When I was offered an opportunity to talk about Capital fundraising, I
immediately wanted to get away from the "standard" presentation; from
Maslov's hierarchy of needs and the Pareto principle and pyramids and all that
mumbo jumbo that serious senior fundraisers rabbit on about: pretending that
fundraising is a science with rules of engagement and standard applications
producing predictable outcomes when fundraising at its best is an art: drawing
on wisdom; learning from experience and succeeding as great art, when we dare to
be different; when we "do our own thing" - albeit within a proven
framework.
So. This is a personal explanation of the art of Capital Fundraising. I
believe that what I am today and where I grow tomorrow is greatly shaped by my
experiences of yesterday. Thus, to understand why I fundraise as I do, you must
know from where I come. This is my life!
Thirty years ago, I was a sales rep for an oil Company and living in Derby in
the far North West of Australia. My territory ran from Derby through Halls Creek
to Wyndham and Kununurra and South through Broome to Port Hedland to Marble Bar
and Nullagine.
While traversing the Kimberleys, I became aware of a strange social custom. I
had read Gulliver's travels where you will recall that in Lilliput the Court was
divided between the High Heels and the Low Heels wherein a difference of a
fraction of an inch in the heel was sufficient to define one's position,
allegiances and status. Externally, the Islands of Blefuscu was defined by its
practice of lopping the larger end of the breakfast egg as opposed to the
Lilliputian practice of decapitating the smaller end. On such weighty matters of
principle are wars fought.
This appeared as an eighteenth century invention of the satirist, Jonathan
Swift. But hold! Between Wyndham and Derby, a great and serious rift had
developed, for somewhere between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek, one was
forced to declare oneself as a Stubby Drinker or a Bottle Drinker.
In the West, the Bottle prevailed while in the East, the Cult of the Stubby
was supreme. As a frequent traveller, my Esky held hospitality for casual social
meetings with Exploration Crews, truck drivers, station hands and Main Roads
workers. But, if, approaching Derby my offerings were stubbies from my stay in
Wyndham, I was abused as a lousy provider giving a man only half a drink.
Alternatively, driving up through Turkey Creek and offering a bottle from home,
I was criticised as a hopeless pusher of excess drink.
In truth, of course, both groups drank the same amounts - excessively! - only
the packaging was different. Emu Bitter is Emu Bloody Bitter whether it is in a
bottle or a stubby.
Herein our first lesson: Packaging is important. How often do we have a great
cause, a real need, a fundraising imperative. But, we falter because we forget
the proper presentation. We know what is needed. The public will accept our
need; but we are not communicating because we present our case in terms of our
want and not in terms of our public's understanding.
Let's back-pedal a couple of years. I was a District Officer in the then
Department of Native Welfare and based in Meekatharra. Meekatharra was the end
of the rail line, the Flying Doctor Base, a major centre: 500 miles from Perth,
500 miles from Marble Bar, 500 miles from anywhere!
In my work, I became concerned at the number of young mothers who came to
town with children to attend the hospital. Many were unused to town life. There
were aboriginal people at that time, within one or two generations of first
meeting a European. I wanted a place where the travelling mother could live in
safety for the Reserve was not a good place. I also wanted to allow our female
Welfare Officer room to teach some basic social survival skills. I submitted my
ideas to the government and to my surprise, and the surprise of others in the
Department, I received a grant which bought basic furniture and we established
what would today be a Women's refuge - in 1967.
My very first grant application. And another lesson: it is not enough to just
identify a need or a problem: you must also propose a solution, predict an
outcome, provide costing and expectations of benefits - and ASK for money. It
still works:
See the need. Propose a solution. Ask for support.
Still in Meekathara, one of my few claims to sporting fame, is that I became
the Inaugural President of the Meekatharra Swimming Club. It happened in the
usual way: I attended a meeting and was too slow in dodging election. I also
became the Club handicapper and became quite adept at monitoring times, judging
abilities and controlling outcomes. One lesson learnt is that if you want to
control outcomes, you must first control the environment in which you operate!
Also, handicapping in swimming is interesting and different: you don't add
weights, as for horses; you don't have staggered starting lines as in
footrunning. Everyone completes the same course but, by giving some an earlier
start, you even out the finish. To me, it is a little like the work that got
many of us into fundraising: there are people who should be sharing in all of
life's experiences from the mundane to the exotic. But, because we all have
different abilities across a spectrum of skills, for some it is more difficult
to cope. So, we offer support, we offer encouragement, we offer physical, mental
or spiritual aid or training or underpinning or whatever is necessary to
encourage a person to "complete the course": at their own pace, in
their own time, to their own satisfaction.
You may, by now, be learning that I draw heavily on personal experience in
all that I do. I found, in my years as a Salesman, that when I really believed
in my product - I was damn near unbeatable. When I was unsure of the strength of
my case, the conflict with my personal integrity showed - and I was less
successful.
