What Is a
Campaign?
A campaign is a military paradigm aimed at reaching a specific goal,
within a scheduled time-frame, using specified resources.
Decades ago the term and
process was aptly and universally adopted by the fund
raising profession and
charitable organizations for fund
raising efforts.
The structure serves all concerned most admirably.
Volunteers are more readily recruited because they understand that there
is an end-limit to their time commitment.
Donors are of a like mind and thus encouraged to be more generous.
Staff is heartened for the same reasons and that they can see exactly
when they can be about the service to which they are called and which the
campaign supports. The public
is served by better programs and facilities.
The most frequently asked question we hear is: "Can we raise XYZ
dollars?" We always
answer in the affirmative, with the caution that we cannot foretell in which
millennium it will be accomplished?! Ergo
the need for feasibility studies and campaigns.
There can be many types of campaigns, but two are most common.
The annual campaign is the backbone of all others.
Annual campaigns are as the title implies.
The characteristic of annual campaigns, beyond being annual, is that they
generally generate gifts from income to be used for annual program and
operations. The Annual Campaign
provides the opportunity to develop a comprehensive donor-database and to
profile or stratify donors for possible support of all other types of campaigns.
Capital campaigns generally occur over a longer span of time, are less
frequent, and usually have more substantial goals.
Capital campaigns seek larger gifts, from assets rather than income, and
are aimed at capital expenses like
buildings, equipment, and endowment.
While the term "Planned Giving Campaigns" is frequently
employed, it is rather a misnomer. Because
planned gifts frequently mature upon the death of a donor or beneficiary, it is
impossible to constrain such gifts into any kind of schedule.
Planned gifts can be especially promoted for a specific period of time,
but this really runs contrary to common sense - planned giving is a permanent,
long-term, ongoing endeavor.