Customer Reviews

Capital Campaigns: Strategies that Work

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Book Review:

Capital Campaigns: Strategies That Work
By: Andrea Kihlstedt and Catherine P. Schwartz
Edited by: James P. Gelatt
Aspen Publishers, Inc. Gaithersburg, Maryland 1997

Reviewed by: Norman Olshansky: President
NFP Consulting Resources, Inc.
...

What a surprise! With over 30 years of non profit fundraising, leadership and capital campaign consulting experience, I expected to gain little from this "how to" book which I was given to review. Boy, was I wrong.

Step by step, the authors outline and expand upon the key elements of a capital campaign; from determining whether or not your organization is ready for a campaign, to the best ways to celebrate and evaluate its conclusion.

I appreciated the amount of detail the authors included and their emphasis on organization, planning, leadership involvement and communications. They explore the basic process and then give in depth coverage of each step. In addition to sharing their own personal knowledge and expertise, they gathered much of their material by interviewing friends and clients who also had extensive capital campaign experience. They made the book more interesting, and dramatized the points they wanted to make, by the inclusion of short vignettes and quotes by volunteer and professionals, from actual campaign experiences.

Among the important subjects covered by the book are: how to select and use consultants, building the case for support, conducting a feasibility study, creating a campaign management plan, prospecting and prospect research, team building and leadership development, techniques of solicitation, campaign materials and public relations, events, thank yous, recognition, and much more. They even have a trouble shooting guide which focuses on what to do when things go wrong.

I highly recommend this handbook for volunteer leadership and staff alike (whatever their level of previous experience) who are considering a capital campaign. It is a book that should also be part of the libraries of campaign consultants. I have to admit that I picked up several great new ideas and techniques from reading the book.

Keep in mind that this is a "how to" book and will continue to be of value as a reference tool. The table of contents and index are complete and excellent in their detail.

I felt the authors could have put more emphasis on and expand the section on feasibility studies, or as I like to call them, pre-campaign assessments. Too many organizations try to avoid this important process thinking that they already know they need to know. They feel the pre-campaign study will take unnecessary time and resources. A good study not only sets the stage for a successful capital campaign and determines a realistic goal, but also provides invaluable information about the way the organization is perceived in the community, potential for major support, and extent to which leadership and staff are ready or capable to do what is necessary for success.

Organizational culture, leadership styles, personality management and what is often referred to as organizational politics are other areas which I felt deserved expanded coverage by the authors. Human factors, organizational history, and communication styles are all addressed in the book but are not given as extensive or in depth presentation as is warranted.

In summary, this book not only meets, but exceeds its very appropriate title: Capital Campaigns-Strategies that Work.

I loved this book! It does an excellent job of covering A to Z about capital campaigns. The book is large. It's pages are 8.5xll. The type is somewhat small. And the pages are formatted so as to include two columns of text. I read the paperback edition and it's definitely not a light book at 253 pages.

Probably my only complaint about this book is that a good amount of the terminology used between its covers was not defined in the Glossary of Common Campaign Terms (Appendix B). Nor were the terms I wanted defined included in the book's index. For example, Exhibit 1-2 makes reference to a "kitchen cabinet." That term is not defined anywhere that I could see in Chapter 1. But later in the book at page 82 the kitchen cabinet is defined as being the "core committee." Great! But the definition of kitchen cabinet is not included in either Appendix B nor is the term included in the book's index.

The book is so rich in content that having an incomplete Appendix B and less than book index hurts it. One other shortcoming I found (and I didn't find many) was when the number of interviews for a feasibility study was capped at 25-35. I'm used to many more people being interviewed during a feasibility study. And the cost for having a consultant do the study is a bit higher than this book indicates. Such studies usually last between 6 to 8 weeks. At least the ones I am used to.

But what a book. I worked for two years as an associate consultant to nonprofits that provided campaign direction. I would have loved to have had this book at my fingertips when learning the ropes of the trade. Just about everything I learned through observation and experience is written about eloquently in this book.

There are a number of people who can benefit greatly from getting a copy of this book. The first that comes to mind is any executive director of a nonprofit that is considering a capital campaign. If she doesn't know the ins and outs of embarking on a capital campaign, then she better get a copy of this book and study it. By getting this book she will know what she has to do to prepare her organization to be able to successfully have a capital campaign. And she will be an educated consumer when she has to hire a consultant that will provide her organization with campaign direction.

