“Understanding and utilizing the concept of a capital campaign allowed our church to move our goals from a dream to a reality.” BRYAN Parkey
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Feasibility Studies
For the pastor who is yet undecided whether to conduct a Capital Campaign we provide Feasibility Studies, sometimes called Readiness Studies.
This is an excellent tool for many churches that need more input from the congregation prior to announcing a campaign.
The study helps to determine the congregation's perception of the proposed campaign, and their understanding of the finances involved.
The study involves personal interviews with 30 to 50 of the congregation's family units and the completion of a written survey by the remaining families in the congregation.
Should any negative factors be discovered, the written report will recommend how these can be addressed without creating negatives for a campaign. Positive factors that are identified in the study will also be described and a plan created showing how these will be developed to their full potential.
Your unique Feasibility Study can provide the reliable data for determining member awareness, feasibility of financial goals, campaign timetable and scope, and the funding priorities.
In a confidential setting, the members are given an opportunity to offer guidance and counsel. This is a critical step because people will financially support what they help create.
Normally, prior to initiating a capital campaign, the feasibility study is conducted to assist in determining the preparedness of the organization to undertake a campaign, determine the awareness of potential donors, in regard to the organization and the specific project under consideration, estimate potential for leadership gifts, general public support, identify possible campaign volunteer leadership and begin the cultivation process for future solicitation.
The elements of a feasibility study are:
- Interviews
- The feasibility study entails interviews with key people such as current and potential donors, board members, parents, alumni, community leaders and friends. These people should represent the community of prospects who would have the potential for larger gifts.
- Telephone Survey
- It is common for telephone interviews to be conducted. This depends on the geographic distribution of potential major donors and the number of major donor prospects. If it is not possible to schedule a personal interview, a telephone interview is a better tool with potential major donors than is the mail survey. Telephone interviews are also a good way to increase the number of interviews when there is an identifiable “second tier” of potential major donors.
- Mail Survey
- Additionally, a survey is mailed to the organization's donor list or a portion thereof, depending on the size of the list. While this procedure is sometimes helpful in “discovering” a major prospect, the real benefit of the mail survey is to gain an understanding of how the organization's constituency perceives the proposed campaign projects and to determine their willingness to provide support.
- You cannot simply add up the figures from a feasibility study and determine a campaign goal, but the information gained is essential to see if the project in mind has a good chance to be funded.
- Written Report
- Once the fact-finding procedures are completed, the data is reviewed and evaluated. A written report detailing the findings, analyzing the potential of the fund-raising program, estimating realistic goals, reviewing the sources of support and recommending a plan of action is submitted. In addition, potential campaign leadership is identified.
- Should any negative factors exist, the study will reveal how these can be corrected. Positive factors will also be described and a plan created showing how these will be developed to their full potential.
- Timetable
- The research and feasibility study are completed as the initial steps of a capital campaign and usually take two months, sometimes longer if extensive traveling is required for the interviews.
