A feasibility study provides vital answers to help prepare your organization for campaign success. Since a major fundraising campaign will be one of the biggest things you and your colleagues undertake, spending the time in advance to research, plan, and delve deeper into both your personal relationships and data is key. This often includes interviews, donor surveys, internal conversations, and predictive analytics.
A study also helps you discern where there are opportunities to innovate and create new opportunities. An objective perspective provided by deeply experienced counsel who have been a part of many successful campaigns can help you think “outside of the box,” New methodologies in data analysis including artificial intelligence can help you to determine your campaign goal and identify key early prospective donors.
JGA has conducted hundreds of feasibility studies over our 30-year history. Here are some key things we think a good study should answer.
Key questions your feasibility study can answer to boost fundraising success
How much money can you expect to raise in a capital campaign?
- What are donors willing to do to aid your organization in achieving its goal?
- What is the combined giving capacity of our top, most engaged potential donors?
Who are your potential volunteer leaders?
- Who might be able to partner with staff to make the campaign a success?
- Are there volunteers who can be engaged to step into greater activity?
What are the perceptions of your organization among your constituents?
- How do donors connect to the leadership of your organization?
- Where does your mission fit in for their top philanthropic priorities?
Are there underlying issues impacting your organization’s potential for success in a campaign?
- What tools are available that could maximize your giving?
- Are there challenges (in the world, local community, or your organization) that limit the amount of gifting you are likely to receive?
- Are there issues impacting your constituency today or coming down the road that you need to be aware of?
What are the broader questions that need to be asked specific to our organization?
- How can you position this campaign to be the most successful today?
- How can this campaign set you up for fundraising success in the years after the campaign?
A campaign feasibility study is about listening, planning and adopting tools for success
A feasibility study is a valuable tool to develop a thorough understanding of how successful your campaign may be, where you may encounter problems, and how to prevent them. JGA believes that the study must be highly customized to what is unique about your organization. This means including these key strategies:
- Detailed, custom plan development specifically to meet your organization’s needs, not a “one size fits all” approach.
- A carefully selected, tailored suite of questions that consider your history, current situation, and key future requirements.
- Budgeting enough time for comprehensive study, generally 90-120 days.
- Involving and engaging committees, staff, volunteers, and other constituents that are important to your success.
- Face-to-face interviews, when possible, to talk with your potential donors, clients, and key stakeholders. These are combined with Zoom meetings and surveys to give you a full picture and build relationships.
- Advanced data screening, covering both the capacity and level of engagement for your donors, to give you a realistic picture of what you can raise, and where you need to work on engagement early in the campaign.
Your organization is unique. You need a feasibility process customized to your goals and resources. Taking the time to listen to your constituents, building relationships, and getting buy-in for the campaign can have a massive impact on your results. In many cases, feasibility study interviews even identify transformative lead donors in a campaign.
Your organization has its own history, mission, future requirements, and its own mix of special circumstances. One size does not fit all and your planning for a campaign should include a feasibility study that takes all of these into account. JGA is adept at customizing a study to elevate an organization for greater future philanthropic success. The study will provide you with a clear and strategic strategy and action plan to achieve success. Your donors and friends expect this, and your organization should as well.