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Maximizing Fundraising Opportunities in South Florida

December 18, 2024

South Florida is experiencing great philanthropic growth, and the momentum looks likely to continue well into the future. In this article, we help you understand the most important trends and components of the philanthropic landscape that will help you maximize fundraising opportunities in South Florida.

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November 18, 2024

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SEE ALL IN: Primary and Secondary Education

Planning for a major gifts campaign can be a thrilling endeavor. The organizational work that precedes active fundraising is critical to setting a strong foundation for a campaign. This begins with the early, quiet leadership gifts phase to confirm pace-setting and attract momentum-building gifts. The official announcement of a public phase is then made to engage a school’s entire community with the aim of bringing the campaign to or over goal. It is this specific moment – “going public” – that causes many school leaders, board members, and fundraising professionals the most anxiety. However, by focusing on a few key elements of the campaign, beyond the amount of money raised, most campaigns will be prepared and well positioned for a successful public launch.

What Does Going Public Mean?

Formally, we define “going public” as the public announcement of a fundraising campaign and the initiation of gift requests to all parents, alumni, grandparents, and friends. More specifically, “going public” is the moment when a campaign reaches key milestones and benchmarks including exhausting the leadership and major prospective donor pools, building a significant amount of momentum and excitement internally and externally, and knowing that achieving the goal is more reality than conjecture.

Important First Steps

Most schools approach their campaign announcement and public phase primarily focused on the following steps:

1) Raise initial funds

2) Hit a predetermined goal

3) Make the public announcement

4) Raise the additional funds needed to meet the campaign goal

On its face, this strategy is straightforward and logical. A school would only announce its campaign goal if it was absolutely sure it would be successful. The reality, however, is that a campaign needs a strong foundation and infrastructure beyond the funds raised before going public. There are many reasons why a school would want its campaign to have a strong foundation and infrastructure but two stand out as the most critical. A campaign public phase 1) increases the scrutiny and desire for information from school leadership and the community, and 2) is characterized by a large influx of gifts of all sizes, requiring trained staff and a working database for accurate tracking and acknowledgement. Looking beyond the obvious concern of whether a sufficient amount of money has been raised, there are three key components every school should have in place before beginning a campaign’s public phase:

1) A complete case for support

2) An organized volunteer base and structure

3) A communications and marketing strategy

A Complete Case for Support

Having a solid case for support is intuitive but occasionally the case document or the correlating suite of materials is not as complete or robust as needed for a campaign public phase. School leadership must ensure that the campaign collateral – beyond the case statement itself – are ready for publication and dissemination. All campaigns should have:

A campaign name or theme
Clarity on all campaign projects and initiatives including benefits and associated costs
Various iterations of the case for support (long-form narrative; digital)
One- and two-page summaries
Infographics, video, and other visual elements as determined by the needs of their prospective donors.

Regular meetings and opportunities for the board, campaign leadership, and volunteers to engage with staff on the case for support will help to answer important questions and ensure consistency of message.

Cincinnati Country Day School—a coeducational private school in Ohio—used the creation of its case for support to address a number of important issues. In its most recent campaign case materials, the school acknowledged the importance and impact of gifts to previous capital initiatives. Having satisfied their desire to steward previous campaign donors, school leadership also included examples of how gifts to the current campaign were positively affecting change and benefitting students and faculty. Add to this messaging a simple, powerful campaign theme, a well-designed case statement, and well-detailed campaign initiatives, and Cincinnati Country Day School was more than prepared to announce its campaign with a solid suite of materials.

An Organized Volunteer Base

By the time a school has reached its public campaign announcement, it is imperative that the volunteer leadership is organized and prepared. Board and campaign leadership should have approved the timing and plans for going public, as well as the broader public phase efforts. Constituency-based volunteer groups – class or division committees, alumni committee, grandparents committee etc. – should be

recruited, convened, and given specific tasks or assignments. Having volunteers ready will help the school capitalize on the excitement generated by the public announcement. Ongoing training and staff support for volunteer outreach efforts will be an important factor in their success. Since the development staff will be supporting all of this activity, they must be prepared as well with clearly defined tasks and responsibilities for the public announcement and fundraising phase.

