The Festival of Chanukah is more than just a time for nonprofits to celebrate another year of service and success. It is a time to communicate with their donors, the people and institutions that make it all possible. As we light the first Chanukah candle, let’s pause to consider how the most successful nonprofit agencies prosper from year to year and it’s more than just a miracle 365 days per year. This is one in a series of brief messages we, at EHL Consulting, hope will be helpful to you during the eight days of Chanukah.
By Karen Kamens, Director of Special Projects
Pre-campaign planning and research usually assure nonprofits that the fundraising campaigns they embark upon succeed far beyond anyone’s expectations . . . no depending upon miracles!
Therefore, we, at EHL Consulting, usually recommend an important fact-finding exercise that leads into well-developed campaigns: the pre-campaign assessment (PCA).
We approach the PCA expecting that our face-to-face interviews and other research will help position an organization to have a better understanding of its current and possible donors. Of the hundreds of studies we have conducted, we always try to involve those whose financial and time commitments will ultimately assure campaign success based on the responses to several critical fact-finding and piercing questions.
We also see the discussions as ways to foster closer ties between a donor and the nonprofit that will reach out for support. Most people like their opinions to be considered and especially in the earliest phases of campaign development they can have remarkable impact.
With the goal to remove mystery from how donors are thinking, the PCA is a basic – and critical – exercise and we cannot minimize its importance.
As we light the Menorah candles during Chanukah, let’s consider the modern-day importance of pre-campaign research to take much of the dependence on the unknown from the campaigns that we conduct and work from knowledge rather than just hoping that a miracle will occur to save our organization or to propel our fundraising efforts.