we have to a crystal-ball prediction. Except that there is no reliance upon magic with the study – just careful details and the skills of a competent interviewer. If you are out to raise $500,000 or more, it is our rule of thumb in the profession that it will be worth it for you to retain an experienced nonprofit capital campaign fundraising consultant to help you with the process.

The first step may well be a feasibility study, a series of confidential, personal, structured interviews to test your project and goal among those potential donors whose support you will surely need for a successful campaign.

Sound expensive?
It is likely that the first gift or two of the resulting campaign will easily cover the expenses of the study.

Volunteer interviewer instead?
The survey instrument must be carefully designed to yield the results you need, and the interviewer must be trained to pick up the nonverbal cues that reveal what the interviewee really thinks.

Can a staff member do it?
Confidentiality is the key to truthful responses. Prospects are more likely to trust that an outside objective professional will keep their responses confidential.

How about doing the interviews here?
There is a better chance of getting truthful answers when the interview is conducted at a site chosen by the prospect. When people enter the nonprofit’s site, they have a tendency to be more positive in their responses than how they really feel.

Finally, the interviewer needs a background in fundraising and development to listen for the cues that the prospect is ready to make a substantial gift. In one instance in my own experience, I followed the cues that resulted in the donor making a challenge grant of half the campaign’s total. That was an interview well worth the cost!