Blog

6 Questions to ask to ensure a successful milestone fundraising campaign

Posted by [email protected] on Jul. 5, 2023  /  Major Gifts  /  Subscribe 0

By: Alex Hoffmaster, CFRE, Director of Major and Principal Giving at United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey 

Whether it’s your organization’s anniversary, you’re launching a new program or initiative, or celebrating the service of a long-time volunteer or board member, there are a variety of opportunities for nonprofit organizations to celebrate milestones through a fundraising campaign. Milestone campaigns can instill a sense of excitement and positive urgency in your donor community while infusing your organization with additional resources to serve your mission. When done right, milestone campaigns can serve as a catalyst for new or increased giving to your organization, while enhancing the engagement you have with your donor base.

Before planning your milestone campaign, fundraisers and organizational leadership should consider their purpose in conducting this specialized fundraising effort. Recognizing that these special fundraising efforts often mean additional tasks for already busy fundraising staff, there needs to be organizational clarity, alignment, and agreement on the purpose of the milestone campaign – your “why.” Once your purpose is clearly defined, there are 6 questions fundraisers should consider when planning their organization’s milestone campaign. Having these questions answered early in your planning process will increase your milestone campaign’s likelihood of success!

1. Do you have Board and Leadership buy-in? What will be their role in the milestone campaign? Before you even think about setting goals, preparing marketing materials, or planning celebratory events, it is imperative that you seek buy-in from your Board and organizational leadership. If these important stakeholders are not aligned about the milestone for which you wish to fundraise, the likelihood of a successful campaign will diminish. Additionally, fundraisers should seek buy-in from organizational leaders and Board members as to their roles in the milestone campaign. Are these individuals comfortable soliciting milestone gifts? Would they prefer to make introductions to strong prospects? Would they enjoy thanking donors when a campaign gift has been made?
2. What is the goal? This might sound like a simple question to answer, but without a clear definition of your goal, it will be difficult to determine if your milestone fundraising campaign was a success. Prior to launching a milestone campaign, organizations should consider the campaign goal - is your campaign going to focus on donors, dollars, or both? When determining a goal, it is important to take into consideration your organizational culture, donor base, and pipeline. Ask yourself, do we have the prospects to support this milestone campaign goal? Setting a goal that is too low may diminish the positive urgency related to this milestone while setting a goal that is overly ambitious might make it difficult to galvanize appropriate levels of support. Regardless of how your goal is represented numerically, it is critical that your various stakeholders will be proud when it is achieved.
3.            What is the timeline? Your organization should be clear on the timeline for this effort – when it will begin and when it will conclude. Will fundraising begin before or after the milestone is reached? How long will fundraising efforts occur? Are you giving your organization enough time to meet (and hopefully exceed) the goal? Whatever your timeline is, making sure that everyone involved in these milestone fundraising efforts understands the timeline and the tasks associated with it will increase your success.
4.     Who is your target audience? Before launching a milestone fundraising campaign, consider who your target donor audience is to support this campaign. Will you focus on attracting new donors, renewing lapsed donors, or increasing current donors? Fundraisers should also consider whether there is potential to work with board members, volunteers, or other committed advocates to make lead gifts before the milestone campaign launches to the public to build a strong base of support. Donors like to support “winning teams” so show them that this milestone campaign is already attracting positive attention.
5. How will you track progress? Before launching a milestone campaign, it is critical to partner with your gift processing or operations colleagues to determine how milestone gifts will be tracked in your CRM and how you will report on success. Will you tag milestone campaign gifts in a certain way to distinguish them from annual giving? How will you report milestone campaign progress to your organization’s board and leadership? Will special reports need to be developed and what is the timeline for their implementation?
6.            How will you steward donors who participate? As you plan your milestone fundraising campaign, give abundant consideration as to how you will steward those who participate in this special effort. Will they receive a special acknowledgement letter? Will they receive a campaign impact report? What types of public recognition will donors receive for their contribution? Will there be special events to recognize these donors? Regardless of how you choose to recognize donors, it is important to consider how milestone campaign participation can strengthen the relationship that a donor has with your organization. A milestone campaign may serve as a stepping stone for a donor seeking to make a greater contribution in the future; it may also serve as an opportunity for a donor to make a “test gift” to evaluate how your organization uses the gift and reports on impact.

Regardless of the milestone you are celebrating as an organization, these special fundraising campaigns serve as an excellent opportunity to build and strengthen your donor pipeline. Answering these questions will provide a roadmap for your organization to achieve fundraising success!

Return to list