The role of the planning or campaign readiness study is to provide a strong, overall strategy for the campaign – the campaign roadmap.
But before we get to the “How” part, let’s discuss the “If” part of the question of whether your community can fundraise a certain goal amount.
If you are fundraising for a municipal entity, you must consider how many people are impacted by this entity over the course of a year or years.
How many people utilize your recreational center, pool or library?
How many more people could you serve if your library was more functional and large enough to serve your community needs?
What if you had a second gymnasium in your recreational center?
How many more people could you serve if you had a second sheet of ice to meet the needs of those who play hockey and figure skate in your community?
How does this improve your community as a whole in terms of providing attractiveness to those wishing to move to your city?
Is your facility up to par mechanically?
Is your pool leaking and losing money?
What could be done to upgrade or totally revamp your pool into a functional aquatic center attracting enough interest to provide an attractive amenity for your community and to also provided cost effectiveness from a tax perspective?
On the other hand, an organization has different parameters to assess during a study than a municipality. including the role of the Board of Directors, which is a volunteer-driven group of individuals who support a cause or mission with their time, talent and relationships to help secure a strong fiduciary function for the organization. In regard to a municipal campaign, the city council and Mayor must support the endeavor.
Questions asked during an organizational audit include important aspects of volunteer management, committees and their roles/functions as well as financial security, fundraising elements emanating from planning long term and short-term goals with objectives.
In the next article we will discuss details of a campaign readiness study and how the results of a study are used. Interested in learning how you can partner with Crescendo? Contact ellen@crescendollp.com for more information.
