A campaign undertaken without a clear assessment of the need, ability, and willingness is a campaign in jeopardy. Our professional feasibility study lays the groundwork to ensure the greatest possibility of success.
During the feasibility study, we will identify and rank top donor prospects and potential campaign volunteers. Then we refine the case for support through face-to-face personal visits with major donor prospects and potential campaign volunteers to gain their insights on the goals and objectives of a campaign.
At that point, we will validate a campaign goal through visits with alumni who will be vital to campaign success while cultivating donor prospects. Our holistic approach also involves evaluating the organization’s image among its constituents and assessing gift support availability and realistic achievability.
The feasibility study serves as your roadmap for success, as we provide a summary of interviews along with a comparison of our findings with results of other, similar studies and campaigns. We then reveal our SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of the prospective campaign, along with potential major donors and effective volunteer leaders. This culminates in recommendations for a proposed action plan, including a minimum campaign goal.
A capital campaign is a major undertaking, requiring meticulous planning and an immense commitment of time and effort. A partnership with Pennington & Company will substantially increase your chances of success. Our expertise developed through more than 300 capital campaigns for Greek-letter organizations has yielded proven processes and methodologies for raising money.
Our role in holding all parties in the campaign accountable for completing projects on time and with incomparable quality is invaluable, as are our on-the-ground efforts to supplement the limited manpower of volunteers. Our honed focus on campaign goals and strategies to ensure your fundraising needs are met comes from a wealth of experience in dealing with as challenges as they arise – and keeping the campaign consistently positioned for success.
Our no-nonsense approach not only helps you develop your campaign plan and organizational structure, but also provides in-the-trenches services and results. We help design and produce campaign promotional material; identify, recruit, and train campaign leadership; and identify top donor prospects. But the personal touch continues as we deal with your people – your prospective donors. We personally solicit leadership and top donor prospects, arrange solicitation of mid-level donor prospects, and organize and implement a direct mail campaign for the remaining members. The approach is top-to-bottom, and allows everyone a chance to give.
Eighty percent of the dollars you raise in a campaign will typically come from just 20% of your donors. Assuming 1,000 alumni and a 25% participation rate in the campaign, this means that the bulk of your dollars will come from the top 50 contributors. Going a step further, your top 10 gifts will likely equal roughly 50% of your campaign.
With such a significant amount of your campaign funds being given by such a small number of individuals, it is critical that you identify early on those supporters who can most greatly impact the campaign. Pennington & Company will bring our data mining and prospect research resources to help you identify the key alumni who will maximize the results of your campaign.
"The Pennington organization was instrumental in the overwhelming success of our recent fundraising efforts. Initially targeting $700,000, we just passed the $1,200,000 mark in dollars raised—and donations are still coming. Pennington's Aaron Parker was the man with the plan and boy did that plan work. I am available as a future reference should one ever be needed.
Pennington met or surpassed every promised goal and continues to support our efforts as the fundraising winds down! Great company!"
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Annual campaigns are a critical component of an organization’s fundraising program. As the backbone of your development efforts, the annual campaign is more than just a steady flow of funding; it also secures new donors, creates regular giving habits in your consistent supporters and moves them towards greater involvement.
Pennington & Company will help you carefully plan and execute your annual campaign efforts, from the development of creative themes and compelling messages to managing the schedules and timelines so that your program works in a complementary and seamless manner. Our services help you to better steward your alumni; keeping donors feeling good about your organization and the impact you are making.
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A successful capital campaign or annual campaign will mean that gifts of all sizes will need to be processed. Pennington and Company can manage the collection and processing of your gifts, as well as provide reminders to donors when a recurring payment is due and recognize those who give throughout your capital campaign or annual campaign.
One of the most important, but often overlooked element in any fundraising effort is the actual collection and processing of contributions. Time and time again, we hear from prospective donors that a key reason for minimizing their support to an organization is due to lack of proper acknowledgement of their past gifts. Pennington & Company offers the back office support to collect and deposit contributions in a timely, secure and auditable manner, taking the burden off of the shoulders of volunteers. We will craft and distribute the acknowledgement letter, as well as provide reminders to donors when a recurring or scheduled pledge payment is due.
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Peer-to-Peer fundraising perfected with simple, straightforward pricing. Pennington clients can use clutter-free admin controls to quickly set up online crowdfunding campaigns in minutes.
