Reigniting Your Stalled Fundraising Campaign

Sometimes a capital campaign doesn't exactly go as planned. So what can you do if your campaign loses steam?

First, make sure you’re really stalled.

Are you in a lull or stuck? Understand your situation before creating a narrative that may make volunteers nervous and before taking any action to course correct.

Review your prospect pipeline.

Have you exhausted your initial donor list? Are there gaps in your prospect lists? Have you properly cultivated relationships before making asks?

Review all solicitations made.

How many are closed? Still in progress? Declined? If you’re in the quiet phase, are you disciplined and focused only on your top prospects? Or, are you distracted? Take a close and unbiased look at your pipeline.

Assess your campaign leadership.

Are board members and key volunteers actively engaged? Are they making connections with your prospects?

Review your case for support.

Is it still compelling and relevant? Are donors telling you they are excited about it? Do they understand your intended impact? Are you getting any constructive feedback you should address?

Assess your campaign infrastructure.

Is your tracking system effective? Do you have adequate staffing and resources to manage the campaign? Are you missing information you’ve been told?

Often, you’re not really stalled, you're just anxious.

But sometimes campaigns really do grind to a halt and you can’t see a path forward.

Did a large gift you were counting on not come through? Did you skip feasibility and guestimate your potential success? Did you not do a thorough job of laying out your gift range and depth chart?

You have four options:

1. Troubleshoot and course correct
2. Lower the goal OR extend the timeline
3. Lower the goal AND extend the timeline
4. Pause/stop the campaign and recalibrate

Pivot based on data, analysis, and information you learn.

Consider these strategies to continue your discernment:

Conduct a mini-feasibility study.

Understand stakeholder perspectives, gather feedback, learn about potential obstacles and opportunities. Use insights gained to adjust your campaign strategy.

Refresh your case statement.

Update your narrative, include new developments, emphasize urgency and time-sensitive opportunities. Incorporate any new learnings in your mini feasibility study.

Re-engage leadership.

Renew commitment and enthusiasm of board members, provide additional training and coaching, set new expectations for board and campaign committee member participation.

Expand your prospect pool.

Conduct wealth screening (if not already done), ask current donors for introductions, research and cultivate new corporate and foundation partnerships.

Create momentum through challenge gifts.

Seek matching gift commitments from major donors, using a match to create excitement and urgency. Announce challenges at strategic times to energize the campaign.

Your campaign might need some reevaluation and new strategies.

Consider the following strategies if you don’t see a path forward and need to strategically pause, restructure, or wind down the campaign.

Frame as a strategic pause rather than a failure.

Communicate that you’re entering a planning phase to reassess community needs. Use words like “restructuring” or “reimagining”.

Develop a clear communication plan.

Write thoughtful messages for different stakeholder groups. Focus on what was accomplished rather than what wasn’t. Maintain confidence in your organization’s mission.

Have personal conversations with donors first.

Meet with campaign leadership and your largest donors, express gratitude for their support, be transparent about your challenges.

Handle existing pledges and gifts appropriately.

Review all documentation. Discuss options for their gifts (like redirecting to other programs). Document everything in writing.

Use this as a learning opportunity.

Conduct an internal review to understand what can be improved. Document lessons learned. Gain an external (and neutral) perspective to help evaluate and plan next steps.

If a campaign doesn’t go as planned, it’s important to learn how to overcome those challenges so future fundraising efforts will be more successful!