Campaign Brings $91 Million To SDSU

San Diego State University (SDSU) just had the most successful fundraising campaign in the school's 116-year history.

The institution announced Thursday that its annual Campaign for SDSU bought in more than $91 million during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Overall, the campaign has reached $413.8 million of its $500 million goal.

“We are grateful to our generous alumni and community supporters whose gifts continue to fuel our development as a leading public research university,” said SDSU President Elliot Hirshman. “This record breaking year is a critical milestone in the development of our culture of philanthropy.”

During 2012-2013, SDSU raised nearly $58 million for student scholarships, endowed professorships, and program support. These gifts will enhance the broad institutional goals set forth in “Building on Excellence,” SDSU’s new strategic plan, which builds upon SDSU’s areas of strength and pride: student success, research and creative endeavors and community and communication.

Some of the more notable gifts from this year's campaign include:

• A gift of $3 million from Charles and Chinyeh Hostler to support international programs in the College of Arts and Letters;
• A gift of $1.5 million from the Campanile Foundation board member Terry Atkinson to establish an endowment that will strengthen SDSU’s ambitious research agenda by supporting faculty research; and,
• A $1.5 million endowment from the late Professor Emeritus Donald G Wilson for the College of Engineering.

The Campaign for SDSU, the first campus-wide fundraising event in the school's history, was launched in 2007 as a way to provide new opportunities for students. To date, The Campaign has received more than 43,000 gifts from alumni, friends, faculty, staff, parents and community partners, including 78 gifts of $1 million or more.

You can find more information about the campaign at http://campaign.sdsu.edu/campaign/ 

Are You Ready For A Capital Campaign?

Pop quiz: What do you think is the most common error nonprofits make during capital campaigns? If you answered "not being prepared enough" then, congratulations, you are absolutely correct.

The fact of the matter is, as M. Jane Williams wrote in her book "Big Gifts," too many nonprofit managers view capital campaigns not as a compliment to their fundraising, but as the answer to all of their problems. As a result, they tend to rush into them before they have a clear idea of what they want to do. Capital campaigns can be a big boost to an organization, but only when they are done correctly.

Williams went on to explain that only nonprofits that already have well-run development programs and a successful track record of major gifts should attempt capital campaigns; but that's only one aspect that will test an organization's readiness. Williams listed these 10 other questions that you must answer “yes” to before beginning:

• Does your organization really know itself and its aims?
• Is there a history of philanthropic support for the organization?
• Is your organization seen as a positive and necessary asset to its community or constituency?
• Is there agreement among board members and staff that the cause is worthwhile? 
• Will they give time and funds to the effort?
• Is your case for support valid and salable?
• Do you have the leadership to make the campaign work?
• Do you have an active prospect cultivation program?
• Can you identify at least 50 to 100 prospects in a substantial gift range and a loyal giving constituency below that level?
• Can you obtain one gift that is at least one-tenth of the total campaign goal?
• Do you know who the campaign chairman should be? Will he or she accept this role?

Are Capital Campaigns Right For Your Nonprofit?

There are plenty of reasons for nonprofits to love capital campaigns. They have the potential to generate a lot of cash for the organization, and can help increase awareness of your mission. On the downside, they take a lot of time and effort, and there's no guarantee for success.

So the question remains: To campaign or not to campaign?

The answer really depends on how ready your organization is. At a recent Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) annual conference, William Brans and Lee Appelman of Arts Consulting Group, Inc, and Susan Shapiro of Shapiro Associates LLC, said that the key to a successful capital campaign is being prepared.

How can you tell if your nonprofit is ready for a capital campaign? They listed the following qualifications:

• A strong annual fund;
•  A good story, an urgent and compelling case for support;
• Internal leadership;
• External leadership;
• Qualified major gifts prospects;
• Assessing the environment: external as well as internal;
• A feasibility study with results that indicate campaign success;
• Knowing that the organization is a top priority for high-level donors;
• A strong, positive institutional image: Confidence and thinking big;
• The president/CEO/director are capable, eager fundraisers;
• The institution has invested in fundraising;
• Human, financial and technical resources are in place; and,
• Proper campaign timing.

If your nonprofit has all of these qualities, the congratulations: You're ready to campaign! Otherwise, you should consider waiting a little while before you start.

Prospect Research For Capital Campaigns

Major gifts are the lifeblood of any capital campaign. Without these donations, the campaign is unlikely to achieve the greatest success possible.

Fundraisers everywhere know that they have to work extremely hard to identify, cultivate, and solicit major donors. One of the most effective tools they have at their disposal for capital campaigns is prospect research. This is the process in which the fundraising staff evaluates the organization's contacts to identify individuals, foundations, and corporations who are most capable of giving a major gift.

Kent E. Dove, author of "Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign," offered the four main objectives fundraisers should keep in mind when doing this research:

• To identify people and their relationship with other people;
• To determine people’s interest in, associations with, and gifts to the institution;
• To discover facts about the ownership, control, influence, and wealth of people, corporations, and foundations; and,
• To reduce great quantities of information to readable, understandable, and concise reports pertinent to the current campaign.

Preparation Is Key For Capital Campaigns

Preparation is important for almost any big event.  If you don't do the proper work beforehand, it will likely come back to haunt you on the big day.  This is especially true for capital campaigns.  According to a recent nonprofit management tip from The NonProfit Times, organizations must do extensive preparation before heading into a capital campaign.  You can't just decide to run a campaign without doing some major prep work, and we're not just talking about deciding what the goal is.  There's a lot more involved:

• Emphasize personal participation. Tell your board members that you expect a capital campaign gift from each of them. The same goes for any volunteer who would like to solicit others.
• Create a realistic financial plan. Outline what resources you will need. Costs might be greater than you anticipate -- so make sure you budget a little wiggle room.
• Set a fundraising goal. Once again, be realistic. It will just be icing on the cake if you surpass the goal.

Want to know more?  Read the full article here.  You can also read more articles about capital campaigns on our management tips page.