Andrea Kihlstedt

The capital campaign industry has been operating more or less the same way for nearly a century. But now, fueled by the Internet, the traditional models are being replaced by new, more efficient systems and practices...

Complex capital campaign meetings are the new normal. In fact, it’s becoming rare to be part of a meeting where everyone is sitting around the same table. Some people attend in person. Others phone in. And yet, others attend via video conference.

When you think about the case for support, do you immediately think “brochure?” Do you imagine a beautiful, glossy multipage piece with wonderful images of the families you serve or the animals you save? Perhaps you imagine a donor reading it and being moved to write a big check...

If one of your largest donors asked you what would transform your organization—what would “take it to the moon” in terms of helping more people and having more impact—would you have an answer? Though capital campaigns are usually more practically focused than that, if you’re in a capital campaign, you ought to have an answer to the question…

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Some people have all the luck.” And if you’re halfway reasonable, you wish you were one of those luck-struck folks—particularly if you’re working on a capital campaign...

I spent an hour talking with a client, Jenny, about capital campaign goals. She’d try them on and then toss them off again as though she was getting dressed in the morning and couldn’t decide what to wear...

It’s a rare day that I don’t spend two hours or more on the phone coaching groups of three to six people as their organizations get ready for capital campaigns, which often involve virtual capital campaign meetings...

Here are some key dos and don'ts of board giving. Following that, you’ll have a chance to quiz yourself by attempting to solve a real-world board giving dilemma, where the organization wrestled with how to ask their nonprofit board members for gifts...

As you know, capital campaigns rely on very big gifts for their success. In most campaigns, 10 big gifts account for more than 50 percent of the campaign goal. So to have a successful capital campaign, you’ve got to be able get some very big gifts from a few wealthy donors...

You’re planning a capital campaign to raise somewhere between $6 and $10 million. It’s based on a design of a building plan that’s just been finished. The costs are still a stab in the dark and it’ll take some time to estimate the real numbers. But on their way out of the meeting when the new building design was approved, three enthusiastic board members decided they wanted to make a big gesture of support...

Many of the concerns people have about capital campaigns—and the majority of mistakes they make during campaigns—can be laid at the foot of five common capital campaign myths...

Capital campaigns can be lonely and scary. It’s easy to wake up in the middle of the night, worrying about whether the big gifts that must anchor your campaign will come in as you have planned...

Capital campaigns fund projects that are special and often big—like a building or new programs—that will move your organization to the next level of operation, making a difference in more people’s lives...

Some capital campaigns feel like a long slog. They begin with a big burst of energy and some large gifts from truly committed donors. But a couple of years later when, perhaps, the campaign has reached 70 or 80 percent of the goal, and the same remarkable volunteers continue to gather once a month to strategize about prospective donors, it can be hard to sustain the energy...

If you work with campaign volunteers, you probably wrestle with how to keep their work fresh and exciting. Here’s an exercise you can use to overcome two different challenges you’re likely to face...