Communications & Marketing Strategy

The public announcement should be guided by a thoughtful, holistic, coordinated communications and marketing strategy. The strategy can be broken down into three phases: pre-public announcement, the announcement itself, and post-announcement through the campaign closing. The messaging leading up to the public announcement should confirm the goals, projects, initiatives, etc. that have been achieved and the positive effect they have had on students and faculty. The public announcement itself will need to be crafted so that it matches the tone of the launch event. Once the public announcement is made, the campaign must be prepared to act quickly to maximize the post-announcement activity. This means selecting powerful program examples, success stories and donor testimonials in advance to share with the broader school community. Everyone should be hearing regularly about the campaign through various platforms – mailings, social media, direct emails from the headmaster – including the launch of the “donate now” button on the school website or campaign microsite.

With the appropriate time to organize and plan for a major gifts campaign, most schools will initiate their quiet leadership gifts phase with the framework of these three elements – a solid case for support, organized volunteer base, and communications and marketing strategy – in place. As the campaign progresses and gifts are confirmed, the pathway to achieving the goal becomes more clear, and the details of when (and how) to “go public” solidify, school and campaign leadership together with development staff can rest easy in the knowledge that they are truly prepared for the resulting increase of activity and gifts that is indicative of a campaign in its public phase.

CCS Fundraising is a strategic fundraising consulting firm that partners with nonprofits for transformational change. Members of the CCS team are highly experienced and knowledgeable across sectors, disciplines, and regions. With offices throughout the United States and the world, our unique, customized approach provides each client with an embedded team member for the duration of the engagement. To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

We are pleased to present the first edition of Perspectives on Healthcare Fundraising, a magazine for executives, development officers, and anyone navigating the current healthcare philanthropic terrain.

In this publication, our experts from the field report on pressing high-level challenges facing healthcare organizations today. These pieces will provide practical tools and actionable solutions to help bolster development programs of any size.

Within the magazine, you will find an infographic detailing the healthcare giving landscape, an accompanying analysis, case studies from some of our partner institutions, and the following articles:

5 Steps for Accelerating Your Grateful Patient Fundraising Program

Grateful patient programs allow development teams to build a pipeline of patients and patient families that feel connected to your institution’s goals and aspirations, and give fundraisers an opportunity to structure processes around engagement.

Major Event Planning: Maximizing the ROI

If someone has taken the time to attend your event, it means they have some interest in your institution’s mission. A strategic approach can help turn your event from simply fundraising to creating new major gift potential.

The Importance of Change Management in Systems Projects

The future of healthcare philanthropy will be built on a foundation of data-driven insights. Organizations able to aggregate and analyze their information will emerge as the thought leaders of the sector.

The Campaign is Dead: Long Live the Campaign!

With planning, your organization can mitigate the post-campaign drop in revenue by utilizing alternative fundraising designs.

Using Metrics to Strengthen Your Fundraising Program

In today’s evolving market with a desire for greater accountability, the need for ever-growing levels of support, and an increased competition for donor attention, a healthcare institution’s use of metrics is the key to increasing success.

To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

Taking the time to share your organization’s case for support with your closest stakeholders is crucial to the success of your campaign. But as we know well, it can be difficult to convince your board or your marketing team that the quiet phase is necessary. They want to share the big news. It’s understandable. However, the quiet phase of a campaign is a vital stage prior to a public phase when the majority of fundraising will happen. Quiet phases, when deployed effectively, can create a sense of belonging, build confidence in your project, and promote deep understanding of why your project is worthy of support.

The truth is, when nonprofits launch capital campaigns, one of the first questions we hear is: “When can we announce this publicly?” The easy answer: The public phase should begin when you’ve raised 60%, 80%, perhaps even 100% of your fundraising goal. But it is more than that. Just because you aren’t putting out a press release doesn’t mean you should hold back from talking about your priorities (e.g. capital project, endowment need, etc.). In fact, it’s critical to share the message about the campaign within your community during your quiet phase. The warning here is that issuing a press release and sharing your story before you have personalized the messaging for individuals, foundations, and other partners is a missed opportunity.