The second person that comes to mind is a successful development director who wants to become self employed as a consultant to nonprofits that provides capital campaign direction. When writing his business plan for his startup consulting practice this book will be instrumental in what and how he will provide his services. This book is truly a goldmine of information regarding capital campaigns in the nonprofit sector.

Other people who should read this book are members of nonprofit Boards. And the campaign chairman of a capital campaign will get a lot out of this book. 5 stars!

PS. Two other books that closely relate to the subject matter of this book are: The Ask (ISBN: 0787978566), and Major Gifts (ISBN: 0471738379). I have written book reviews for both these books and posted them on Amazon.

What a surprise! With over 30 years of non profit fundraising, leadership and capital campaign consulting experience, I expected to gain little from this how to book which I was given to review. Boy, was I wrong.

Step by step, the authors outline and expand upon the key elements of a capital campaign; from determining whether or not your organization is ready for a campaign, to the best ways to celebrate and evaluate its conclusion.

I appreciated the amount of detail the authors included and their emphasis on organization, planning, leadership involvement and communications. They explore the basic process and then give in depth coverage of each step. In addition to sharing their own personal knowledge and expertise, they gathered much of their material by interviewing friends and clients who also had extensive capital campaign experience. They made the book more interesting, and dramatized the points they wanted to make, by the inclusion of short vignettes and quotes by volunteer and professionals, from actual campaign experiences.

Among the important subjects covered by the book are: how to select and use consultants, building the case for support, conducting a feasibility study, creating a campaign management plan, prospecting and prospect research, team building and leadership development, techniques of solicitation, campaign materials and public relations, events, thank yous, recognition, and much more. They even have a trouble shooting guide which focuses on what to do when things go wrong.

I highly recommend this handbook for volunteer leadership and staff alike (whatever their level of previous experience) who are considering a capital campaign. It is a book that should also be part of the libraries of campaign consultants. I have to admit that I picked up several great new ideas and techniques from reading the book.

Keep in mind that this is a how to book and will continue to be of value as a reference tool. The table of contents and index are complete and excellent in their detail.

I felt the authors could have put more emphasis on and expand the section on feasibility studies, or as I like to call them, pre-campaign assessments. Too many organizations try to avoid this important process thinking that they already know they need to know. They feel the pre-campaign study will take unnecessary time and resources. A good study not only sets the stage for a successful capital campaign and determines a realistic goal, but also provides invaluable information about the way the organization is perceived in the community, potential for major support, and extent to which leadership and staff are ready or capable to do what is necessary for success.

Organizational culture, leadership styles, personality management and what is often referred to as organizational politics are other areas which I felt deserved expanded coverage by the authors. Human factors, organizational history, and communication styles are all addressed in the book but are not given as extensive or in depth presentation as is warranted.

In summary, this book not only meets, but exceeds its very appropriate title: Capital Campaigns-Strategies that Work.

I ordered and read this book as we were starting our capital campaign. As I read the book it seemed that Anrea already knew our organization....our strengths, limitations, fears, phobias and conceits. She anticipated our questions and the key issues we were wrestling with and gave us excellent answers and examples of solutions. All practical stuff (not academic mumbo jumbo)we used on a day to day basis. Using Andrea's guidance we surpassed our capital campaign goal. That is why I came back to write this review.

The author has done a very good job of laying out all the procedures and policies that are necessary in conducting an effective capital campaign. Each chapter has a specific focus and for those who have not been through a campaign previously or for those who wish to brush up on their skills this piece is an effective and helpful one. There are many good options to it - including the CD that has all the forms that can be modified for particular situations. It is a helpful and insightful tool.

This book is just perfect. It has all you need to know organized in an easy to use format. The anecdotes are relevant. For me....the books best attribute is that it has great information for all types of fund raising efforts and for all sizes of projects.

I picked up this book because I am facing planning and executing a campaign over the next few years. I have worked on a big campaign before with a larger team, but I have never been in on the planning portion before. I'm only a quarter of the way through the book, but I already feel like this entire project is more possible than when I started. Her level of detail is excellent, her language is approachable, and I love the CD she included. I would highly recommend this book.

This is an excellent resource and guidebook for planning and executing capital campaigns. Effective tools, strategies and tips are provided that enable the reader to confidently work with all the members of their campaign team to both set and achieve their goals. An added bonus is a diskette that contains all charts and forms discussed and employed within the book.

This book is extremely helpful and has very valuable information. It should be in the library of every professional fundraiser and the required reading for a development team.

I recently took and passed the CFRE exam. Although I've never taken part in a capital campaign this book provided me all the components of the campaign. I would strongly recommend this book.