After I moved to Melbourne in 1972, I became a top salesman for Rank Xerox
within a year: but my family wanted to return to the country so we moved to
Wodonga in 1975. I continued working in sales but also became heavily involved
as a Board Member with primary and secondary schools. My wife and I were foster
parents for many years and also instrumental in bringing refugee families to the
area.
I tell you this because I see fundraising as a major force in bettering our
society and not just a marketing exercise. Those fundraisers who I have met and
greatly respect are those for whom their role is their life and not just a job
and I hope that I bring some of that feeling into all of my campaigns.
Two other experiences that particularly affected me.
Some years ago, we fostered a boy of about eleven years who had lived for a
week or so, with his eight year old brother, in the cardboard discards of an
Albury Supermarket. Over the road from Myers. Within a block of the Police
Station. Next door to a Church. And no one noticed. And no one missed them.
When I later came to direct an appeal for a Family Welfare Agency who sought
to establish a Foundation to fund their work, my memories of that boy drove my
pen as I wrote the Case Statement for the Appeal.
Still in the seventies, when in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Australia
accepted many refugees, I heard of a meeting in Albury to discuss bringing some
families to the Border. I attended out of interest because I came to Australia
as a refugee. As Singapore and Malaysia fell to the Japanese, my mother and I
were evacuated to Australia where I celebrated my first birthday.
Of course, those of you who believe in the Keating version of history may
prefer to assume that I am but a figment of your imagination as my mother, who
was there at the time, insists that we were first evacuated from Penang on a
British warship which was later tragically lost.
At that Albury meeting, I met our Parish Priest with his selected coterie
which included a Real Estate Agent who insisted that housing was impossible to
find. As I did not have his specialised knowledge, I went and found a house,
signed up in the name of the Parish and then advised the Parish Priest, and his
committee, that we were in the refugee resettlement business.
We brought over sixty Laotian families to Albury and Wodonga in an operation
that became a standard setter for the nation.
Another lesson learnt: a Committee is a group of people who individually
don't know what to do and collectively decide that nothing can be done.
Another lesson: bugger the bureaucrats - it is individuals who make things
happen. Take control.
Fidel Castro put it thus; "I began my revolution with 82 men. If I had
to do it again, I would do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not
matter how small you are, providing you have faith and a plan of action."
That, to me, is the essence of a Capital Campaign: Faith...and a Plan of
Action.
Having exposed my secret lives, let us now turn to the Capital
Campaign.
But first, to set the scene, my favourite cartoon from "Hagar the
Horrible": This is what a case statement is all about, this is what a
committee is all about. This is reality.
Hagar presents his troops with a great slogan for the new campaign:
"VICTORY OR DEATH"
What a slogan! We could all use that: get the goal or fall away.
But, the team is cautious. It's a little, well, final. A little harsh.
Not quite us.
Much better; the Team proposes:: MAXIMUM SUCCESS ... OR A REASONABLE
ALTERNATIVE.
Does that remind you of committees you've worked with?
Capital appeals are all about big targets, big gifts and big people.
We do not raise a million dollars with dollars and cents donations or with
dollars and cents thinking. We must deliberately and selectively target large
gifts.
Before a campaign, I set out what is needed thus:
Lead gifts in the $100,000 and $50,000 areas.
Following gifts of $25,000 and $20,000 and $15,000 and so on.
Does it happen?
Cohuna District Hospital sought $500,000 which became a goal of $800,000
which has now exceeded $900,000 and the Appeal won the Award for Excellence at
the 1996 FIA Conference.
Note the spread of gifts. In the top hundred gifts we had our original
$500,000 goal.
Look at other campaigns. Top gifts of $150,000 and $100,000. Two thirds or
better in the top hundred gifts.
What does that tell us? To succeed in a capital appeal, you must have the top
gifts. They drive the campaign, They motivate the followers. They set the
standards for others to follow.
And how do we get those top gifts? We ASK for them!
We need a team of askers - Giftseekers. When I was in sales, we talked of
"belly to belly' selling! We live in a gentler age. Now we call it
"face to face".
Whatever. It is the personal interaction that drives successful fundraising.
So, along with our chart of gifts, we have an Organisation Chart of Giftseekers.
Remember KISS. K. I. S. S. Keep It Simple Stupid!
What do we need? A committed Board. A supportive client. A competent Campaign
director. And a team of Askers.
And the most important of all? The Chair and the Appeal Executive. I will not
start an Appeal unless I have confidence in the Leadership. I know that with the
right Appeal Chair and deputies, the rest will follow.
So what do we look for in a Chair? I recall an old colleague who swore by
"Captains of Industry and Knights of the Realm".
My only Knighted Appeal Chair was a retired Admiral of the Fleet who regarded
me, probably rightly, as lower deck material and who I thought would call the
Master at Arms and order me keelhauled when I addressed him by his Christian
name instead of as "Sir James", or "Admiral". An unsettling
experience.
