Capital Campaign Fundraising Consultant

Capital campaign planning, campaign readiness or feasibility assessment, major gift fundraising, philanthropic development, and campaign counsel for community, cultural, historic preservation, civic, or similar projects.
- Campaign Assessment and Planning:
• Review relevant project materials, including available feasibility information, community recommendations, rehabilitation concepts, project cost information, and other materials made available by the City.
• Meet with appropriate City representatives and key stakeholders to understand the project, community context, potential funding environment, and expectations for a campaign.
• Assess campaign readiness, including the strength of the preliminary case for support, leadership capacity, volunteer structure, staffing and administrative resources, donor base, prospect pipeline, and other factors affecting campaign feasibility.
• Design and conduct an appropriate external campaign assessment or planning study. The respondent should describe its recommended methodology, including the anticipated number and types of confidential stakeholder or prospective donor interviews and how findings would be reported while protecting the confidentiality of individual interviewees.
• Assess the level of philanthropic support that may reasonably be available and recommend a realistic campaign goal or goal range, taking into consideration the anticipated availability of other funding sources.
• Identify and prioritize prospective donors and funding sources, including individuals, foundations, corporations, and community partners, and recommend methods for prospect qualification, cultivation, and engagement. Identify relevant grant, foundation, historic or other tax-credit, and similar funding opportunities of which the City should be aware, including recommended next steps for further evaluation or pursuit.
• Develop a preliminary gift-range strategy or similar campaign funding model identifying the number and general level of gifts that may be needed to achieve the recommended campaign goal.
• Develop or refine the campaign case for support, key messages, donor-facing materials, recognition concepts, and solicitation strategy.
• Develop a written campaign plan addressing campaign phases, major milestones, prospect strategy, communications, stewardship, reporting, and an anticipated schedule.
• Identify significant risks, constraints, dependencies, or decisions that should be resolved before the City proceeds to campaign execution, including recommendations concerning an appropriate mechanism for receiving and administering charitable contributions. The City has not selected a final structure and is interested in the consultant’s assessment of whether an existing nonprofit, community foundation, fiscal partner, or another structure would best support the campaign, subject to City review and approval.
• Present findings and recommendations to City representatives and, if requested, other authorized stakeholders.
- Campaign Execution and Management:
• Provide ongoing strategic campaign counsel and implementation support.
• Assist with prospect qualification, cultivation planning, moves management, and major gift strategy.
• Prepare City leaders, campaign leadership, and volunteers for donor meetings and solicitations through coaching, briefing materials, and solicitation planning.
• Support development and refinement of donor presentations, proposals, campaign materials, recognition opportunities, and stewardship strategies.
• Assist with campaign leadership and volunteer engagement, including meeting preparation, campaign committee support, and accountability for agreed campaign activities.
• Maintain or support appropriate prospect tracking, campaign activity reporting, gift pipeline reporting, and campaign progress dashboards in coordination with the City.
• Provide periodic written status reports identifying progress, upcoming priorities, risks, decisions needed, and recommended adjustments.
• Advise on campaign pacing, quiet/leadership and public phases, communications, stewardship, and campaign closeout, as applicable.
• Provide other campaign management or fundraising advisory services recommended by the respondent and authorized by the City.