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by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
The Campaign Plan: Structuring Your Campaign
Once the organization has completed the planning study and decides to proceed with a campaign, the first step in that process is to develop a campaign plan outlining the entire structure of the campaign. If the organization is working with a consultant, generally the consultant will develop the plan. If there is no consultant involved, the organization must allow sufficient time for staff to develop the plan.
The campaign plan is the foundation for a successful campaign and will help the organization get things off to a good start. The plan should include a brief overview of the process taken by the organization that led to the campaign. A key ingredient of the plan is the campaign organizational chart showing all the various divisions of the campaign and the number of committee people that will be needed to staff all the divisions. Position descriptions for all volunteers should also be included in the plan along with a timeline for each committee and an overall time schedule. The campaign budget is also part of the plan. Volunteers should not be recruited until the plan is completed. It will be critical to show volunteers that a well thought out plan has been developed so they understand their role and the time and monetary expectations that will be asked of volunteers. The principle groups of volunteers that will be involved are members of the campaign cabinet, which includes chairs of all the various committees that will be involved in the campaign.
Determining the divisions that will be included in the campaign is the first step in the plan. In every campaign there will be a gifts division and a major gifts division, along with a general community appeal division. Sometimes, depending on the size of the campaign and the scale of gifts that are needed to achieve the goal, there may be other categories based on the size of gifts, such as special gifts. Some campaigns, however, choose to break out the divisions by categories of constituents and then within these divisions will be different levels of giving. For example, a school might have a parents division, an alumni division and a "friends of the school" division. Or a membership organization might have a division that will contact its members. Or, if the organization is national in scope, there may be different divisions based on geographic location. There is often a civic and professional organization division that will contact local community groups for their support. Also a foundation division is generally in place to coordinate the approach to foundations, and a small business division to contact businesses in the community.
In addition to the various campaign divisions that will be directly involved in soliciting donors, there are several other committees that will be included the campaign organizational chart. There is generally a prospect evaluation committee, whose task will be to identify and evaluate prospects and assign them to the proper divisions. Most campaigns will also have a PR committee to handle media relations for the campaign and the development of campaign materials, however sometimes this is done through internal staff or the PR committee of the board. There will also be several campaign related events such as a kickoff celebration, a groundbreaking and dedication, and open house event, and all of these events will need volunteers. Usually there is a main events committee on the campaign chart and that chair will recruit different people to work on each event. There are often cultivation events held as a part of the campaign process, and these usually fall under the events committee as well.
In cases where there is not a finance department or a finance committee of the board to handle things like the campaign budget and financing options, a special committee may need to be established to handle this part of the campaign. Likewise, if there isn't already a facilities committee in the organization, a committee to handle the actual construction may be part of the campaign cabinet.
Some organizations may have other committees as well. For example churches and faith-based organizations will usually have a prayer committee as part of their campaign cabinet.
Each committee that will be involved in directly soliciting prospective donors should have its own goals within the campaign goal. These goals should be spelled out in the campaign plan as well as an overall scale of gifts showing how many gifts at each level will be needed.
Other important parts of the campaign plan are gift acceptance polices and recognition polices. It is vital to have these in place before the campaign is launched. One of the worst experiences for a volunteer can be to successfully solicit a gift and then find out that the gift is not acceptable to the organization or that the way the donor wishes to be recognized is not in conformity with organizational policies.
Having the campaign plan in place and assuring that it is followed will make any campaign flow smoother. Like the planning study, it is one of the essential building blocks of a successful campaign.
More in this series:
What Is a Capital
Campaign, and When Do You Need One?
Are You Ready
for a Campaign?: Infrastructure
Are You Ready
for a Campaign?: Board, Volunteers, and Donors
Developing Your
Case for Support: Telling Your Story
Developing Your
Case for Support: Preparing Prospects for the “Ask”
The Planning
Study: Internal Assessment
The Planning
Study: External Assessment
The Campaign
Plan: Structuring Your Campaign
Budgeting the
Campaign
The Campaign
Cabinet & Other Campaign Volunteers
Identifying
and Cultivating Donors
Making the
Ask
Campaign
Events & PR
Recognition
and Stewardship
Life After
the Campaign