SmartRaise® CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS

For nonprofits with major building projects to fund

A capital campaign is a common and cost effective strategy for raising large sums of money for special projects, such as constructing new buildings, facility renovations and expansions, as well as endowment growth, that are not generally part of the overall operational budget.

Our SmartRaise® formula for helping non-profits raise millions of dollars is based on Process, Leadership, and Capacity. We lead your team through the campaign (Process), we keep everyone focused on high-impact activity (Leadership) and our team helps your team complete everything that needs doing (Capacity).

With our SmartRaise® Capital Campaigns you can…

Raise Millions, even tens-of-millions of dollars
Build, buy or renotave and expand for a new state-of-the-art facility
Double or triple your impact with the right-sized facilities
Achieve the mission outcomes you’ve been dreaming of

Campaign Planning
It’s been said that capital campaigns are won or lost in the planning phase.

Planned properly, capital campaigns are far more likely to run smoothly and reach their fundraising goal on schedule. Priorities of the planning phase include the following:
- Setting an achievable goal
- Recruiting capable volunteer leadership
- Developing a compelling case for support and other communications
- Establishing strategies for engaging major gift donors
- Building the infrastructure and administrative support systems that campaigns require

Contact us about your plans for a Capital Campaign

Capital Campaign Summary (PDF)

Campaign Management
Directing and managing major capital campaigns can be daunting. Because of the sensitive nature of asking for large gifts, the number of people involved and the intense level of activity, a campaign is time-consuming and requires a variety of related skills and exceptional attention to detail. Campaign management is one of McDonald Schaefer’s core competencies: we are uniquely skilled in planning, directing and managing major capital and endowment campaigns and know that a campaign’s success depends on four primary factors:
- The project
- Volunteer leadership
- Major donors
- Campaign infrastructure
We focus on these four key variables while planning and directing the campaign. Over years of managing successful capital campaigns, we have developed a proprietary and comprehensive campaign management system that integrates several innovative tools we have designed for effective campaign management. We will apply this system to your campaign, adapt it to your unique circumstances, calibrate it to your desired timeframe and then apply the system’s full potential to reach mutually determined benchmarks that keep the campaign on track and staff and volunteers on task, and ultimately give your organization the highest probability for success.