Here is why you should think critically about your quiet phase:

Humans crave a sense of belonging

By inviting donors in pre-announcement, you allow them to share their knowledge or skills for the benefit of the project, introduce other interested parties within their networks, and build sustainable relationships that can lead to greater giving in the future. Studies show that our interests, motivations, health, and happiness are all tied to a sense of belonging.

Early gifts build confidence for the subsequent phases

Leading change is not easy. And most often, that’s what you’re doing in a major fundraising campaign. Strong leadership, strategic planning, and a clear value proposition can help, but even in near-perfect circumstances, you may still find opposition. Even in the best circumstances, you still need to convince your closest supporters that this is the right path forward. And that success begets further success – as those early supporters come on board, they create a network effect.

Early feedback helps to create a bulletproof case

When you can’t explain why a change needs to happen, you risk deepening cynicism and fueling resistance. Donors need to see clearly how their gifts will impact the community. Early supporters will always ask questions and encourage a deeper understanding of the change you’re aiming to implement. The tough questions may take time and effort to answer. If you hold true to the principles of the quiet phase, when the time comes to announce your project, your community will have all the answers they need to sign on to supporting your campaign.

Even the best laid plans…

Word has a way of getting around, and you may not always be able to control who hears about your project. In such cases, remember that just because you’re in the quiet phase of a campaign doesn’t mean it needs to be a secret.

Three Steps to Maintain Your Quiet Phase

Build a Campaign Communications Plan with implementation in mind. When you plan a capital project, most organizations can expect to submit plans for review or request permits that will become a matter of public record. Imagine that a local neighborhood association catches wind of your capital project and feels that the project will have a negative impact. With advanced planning and a communication strategy in place, you can turn this target audience into insiders. You can welcome them in for a tour and field questions, integrate feedback into your plans, and clarify misconceptions about the progress. Depending on the community you work in, you might even proactively seek out feedback or conduct a study to assess the potential impact on the community and to ensure questions can be addressed. Knowing when, where and how your information will be shared is critical for your ability to control the message.

Celebrate incremental progress. Positive coverage for your organization is almost always a good thing. Tactical steps can be exciting to celebrate and you can often do so without formally announcing your campaign. Did the city finally approve your building plans? Did the board agree to a major contract with a local company? Take time to think about all the steps in your plan that may be newsworthy and keep your wonderful donors in the know before the press gets wind. Take this situation, for example: A donor made the largest gift ever to a university working with CCS Fundraising on a capital campaign. The organization went ahead to announce the historic gift and impact it would have on the institution, but never mentioning the overall campaign. You should celebrate people and benchmarks and can do so without betraying your quiet phase.

When all else fails, guide the messaging as much as possible. If your organization has the opportunity to offer messaging to a reporter and encourage them to preserve the integrity of your fundraising plans, do it. Remind them that you are in the early planning phase of your fundraising campaign, but you’re thrilled that the project continues to move forward. You patiently tell them this: “Thanks for your interest in our project – it is indeed an exciting announcement for our community. I’d ask that we hold off on formal reporting about the campaign until we’re ready to make the big announcement and set up to take contributions. I will be sure to keep you apprised, since we expect there will be big moments to strategically share along the way.”

By its very nature, your campaign will be newsworthy. It’s perhaps one of those most exciting and transformational moments for your organization. During the quiet phase you will do everything you can to succeed in fundraising and be ready to pivot in an evolving environment. In doing so, you will maintain a positive message, bring your best friends closer, and shape a sustainable fundraising trajectory for your organization.

We have all been there before: The months of planning, recruiting a committee, selecting the appropriate honoree, repeated outreach to vendors and sponsors, proofreading the program and every last detail down to the seating plan and place settings…

Every year, development professionals devote an enormous amount of time, energy, and resources to executing a large annual special event, such as a gala, which can be a Herculean effort. Hopefully, the evening will have been a success with guests going home happy and significant funds raised for the charity in question…but what happens next?