Seriously, I place greater stock in personality than in titles. I have never
had a Patron in any Appeal because I have found that people who "allow you
to use my name" give little else. A Campaign Team must be 100% Givers and
100% Askers. Never ask for less. Never settle for less. There is no room for
freeloaders in fundraising.
With Captains of Industry, we are on slightly firmer ground. Too often, when
I talk to a Board about an Appeal Chair, they come up with either the local
"fundraiser" who organises everything from pub raffles to pie nights
or they suggest someone who is retired and has plenty of time!
I don't want a chook raffler: they sell dollar tickets, I want someone who
thinks in multiples of $10,000. I don't want a retiree with time on his hands. I
want someone whose contacts and influence are current and compelling.
For the top jobs - Appeal Chair and Deputies - I want the Owner, not the
Manager. I want the senior Partner, not the Clerk. I want a current achiever,
not a past hero.
In the Feasibility Study, I talk to business leaders, business owners,
professional people - especially accountants and solicitors -in the country, the
local Vet - and I talk to community leaders.
So, to find a Chair, we start within the organisation and look to Chairman
material within our supporters. We widen the search to others that are known and
may be involved. The Chair may come from within the Board, but I have not yet
had an Appeal Chair who was the Board Chair.
In appointing an outside leader, we move the Appeal from the narrow confines
of the institution to the outside community and we open new networks.
So, what do I want in a Chair? Consider the task. We want large gifts and we
need the people who can ask for them. Our Chair must be a leader, she or he must
be of such standing that those who we want in our team will want to join because
of the Leadership as well as the Cause.
Our Chair will attract the team and will also open the doors to the
leadership gifts. Thus, we want someone of high repute, community standing and
commitment to the cause.
Ideally, the Chair kicks off with the lead gift - but not always. If I look
back over thirty two appeals, in fifteen, the Chair gave the largest individual
gift, in seventeen, he did not.
Where the Chair did lead, the effect was certainly positive in that we
smashed through the goal. And, where the Chair was a follower in giving, mostly
we just met target. However, there were strong appeals that live in my memory
where the Chair gave at comparatively low level but was of such high community
standing that the goal was passed at a gallop and left far behind.
So, lets not be doctrinaire about this. To me, qualities of leadership and
standing and public commitment to the cause are the most important: if we can
get the top gift as well; we're laughing.
So having recruited a Chair who is enthusiastically calling together a team
of Giftseekers, who do we target: who are the big givers? A capital appeal is
all about the top line, not the bottom! I speak not in terms of accountancy but
of fundraising.
In any appeal, we are driven by the top gift. It sets the standard for others
to follow. It establishes credibility. It motivates the troops. The higher our
goal, the higher the leading gifts should be. Rule of thumb says the top gift
should be at least 10% of the goal. I have achieved target with less on several
occasions (including Cohuna) - but it would certainly have more comfortable
with.
So: who gives? Generally, someone close to the institution or a
philanthropist who is in sympathy with your aims. Often the Board will say:
"Corporate!". Sadly, this is not so. Although big business has the
capacity to give, the days of the Chair or a Board member exercising a personal
whim are past: thanks to tighter times and shareholder questioning.
We have to look for a reason to give. What is the association of the
potential giver with the institution? Is it geographic? A corporation with a
significant presence in your neighbourhood could be a prospect. What is the
nature of your institution? A private school is primarily of interest to its
users - present and past families. A public hospital could gather support from
the whole community it serves.
Generally, looking to the top ranges of gifts, I have found the givers to be:
individuals, local government (although that is now a bit of an unknown),
service clubs, locally owned businesses: probably in that order.
To bring this breakfast ramble to a close, let's look at how all this fits
together in an Appeal.
A capital appeal is a continuum from vision through feasibility study to
preparation and the asking zone followed by a mopping-up and pledge fulfillment.
The big feature is to have dates and deadlines: know what is to be
done by whom and by when. Thus: team enlistment and pledging, prospecting,
gift seeking, public launch and conclusion. Also plan your media campaign to fit
in with the calendar. Media releases are not haphazard: they are planned.
Have a sense of urgency: deadlines. In an appeal several years ago, I had a
telephone call late Saturday evening asking if it was to late to give $25000
before the launch on the Sunday. I graciously accepted! Two points: that donor
had been asked by a peer who had the clout to expect a sizable gift. And. there
was a deadline - he was told that a gift before the launch would get public
mention. Bingo!
And finally: the role of the Consultant. An experienced Consultant will save
you time and money and will teach you about major gifts and fundraising. For 15
years, I have directed appeals mostly on a full-time basis. I run the campaign.
I believe that in the future, as more in-house fundraisers are employed, my role
will be to bring specific expertise to a capital campaign: probably in the
feasibility study and in starting up the appeal, monitoring progress and setting
in place continuation procedures.
If you do look for a Consultant, look for compatibility with your people and
your vision; look for experience that is current and relevant to your needs;
look at the person who will actually drive your appeal, look at more than one
firm.
