JUMP-STARTING THE STALLED FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN (AFP FUND DEVELOPMENT SERIES)

Take your fundraising campaign from stuck to sensational
Things have suddenly gotten a lot tougher in the fundraising business. Nonprofits have begun searching for new ways to make budgets stretch further, to do more with less, and to maximize their return on investment.
Part of the AFP / Wiley Fund Development Series, Jump-Starting the Stalled Fundraising Campaign will help your nonprofit develop a strategic approach to fundraising in the weak economy, with advice on knowing if your campaign is in trouble, what short-term steps you can take to stem your losses, and how to avoid the Top 10 campaign mistakes.
Concise and practical, Jump-Starting the Stalled Fundraising Campaign discusses:
Fundraising in a challenging economic environment
Knowing how to identify opportunities
How to re-engage board, staff, and volunteers
Prospect identification, cultivation, and solicitation
Communicating more effectively to attract additional support
Building on opportunities for change across the organization
Stuck? Jump-start your campaign today with Julia Walker’s step-by-step guidance, practical tools, and clear strategies for getting your nonprofit’s campaign back on the road to success.

Julia Ingraham Walker has been a fundraising professional for over twenty-four years in the Gulf South. Her professional background is in major gifts and capital campaigns. During her tenure at Tulane University, she hired, supervised, and directed the activity of an advancement staff that raised over $300 million for endowment, capital, and operational needs. For the past ten years, as a consultant to numerous capital campaigns, she has had significant experience developing strategy on major gift fundraising as well as campaign planning and implementation for a diverse group of nonprofits. Her experience ranges from museums to secondary schools, arts organizations, community nonprofits, and institutions of higher education.

Acknowledgments.
About the Author.
Introduction.
1 Fundraising in a Challenging Economic Environment.
A New Environment for Philanthropy.
Fundraising Angst.
Is Your Campaign in Trouble?
Take Immediate Steps to Shore up Your Fundraising Programs.
Employ Crisis Management Techniques.
Take a Hard Look at Your Campaign.
Take Time Out while You Plan.
Improving Advancement Efficiency: Campaign Staffing and Budgets.
Advancing in the Face of Downsizing.
Review Advancement Staff and Budget.
Work Smarter, Not Harder.
Summary.
2 Looking Beneath the Surface: Analyze Campaign Results.
Analyze Fundraising Patterns.
Analyze Giving Patterns.
Analyze Cultivation and Solicitation Patterns.
Using Moves Management to Track Campaign Activity.
Review Annual Fund Results.
Beyond the Advancement Office: Measure Donor Engagement.
Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses in Your Campaign.
Strategize Beyond Departmental Boundaries.
Build on Strengths.
Adjusting the Campaign Gift Table.
Summary.
3 Identifying Opportunities: Making Lemons out of Lemonade.
Stewardship Is for Keeps.
Stewardship through Events.
The Lifetime Giving Club.
Planned Giving and Your Campaign.
Bequests.
An Opportunity to Build for the Future.
Think Endowment.
Add Endowment as a Component to Your Ongoing Campaign.
Enhancement versus Budget Relief.
Techniques to Restore Campaign Momentum.
Using Challenges and Matches in Your Campaign.
Use PR and Events to Create Campaign Momentum.
Rebuild Momentum through Sight-Raising Techniques.
Summary.
4 Get Back on Track with Changes in Campaign Structure.
Campaign Phasing and Timetables.
Adjusting Campaign Phases.
Phasing Based on Type of Giving.
Learn to Adjust Campaign Goals and Gift Tables.
Raise More in the Silent Phase.
Break Up the Goals.
Delay Endowment Goals.
Integrate the Annual Fund with the Campaign.
Cut the Goal Outright.
Identify Additional Sources of Revenue.
Adjusting Gift Tables to Meet New Realities.
Recognition at What Price?
Summary.
5 The Human Element: Reengaging Board, Staff, and Volunteers.
Getting Your Board to Reinvest in the Campaign.
Reassessing Board Membership.
Reassessing Board Leadership.
Steps to Promote Stronger Leadership.
Seek Board Buy In for Any Changes in the Campaign.
Motivating Volunteers.
Strengthen Campaign Leadership.
Avoid Volunteer Burnout.
Where to Look for New Volunteers.
Improve Staff Morale and Productivity.
Make the Case to Keep Productive Staff Members.
Measure Staff Productivity.
Reward Staff Members for a Job Well Done.
How Many Staff Members Do You Need to Run a Campaign, Anyway?
Summary.
6 Desperately Seeking Donors: Prospect Identification, Cultivation, and Solicitation.
Improve Your List through Prospect Research.
Expand Your Prospect List.
Finding ‘‘Suspects’’ for Your Campaign.
Electronic Prospect Screening.
Screening and Rating Sessions.
Prospecting for Foundations.
Corporate Prospecting.
Improve Prospect Cultivation Strategies.
Cultivating Out of Town Prospects.
Making Asks that Succeed.
When to Ask.
Getting to the Ask.
Making the Ask: Five Basic Steps.
Step 1: Greetings and Introductions.
Step 2: Presenting the Need.
Step 3: Making the Ask.
Step 4: Negotiating the Gift.
Step 5: Closing the Gift.
After the Call Is Completed.
Summary.
7 Communicate More Effectively to Attract Additional Support.
Communicate to Attract Support.
Review Marketing and Communication Strategies.
Sharpen Your Case to Stand Out.
Focus Communication on One or Two Overriding Themes.
Basic Elements of the Case.
Coordinate the Message across the Organization.
Creating Materials that Motivate Donors.
Using Electronic Media in Your Campaign.
Proposal Writing for Results.
Prepare and Test Strong Proposal Templates.
Letters to Individual Prospects.
Foundation Proposals that Make Your Case.
The Personal Touch with Foundations.
Using Online Applications and Cover Letters.
Good Communication about Bad Things.
Summary.
8 Build on Opportunities for Change across the Organization.
Change across the Organization.
The Viral Internet Campaign.
Case Study: The Louisiana SPCA.
What Is a Viral Campaign?
Links to Social Networking Sites.
Campaign Rollout.
Lessons in Creative Problem-Solving.
Diversify Sources of Funding.
Seize Opportunities to Create Positive Change.
Opportunities in Staffing.
Opportunities to Engage Your Supporters.
Repositioning in Tough Times.
Assess the Landscape for New Partners.
Summary.
Index.