Though special event fundraising is important, and arguably the most visible annual interaction an individual will have with a charity, the return on investment (ROI) can be low as industry standards point to the cost to raise a dollar not exceeding $0.50. Furthermore, the costs associated with staff time can be even higher. Therefore, one might consider implementing a relatively simple major gift strategy that can set forth a plan to boost the effectiveness and ROI of a special event.

Taking Action

A few years ago, Jan Wood, Chief Development Officer for Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis Maryland, began to formally assess the effectiveness of the Hospital’s special events. With a relatively small team of Major Gift Officers (two at the time), she began to consider how her department could best use current resources more effectively. “We had the tools, we just needed to adapt,” she said.

Jan and her team took active steps to put the plan in place. The first step came a week before the event. Prospect research was done to screen the guest list and focus attention on both annual donors and non-donor guests with high capacity who had shown the propensity to give to other similar causes. Next, in a special “Moves B Management” meeting, a small number of these screened prospects (3 – 5) would each be assigned to the appropriate Major Gift Officer with the goal of having a meaningful interaction at the event. This was done with a specific and targeted plan which included goals for what the conversation would produce. Following the event, the major gifts team would reconvene to debrief on what was discovered through meaningful interactions with prospects. They would then hit the phones to schedule meetings with their assigned attendees. The focus here was quality over quantity and meaningful interactions.

By implementing a metric-driven major gift approach, Jan’s team was able to see exponential growth in their rate of converting targeted attendees to major donors, thus maximizing the ROI from special events. Ultimately, Jan’s strategy has proven to be successful. In the first two years of implementing this plan, conversion rates rose from 0.5% to nearly 20% for AAMC’s largest annual special event.

5 Tactics to Consider for Your Annual Gala (Pre and Post)

Remember, if someone has taken the time to attend your event, it means they have at least some interest in your institution’s mission. A strategic major gifts approach will help turn your event from simply “fundraising” to hopefully “friend-raising” by capturing new major gift potential. Here are a few things to try right away:

Wealth screen your attendee list at least a week prior to the event and prioritize prospects.
Set realistic goals for your major gift team and the number of individuals they can make a meaningful connection with at the event.
Enlist the help of board members or appropriate friends of the institution.
Be strategic in your seating assignments, positioning high-capacity prospects adjacent to individuals that can serve as passionate advocates for the institution.
Formulate an appropriate follow-up strategy and hit the phones the following day!

Throughout this process, it is imperative that you track your progress. The most important thing is to start small and track data and lessons learned so you can better prepare for your next event!

This article is an update from a previous post published in March, 2017.

Diocesan and parish-wide capital campaigns create a diverse range of volunteer opportunities for devoted parishioners, including the chance for meaningful and thoughtful engagement with fellow parishioners. Your campaign’s success ultimately depends on the commitment of these volunteers who are asked to champion your case for support.

With this in mind, your first task in selecting volunteer leadership is identifying a chairperson or co-chairs. As a crucial leadership position, the campaign chair should be open to maximizing relationships to assist with major gift prospect visits. It is important for parish staff and lay leadership to identify a core group of individuals who will be able to assist the pastor and lead the parish campaign in three ways: give, inspire, and advocate.

Give

It is no surprise that parishioners who are generous in their church giving are also active and faithful stewards in the church. When launching a campaign, it is this flock that a pastor often looks to for initial feedback and support. With a personal invitation from the pastor, these committed parishioners may be willing to take on the task of joining your campaign’s volunteer committee. As a first step, prior to recruiting your volunteers, the pastor should be prepared to ask potential lay leaders for their gift. A financial commitment from the chair is a precursor to the campaign’s launch. Additionally, a parishioner’s commitment of their time, talent, and financial support will infuse early momentum into your campaign’s success.

Inspire

Capital campaigns present a unique opportunity for parishioners to get involved in parish ministry. This is great for your campaign, as the Corporation for National and Community Service reports that the second responsibility that volunteers take on is fundraising. An effective chairperson will be able to motivate and inspire fellow parishioners to make a personal gift, as well as to devote their own time to the project.

