WHAT THE FUNDRAISING
131: Understanding the World of Capital Campaigns with Amy Eisenstein
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“Capital campaigns are really about capacity building for an organization.”
– Amy Eisenstein
Episode #131
Overview
In this episode of What the Fundraising Podcast…
If you’re feeling frustrated and disheartened because your donor engagement strategies for capital campaigns aren’t yielding the desired results, then you are not alone!
Meet Amy Eisenstein, a seasoned fundraising pro with a heart for helping nonprofits thrive. Amy started her career as a development director, working her way up through various organizations for more than ten years. Now, as a consultant, she continues to empower nonprofits by guiding them through capital campaigns that aim to boost their capacity and growth. Whether working on a $2 million or $100 million campaign, Amy’s expertise in donor education and engagement is invaluable to organizations seeking long-term success and when I was a fundraiser, Amy was the #1 thought leader that I learned from and followed. In this conversation, Amy helps me understand capital campaigns so much better as I am definitely not an expert in this area. She talks about how capital campaigns can propel nonprofit organizations towards expansion and growth both in terms of the money they raise for organizations but also in terms of the structure they force organizations to adopt. She also talks about the art of balancing annual fund donations with capital campaign contributions to maximize funding, and we even tough on how to manage the overhead myth throughout all of it. There is a lot we can learn from Amy about building individual donor relationships though the way she teaches capital campaign management.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- Introducing Amy Eisenstein
- Understanding Capital Campaigns
- Is Your Organization Ready for a Capital Campaign?
- Overhead in Capital Campaigns
- Relationship Management and Annual Fund in Capital Campaigns
- Incorporating Annual Fund into Capital Campaign
- Relationship Management Strategies for Capital Campaigns
- Avoiding Fundraiser Burnout
- Importance of Donor Conversations
- Running Other Campaigns During Capital Campaigns
- Messaging and Motivation in Capital Campaigns
- The Public Phase of Capital Campaigns
- Readiness for Capital Campaigns
- Setting Campaign Goals
- Where to Find Capital Campaign Resources
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Amy Eisenstein & Capital Campaign Pro
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TIPS AND TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT TODAY
- Before embarking on a capital campaign, organizations should conduct a thorough readiness assessment by taking an honest look at their current resources, fundraising capabilities, and overall strategic goals.
- While the public phase of a capital campaign is often shorter than other stages, it should be treated as an intense period of fundraising activity.
- By creating a sense of urgency and momentum during the public phase, nonprofits can further galvanize donors and boost the success of their capital campaign.
- Amy highlights the fact that capital campaigns are not just about raising funds for infrastructure, but are actually major multipliers that can greatly increase an organization's reach and impact.
- Communicating the objectives and progress of a capital campaign is critical to maintaining donor engagement and overall campaign momentum.
- Aligning annual fund efforts with capital campaigns can be challenging, but it presents an opportunity for organizations to strengthen their donor relations.
FAVORITE QUOTES
- "Fundraising is one of the main ways to really supercharge the engines of nonprofits." - Amy Eisenstein
- "Capital campaigns are really about capacity building for an organization." - Amy Eisenstein
- "Good fundraisers acknowledge that there is overhead and administrative costs to doing business and to doing fundraising and to running a nonprofit." - Amy Eisenstein
- "Capital campaigns are actually amazing opportunities for fundraiser growth as well, because a fundraiser who goes through a capital campaign comes out the other end a much stronger fundraiser." - Amy Eisenstein
- "We do something we call the double mention, double ask. Every time you're interacting with a donor, whether it's written communication or verbal you're talking to a donor, you always acknowledge either that you're asking for both or you mention both, even if you're just asking for one." - Amy Eisenstein
- "It's much harder to get someone unstuck than it is to get them in the right direction in the first place." - Amy Eisenstein
- "So I like to think about capital campaigns as every once in a while, fundraising efforts that are well beyond your normal annual operating fundraising every ten years or every 20 years, you need to really supercharge and boost your organization to get it to the next level of program or service, you need a capital campaign." - Amy Eisenstein
- "A capital campaign is really a multi year effort. It's a multiplier of what you raise, and it raises the whole organization." - Amy Eisenstein
- "Capital campaigns actually are probably the least expensive type of fundraising. On average, we say that it costs ten cents to raise a dollar - Amy Eisenstein
RELATED CONTENT
Get to know Amy Eisenstein:
Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Capital Campaign Pro. She has been a development professional and fundraising consultant for more than 25 years.
Recognized as a leading expert in her field, she helps small and large nonprofits alike raise millions of dollars.
Amy spent the first part of her career as a development director three organizations:
- Shelter Our Sisters (a domestic violence shelter)
- Rutgers University
- The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Since 2008, she has consulted for nonprofit organizations on capital campaigns and major gift fundraising. She is a frequent speaker at national and local conferences and has authored several books on fundraising including, Major Gift Fundraising for Small Shops.
Amy served on the board of AFP-NJ for nearly a decade, including serving as President of the board in 2014 and 2015. She was recognized by the AFP-NJ Chapter with the Award for Consulting Excellence in 2019.
Amy became a CFRE in 2004 and received the ACFRE in 2013.
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I teach nonprofit fundraisers to bring in more gifts from the RIGHT donors… so they can stop hounding people for money. Fundraising doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.
- CEO & Creator of the Power Partners Formula™
- Disruptor in the funding sector, changing lives everyday
- Relentlessly committed to the movement of money into the nonprofit sector
- Focused on win-win partnerships that allow fundraisers to be authentic and empowered in their work
- Over 15 years working in nonprofits (managing director and ED of multiple fast-growth organizations)
MALLORY ERICKSON