Advocate

When launching a capital campaign, it is critical to have strong leadership and support of both the campaign plan and the parish’s needs. While it is always important for pastors to serve as the lead in this role, campaign chairpersons are also helpful in this endeavor. The chairperson is able to talk about the campaign from the perspective of a parishioner. Additionally, they can also serve as a partner to the pastor, joining him on visits and hosting small groups to present and champion the fundraising effort.

Preparing the Chairperson for their New Role

Coaching a parishioner to take on a chairperson role requires hands-on guidance and support. There are three critical steps that church leaders can take to ensure the chairperson’s success:

Provide them with the proper support and resources.

Participation in a capital campaign can require a substantial amount of time from volunteers, especially the chairperson, in the early phases of the campaign. Ensure that your organization is prepared to provide training, feedback, and materials to support your campaign chair in their role.

Be clear about expectations and responsibilities.

The chairperson must understand the needs of the campaign and how their involvement is fundamental to its success. Be clear in responsibilities, expectations, and deadlines. Developing a job description can also be helpful in communicating the framework of the position.

Set them up for success.

Before sending your chairperson out on major gift visits, make sure you have carefully identified your prospects. Using Wealth Engine screening or other tools can be helpful, but also assessing anecdotal evidence and the parish’s history with the parishioner can help narrow down capacity, interests, and motivations for supporting the parish.

A capital campaign can be a transformative experience for your parish. Engaging strong leadership can inspire active stewardship for many years to come.

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For more than 100 years, the traditional fundraising campaign has been the vehicle of choice for institutions to galvanize the community and secure significant gift commitments. Especially in the healthcare space, traditional campaigns are bigger and more popular than ever. Million-dollar campaigns gave way to $100 million dollar campaigns and now, multi-billion dollar fundraising campaigns are the norm. Campaigning raises more money, creates community excitement, provides a rationale to support giving, and demonstrates what donations will accomplish.

Sounds like a slam dunk, right? Not so fast. Traditional campaigns undoubtedly provide tremendous benefits to those institutions that run them well. Yet healthcare organizations may focus too much on the five- to seven year horizon of the campaign and forget to consider what happens when the campaign is over. You’ve surpassed your goal and celebrated your success. Now what? If you have not planned ahead, it is likely that your post-campaign fundraising revenue will drop to pre-campaign levels. While you funded the greatest needs of your institution, you neglected the overall health of the organization by failing to create sustainable growth.

Consider an Alternative Campaign Approach

To mitigate the traditional post-campaign lull, alternative fundraising campaign designs are becoming more common. Some organizations never stop campaigning, taking a perpetual approach with decade-long funding initiatives and back-to-back traditional campaigns. Others employ smaller and shorter mini-campaigns to continually target specific funding priorities, or to simply bridge between traditional efforts. Some organizations are scrapping the traditional campaign altogether, instituting a “never” campaigning approach where targeted transformational gift solicitations are built into “business-as-usual” fundraising.

While these campaign designs have separate benefits and risks, they all share one common element – the flexibility to pivot strategy to accommodate shifting donor desires, community needs, and institutional priorities. Economic volatility, new legislation, evolving trends, societal interests, and institutional leadership changes are just a few of the challenges that you could face during a multiyear campaign. Don’t get stuck in a campaign that restricts funding to a singular and rigid initiative. Consider a single project as one of your campaign funding priorities, not the only one.

Don’t Forget the Annual Fund

Regardless of campaign design, make sure you pay attention to your annual fund at the start. Consider growing your annual fund as one of your campaign goals or as a parallel strategic initiative. Focus on bringing in new donors and new dollars. Cultivate and upgrade your smaller gifts. Prioritize stewardship. These gifts may take years to cultivate, but by the end of your campaign you should see an increased fundraising baseline, a softened post-campaign revenue dip, and a secure fundraising future for your organization.

Embrace Flexibility

Campaigning is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and traditional campaigning may remain the best fit for your organization. However, campaign timing and design should be grounded in the financial needs, strategic initiatives, and specific culture of each organization. The key is to remain flexible to changing priorities and community needs while addressing the traditional post-campaign revenue decline. Appropriate campaign design alongside a deliberate approach to building and sustaining relationships will ensure that your organization is in the best position to raise more money while growing sustainably.

This article is an update from a previous post published in November, 2016.

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